The
culture war - progressivism versus conservatism - is ultimately a battle for
the heart and soul of western civilisation. Some progressives seek to change
the West; the more radical ones want to destroy it. To leftist, the West is
viewed negatively: It represents oppressive dominant dead white men, Judaism
and Christianity, old fashioned values and morality, and traditional family,
along with a host of other traditions. For them, ‘progress’ is
redefining, overhauling, or rejecting these things.
To
the conservative, the West, represents democracy, free market capitalism, human
rights, rule of law with due process, and, most importantly,
Judaeo-Christianity. It delivered us from the dark and barbaric age and made an
oversized contribution to civilisation. Its continued survival, and the
blessings that go with it, are at stake. Conservatism seeks to retain or ‘conserve’
the good things of the West, as well as Biblical values: traditional morality,
traditional marriage, and sanctity of life.
In
many ways, progressivism can be viewed as a left-leaning secular
phenomena. We have learned that it seeks to ‘equality,’ ‘tolerance,’ and ‘social
justice’ through large government, income redistribution, and enforcement of
political correctness. It is inherently anti-capitalist, anti-West,
anti-American and Israel and anti-Judaeo-Christian. Yet, there has been a large
dose of progressivism found in Christendom, too. Liberal churches and some
mainline ones have already gone down the progressivist road. Their leftist/liberal
politics nicely fit with their leftist/liberal theology. Yet, an increasing
amount of evangelical churches are following the same path. The inroads it has
made are a cause for concern.
How Does the Change
Happen?
How
does a church, particularly Bible-believing evangelical or Pentecostal, end up
going progressive? There are different scenarios but here is example. Many want
to reach unchurched postmodern people. They believe that ‘conversation,’ ‘connectedness,’
‘community,’ and especially ‘relevance,' are the keys. Propositional truth,
like the gospel of Christ, may be too confronting in its current form and needs
to be softened and sweetened in order to be palatable - or ignored altogether.
After all, the gospel tells us about our sinful nature, our destiny with
destruction, yet God’s glorious free gift of forgiveness and new life in
Christ. The emphasis on ‘relevance’ is especially worrisome, for there seems to
be a willingness to set aside Biblical absolutes in order to not offend the
unchurched. What is the point of being relevant to the world and irrelevant to
God? To be politically correct yet spiritually incorrect?
The
‘transformation’ of a church from traditional-Biblical to progressive usually
happens incrementally. So subtle is the change that even those within the
church itself may not notice. In an age such as ours, with increasing
deception, it is vital that we have discernment of the times and seasons,
especially when a church goes off track.
It
is a truism that churches that seek to cater for the world by watering down
Biblical doctrines, ethics, morality, and spirituality, will actually lose
members. Churches that stay faithful to their call will remain healthy and even
grow. After all, how do we expect to ‘win the world’ if we are no different to
them? What unique thing then will we have to offer?
What
are some of the tell-tale signs that a church is drifting towards left-leaning
progressivism?
In
Part 02, we will see that our attitudes towards truth, the Word of God,
sound, historic doctrines, as well as reinterpretation and justice, will
determine whether we stay orthodox or go progressivist.
TO
BE CONTINUED.
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