On Using the Word “Progressive”

Some of our good evangelical folk are not happy that we use the word progressive from time to time to refer to those who are liberals in the church. The word progressive implies forward-looking, up-to-date, and willing to try new ideas, In other words progressive is a good word and the evangelical brothers and sisters are not pleased about using good words for people with whom they are in disagreement.

Perhaps this provides a teaching moment. Some comments.

1) In a day when civil discourse, whether in the Christian world or in the secular world, is in short supply, it is important that we treat one another with respect. This means being sensitive to the kind of language people use to identify themselves or their positions.

At one time persons who sought to make traditional Christianity more “relevant” and more in keeping with science and new learning identified themselves as modernists. When they were not longer comfortable with that term they used the word liberal. Some still are comfortable with the word liberal but others prefer the word progressive.

Though we are continually seeking to understand what persons mean when they use the word progressive, out of respect we should honor the word.

By the same token, many of us would like to be referred to as evangelicals. The word evangelical is the commonly accepted word for those who believe the essence of Christian faith is in Christ’s death on the cross for sin, and for salvation by grace through faith. In more recent times it also is connected with the acceptance of the full authority of Scripture.

It still is amusing, and often disconcerting that progressives (or liberals) have for the last one hundred years refused to refer to evangelicals as evangelicals. An example is the book United Methodist @ Risk, published in 2003 as a critique of the evangelical renewal groups in United Methodism. In 150 pages the book appears to go out of its way to avoid referring to the people in the evangelical renewals groups as evangelicals. Evangelicals were never given the privilege of being referred to by the name they have used to identify themselves. If not as evangelicals how are evangelicals identified by progressives? Here is a list: racist, homophobic, classist, sexist, hateful, fearful, mean-spirited, divisive, fundamentalist, rigid, narrow-minded, McCarthyite, and white supremists. In the @Risk book to add insult to injury the writers of the book comment that they are evangelical. But if everyone is evangelical then the word has no meaning. Evangelicals need to take the high road here. Respect for others begins with respecting the names persons use to identify themselves.

So, if there are some who wish to be known as progressives we should honor the request.

2) This, however, raises the question as to who are these progressives and what do they believe.

The linking of the word progressive with Christian is a fairly recent phenomenon. According to The Center for Progressive Christianity the word goes back only to 1994 when a group of persons who felt that traditional Christianity was ineffectual, irrelevant and repressive wanted to rethink and reconceptualize new theological foundations for Christian faith. At the heart of progressive thought is the assumption that the Bible is not the final authority in matters of faith and practice. Indeed, God is revealing new truth all the time and it is their task (the progressive Christians) to declare what that new truth might be. One part of the new truth is that traditional doctrines like original sin, Christ’s death on the cross for sin, the bodily resurrection, and salvation only through Jesus Christ must be discarded, or at least redefined so as to take out the offense for thinking persons. Progressive Christians are opposed to all exclusive dogma that limits the search for truth and free inquiry.

The same is true of traditional understandings of morality. The traditional understanding of the family is too confining. For progressives family is any grouping of persons who so identify themselves as such. Traditional ideas such as “faithfulness in marriage and celibacy in singleness” likewise are too confining. Homosexual practice is a gift of God. In the context of love there are few restrictions of sexual practice.

Progressives are not much interested in personal morality. Most of their efforts are directed toward social morality. United Methodist progressives have latched on to John Wesley’s reference to “social holiness” which they identify as social activism. The purpose of the church is not to “save souls” (John Wesley’s charge to his preachers) but to serve as an agency for social change. “Peace and Justice” are the code words. “Peace and Justice” serve as the justification for advancing such causes as environmentalism, redistribution of wealth, various kinds of social engineering, single payer health care, opposition to any kind of “religious fundamentalism,” and support for the Palestinians.

Presently the Center for Progressive Christianity is promoting a Winter Feast for the Soul, which looks very much like an alternative to the Christian Lent. This time of spiritual searching is meant for people of all faiths.

A key word for progressive Christians is the word inclusive. All persons should be accepted and respected. All religious traditions have validity. Thus, it is quite understandable that progressive Christians would believe that no standards should keep any person from being a church member. By the same token, pastors should not have authority to declare who is ready for membership and who isn’t. The person seeking membership is his or her own final authority.

What is the religious motivation for the progressives? According to the Center for Progressive Christianity, the key is that progressives approach God through the teachings of Jesus. This pointedly is not the “teachings of Jesus Christ,” nor the atoning death of Jesus Christ,” nor Jesus as “Lord and Savior,” but only the teachings of Jesus. There seems to be nothing in their literature that would suggest that Jesus’ words on hell are considered part of Jesus’ teachings.

Who among United Methodists are wanting to identify themselves as Christian progressives? The New England-based Zion’s Herald, an independent United Methodist-related journal, has renamed itself The Progressive Christian. The Church Within the Church movement, known for doing its own ordinations, identifies itself as progressive. The Methodist Federation for Social Action likewise refers to itself as progressive. Persons associated with the Board of Church and Society claim the name progressive. Numbers of other persons, mostly clergy but some lay, throughout the church now bear the label with pride.

What does progressive Christianity have in common with traditional Christianity? That is the question many of us have been asking for some time. If someone has an answer to that question we would be pleased to hear what it is.