A great subject to explore! I’ve always thought that there’s some key difference stemming from what each considers to be their foundation in faith. Most evangelicals are able to identify ‘the’ moment when they became a Christian; for them it was an event, an exact point in time when they ‘gave their life to Christ.’ Progressives, on the other hand, have always been and will always be becoming Christian; it’s a lifelong process. That one difference explains a lot: being Christian is an all-or-nothing thing for evangelicals, while progressives, who live on a longer and more circuitous path, can examine and wrestle with beliefs and scriptures and practices one by one.
It does seem that way, doesn't it? But a lot of it is that Evangelical Christians are obsessed with earning the afterlife from the hands of an Angry God (who's only one step up from Cthulhu, apparently, in viciousness and vengeance) through following the rules. They are, for the most part, what I call Old Testament Christians. They like rules, dividing the sheep from the goats (their style) and punishing the goats and prodigals, and they like purity contests, because it makes them feel pure. Their religion, as far as I can tell, is about making themselves feel good and pure and saved because they are CHOSEN. And no one else is.
Progressive Christians (including myself) aren't that worried about the afterlife - after all, I don't make the judgment call, God does, and I truly believe God loves me. We're starstruck for Jesus, what I would call red-letter Christians. If Jesus said it, we'll try to do it (often poorly, but hey, we're trying). But if Jesus didn't say it (and most of the current culture wars are about things Jesus never said), why should we listen to that? We're thankful Prodigals, and the best thing we can do is rejoice and do what we can for the other Prodigals out there.
Good observations. I think you hit on a key difference here: Why be Christian in the first place? That's actually something I'm going to tackle later this month. Like you, I am not concerned about the afterlife. It's just not a motivating factor in my faith.
But for those who see it as the all-consuming factor, I believe it ends up framing their entire being in both self-destructive and other-destructive ways. And that, to me, is the ultimate sticking point, the way it diminishes life.
And, based on what I've seen and heard, it's that destructive element embedded into the system that leads evangelicals deconstruct, experience liberation, and become evangelicals or nones.
Amen. I also was thinking, over Lent, about Good Friday, when, at the Crucifixion, when Jesus died, and God ripped the veil of the temple apart from top to bottom. Evangelical Christians are always trying to sew that veil back up: trying to create a holy space into which only the qualified can enter, like the High Priest. And they get to pick who gets to come in to the “real” Holy of Holies. The rest of us can stay out in the outer court, giving money and obeying the rules.
Progressive Christians recognize that the veil is gone: Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Holy Space, come for us, open to and for and in us, each and every one of us. Allelulia, He is risen!
Indeed. I love the image of the attempt to sew the veil back up. Now I'm going to ponder all of the ways I personally would like to sew up the veil because the absence of it makes me uncomfortable. Maybe there's a future article in that. ;)
A great subject to explore! I’ve always thought that there’s some key difference stemming from what each considers to be their foundation in faith. Most evangelicals are able to identify ‘the’ moment when they became a Christian; for them it was an event, an exact point in time when they ‘gave their life to Christ.’ Progressives, on the other hand, have always been and will always be becoming Christian; it’s a lifelong process. That one difference explains a lot: being Christian is an all-or-nothing thing for evangelicals, while progressives, who live on a longer and more circuitous path, can examine and wrestle with beliefs and scriptures and practices one by one.
Thanks. There is a huuuuge difference in the way conservatives and progressives engage their faith. Indeed, that one difference says so much.
Reminds me of something Rob Bell uses in his book "Love Wins".
He asked a person why he didn't believe in God.
The person shot off a list similar to many "evangelical" beliefs such as vengeance, hell, literalism, hate,.......
Rob Bell responds, "I don't believe in that god either".
That is a book I have not read. I remember the controversy in evangelical circles it started in its day, though!
It does seem that way, doesn't it? But a lot of it is that Evangelical Christians are obsessed with earning the afterlife from the hands of an Angry God (who's only one step up from Cthulhu, apparently, in viciousness and vengeance) through following the rules. They are, for the most part, what I call Old Testament Christians. They like rules, dividing the sheep from the goats (their style) and punishing the goats and prodigals, and they like purity contests, because it makes them feel pure. Their religion, as far as I can tell, is about making themselves feel good and pure and saved because they are CHOSEN. And no one else is.
Progressive Christians (including myself) aren't that worried about the afterlife - after all, I don't make the judgment call, God does, and I truly believe God loves me. We're starstruck for Jesus, what I would call red-letter Christians. If Jesus said it, we'll try to do it (often poorly, but hey, we're trying). But if Jesus didn't say it (and most of the current culture wars are about things Jesus never said), why should we listen to that? We're thankful Prodigals, and the best thing we can do is rejoice and do what we can for the other Prodigals out there.
Good observations. I think you hit on a key difference here: Why be Christian in the first place? That's actually something I'm going to tackle later this month. Like you, I am not concerned about the afterlife. It's just not a motivating factor in my faith.
But for those who see it as the all-consuming factor, I believe it ends up framing their entire being in both self-destructive and other-destructive ways. And that, to me, is the ultimate sticking point, the way it diminishes life.
And, based on what I've seen and heard, it's that destructive element embedded into the system that leads evangelicals deconstruct, experience liberation, and become evangelicals or nones.
Amen. I also was thinking, over Lent, about Good Friday, when, at the Crucifixion, when Jesus died, and God ripped the veil of the temple apart from top to bottom. Evangelical Christians are always trying to sew that veil back up: trying to create a holy space into which only the qualified can enter, like the High Priest. And they get to pick who gets to come in to the “real” Holy of Holies. The rest of us can stay out in the outer court, giving money and obeying the rules.
Progressive Christians recognize that the veil is gone: Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Holy Space, come for us, open to and for and in us, each and every one of us. Allelulia, He is risen!
Indeed. I love the image of the attempt to sew the veil back up. Now I'm going to ponder all of the ways I personally would like to sew up the veil because the absence of it makes me uncomfortable. Maybe there's a future article in that. ;)
GREAT!