What is a Progressive Christian?
What does it mean to be a progressive Christian?
There are many people of faith who would say that there is no such thing as a Progressive Christian. These people would say that someone who describes themself as a progressive person of faith and connects with the beliefs is either believing a watered down version of Christianity or plane just ins’t a Christian. Christians love to do that, decide who’s in and who’s out. Well that’s pretty much the foundation for progressive Christianity, there is no “in” and “out”, there’s just the table, open for all, no mater what.
A Progressive Christian believes in the bigness of God’s love and that the table really is meant for all people. We value mystery and therefore don’t need to know the answers to all our spiritual questions. We take the bible seriously, but don’t need it’s teaching to be literal for Christianity to still have a beautiful, meaningful impact on our lives -- both spiritual and otherwise.
We believe God is in all of us but also out in the world inhabiting creation. Remember the song? Yellow, black and white, we are precious in his site…Muslim, Buddhist, Agnostic, Catholic, Black Lives Matter, the queers and entire LGBT+ community, we as Christians don’t own God. And if Gods love and table is for the liberals then God is also for the other side and if I’m honest this next bit is harder for me, Republican, anti-vaxxers, fundamentals. Me as a liberal lesbian don’t get to own God either. And if the table is for both sides then of course the table is open for all those in-between. Inclusion is the word.
And in Gods inclusive love we can experience the divine spirit between us as we love, respect, and care for one another.
What does a Progressive Christian Believe about the Bible?
The bible is still one of the direct ways we can learn about what God is like without the need for it to be perfect or literal.
A progressive Christian focuses on the bigness of God and life of Jesus. Ways to live and experience God are wide, diverse, and don’t need to be prescribed in some kind of one-size-fits-all package.
A progressive Christian believes in Jesus but may or may not believe in a literal resurrection. The outcome of resurrection and redemption to be found in our lives is the same either way.
the Bible is a very important book but we can learn about God, life and love in other books, art and creation to name a few.
What does a Progressive Christian Believe about Sin?
Sin is found not in crossing some predetermined line but in the heart. We ask ourselves if our acts bring beauty, goodness and wholeness or do they bring harm, separation and pain? The same acts can both be sinful at times and very much permissible at other times.
For example, is sex before marriage a sin? Sometimes sex before marriage is a sin but sometimes it’s not. And just as much, there can be sinful sex in marriage or sex that glorifies God after being married. We believe it’s not about the line of when to have sex but more the heart, intent, and experience of both involved that matters most.
Another words, it’s not that everything is permissible and we can do whatever we want. It’s not a, “do what feels good and screw everyone else” mentality. But it is about looking deeper past the surface of something to inspect its fruit.
What does a Progressive Christian Believe about Science?
Science is taken seriously and helps to inform our understanding of God, the earth, and creation. We believe evolution isn’t contradictory to the belief that God created the universe.
We believe that if you take special care and observation of Jesus, you will be committed to the oneness of all of us. Asking what is good for the self is important, but not more important than asking what is good for us all, including the earth. So we believe in things like evolution, taking care of our world and climate change. We believe our world is a gift from God and needs to be treated as such.
What does a Progressive Christian Believe about Actions?
Our actions are much more important than what we say we believe, actions reveal the heart.
God is bigger than we can ever imagine, understand, or plan for; there is not a need to convert others to Christianity because we believe God can - and does - exist in other religious beliefs.
A progressive Christian believes we are born into original goodness and reflect God the most when we are most authentically ourselves as God created us. We believe we can absolutely experience God inside of the church walls but that God also exists far outside of the church walls and is often found in places we least expect it.
A progressive Christian is not someone who says everyone can do whatever they want; it's not a free-for-all.
What does a Progressive Christian Believe about Spirituality?
We never believe we don’t need God in our lives; we very much need and want God in our life and pursue that path.
Spiritual practices are important and help us grow in our personhood, connection with God, and movement of the spirit but don’t need to be limited to traditional reading of the bible, prayer, and singing. Spiritual practices can be anything such as being aware of the divine while washing dishes, taking a walk on the beach, meditation, painting, or reading a novel.
It is my hope that as you read this that if you don’t already experience God as ever expansive that your heart and mind began to expand and that the mystery of God’s bigness began to fill you with wonder and excitement.