Ichabod

Progressive christianity is no longer an off-broadway troupe serving up budget performances like Deconstruction The Musical and Affirmation Nation. In true form of how the left is relentless until it ruins everything it touches, the Christian progressives have broached the rotunda of time-honored theology, are taking selfies in the sacristy, and mooning the cross.

An immutable attribute of the father of lies is that he is forever incapable of creating anything. Adonai is the only One who called forth life from the dank hollows of inert chaos. This is why the den of serpents never lights up the marquis to promote an original work — they don’t have one. No, this accuser of the brethren is only able to twist a truth, dim the light, and insatiably kill babies.

As I peruse the progressive playbills, I see nothing beautiful, nothing noble, nothing lovely, and certainly nothing divine. Therefore, while I’m not sure I wholly identify as a conservative Christian, I can confidently state that I am an avowed anti-progressive.

Progressives routinely accuse conservative Christians of infusing too much politics with their faith. The catch-all charge levied most often is; Christian Nationalist. I’ve been tracking this nascent trend these past few years and can confidently state: It’s the progressives whose foundational fixations are fueled by the yeast of politics, not the conservatives.  

Watch out! Beware the Leaven of Herod!

~ Jesus

Progressive pageantry demands unflappable adherence to core essentials and exceptions are not made for believers. Progressive christians are in lock-step with most of the political rebar of the left: Abortion, social justice, vaccines, a proliferation of the LGBLTE5G agenda, never ever Trump, always BLM Inc., anti-purity, anti-police, climate activism, and be sure to leave a welcome mat at the back door for when Communism comes a knocking.

When Jesus said, Upon this rock, I will build my church, political rebar is not required.

I have worked hard to dialogue and debate with Christians who seem to hate Christians. But just like any battle royal on Twitter, it’s the left who begins an argument with ad hominem attacks and personal insults. We now live in a day when speaking up to protect elementary school children from gender ideology, fetuses from murder or toddlers from harmful vaccines will draw vicious opposition from those who profess faith in Christ.  

I’ve learned two things. First, we are not contending with flesh and blood but rather, a spiritual realm. And second, it’s often the guilty who scream the loudest.

What Progress?

Progressive christianity started as a hip movement that reinterpreted scriptures with comfortable compromises and consequence-free sin. From the beginning, it was imbued more with new age philosophies than supernatural power. In a word, they were desperately trying to be relevant. As if the Father who spoke all of creation into existence, reveals himself in Jesus, and now chooses to dwell within His Children by his Spirit isn’t relevant enough.

As I continue to watch, each new wave of progressive christian ideology looks more like the world and less like heaven. So much so, that there are no longer laws to live by, transcendent beliefs to be sure of, or hellish sins to repent from.

The result is a cacophony of sloppy theology, ineffective activism, and the living of authentic selves that look nothing like Jesus.

The time has come to wipe my feet, guard the peace of God on my life, and move on from bad ideas and unsophisticated thinking.

If anyone does not listen to your message, shake the dust off your feet as you leave that city…

~Jesus

Of course, for this idiom to be true, the message must be righteous. And we should all make every effort to be certain it is. But at the same time, no one who pursues righteousness should sink their tent stakes into a progressive community — unless God has equipped you for that calling.  

It is a dim assertion to say that if one is immovably opposed to the LGBLTE5G movement it somehow correlates to not loving individual people who identify as such. Example: When Jesus threw a party at Matthew’s house, who was a notorious Roman-appointed tax collector who subjugated his fellow Jews with the regime's odious edicts, He befriended and loved Matthew but never affirmed the movement he was associated with. Rather, Jesus condemned it.

This is why identitarian collectivism always works to negate the individual. God doesn’t love movements or ideologies. He loves you.

Likewise with BLM Inc. I had the blessed experience of growing up in a city where I had friends of many different ethnicities. No one who knows me would have ever called me a racist until Robin Diangelo and Ibram X. Kendi made millions telling you to.

Now that I openly oppose the morally bereft, financially corrupt BLM Inc., the quick response is to ignore my lifelong relationships and discard me and my privileged fragility.

The Kingdom Is Not Supposed to Look Like the World

Jesus sternly warns us to beware of the political spirit, but never pretends politics don’t matter. After all, he came to establish a kingdom. The kingdom of God. And everyone knows that a kingdom can have only one King.

While a representative republic is not deployed in heaven, it is the best form of government this world has imagined so far. But make no mistake — Kingdom principles never bend to opinions, polls, or pressure no matter how passionate or popular they may be. Everyone and everything is subject to the reign of the King.  

So, the most important question is: Is the King good?

Love of country can most assuredly coexist with the love of heaven as it’s a primary pathway of bringing heaven to earth. Predictably, the left has cultivated a hatred of country which has fast become a hallmark distinctive of progressive christianity.

If you despise the earth and are waiting to be raptured off of it so you can watch everything deservedly flame out and incinerate, how can you ever be the answer to Jesus’ prayer?  

May your Kingdom come and may your will be done, here on earth as it is in heaven.

At least anti-progressives attempt to wrestle with biblical passages and do their best to present formularies rooted in the ancient scriptures. For example, if scripture says:

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.

 ~ Adonai in the Book of Jeremiah

It may mean a civilization should be very careful to not insist that the murder of the unseen should be an inalienable right.

Progressives perform exhaustive calisthenics, mumbling and tumbling away from what the Bible contains and contort themselves to convince us what the Bible really means. They pretend that concepts like gender fluidity, pregnant men, and body autonomy to kill babies were prized philosophies ensconced throughout the solar system until white western colonists regressively spouted otherwise.

Pride Goeth Before Ichabod

As we behold the debaucherous debris from the demolition derby that was Pride Month, I am still trying to rid my mind’s eye of blubbery, middle-aged naked men reenacting sex acts in the streets as young children reluctantly hoisted their parade flags as if gazing through a portal into hell.  

I spy with my little eye — trauma.

Here in my hometown, there are two large churches directly across the street from one another and each tries to out-woke the other. Black Lives Matter Inc. yard signs sunk deep into the once-hallowed ground, billowing Pride flags beckoning in the breeze, Say Their Name placards of the dead hanging from the gutters, and a giant banner of Jesus breaking a rifle over his knee.

It reminds me of the feeling I had decades ago on Bourbon Street as the porch barkers worked tirelessly to convince passersby that the revelry behind door number one was far more gluttonous than what lay in wait behind door number two. Realizing both selections promised the stench and stain of sin, the best option was to shake the dust and walk on by. Which I did and so should you.

What these activist churches fail to realize is that if they focused on establishing communities that lived their authentic Christ self, they wouldn’t need to clutter their lawns with all these pagan symbols. So as the church continues to fracture along the horizontal spectrum of Left and Right, we should be far more concerned about the verticals of up and down — Heaven and Hell.  

The glory of the Lord left the building long ago and the dust that remains is good for very little.

In The Old Testament, it’s called; Ichabod:

Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple 

~ Book of Ezekiel, Ch. 10

It makes me think of Jesus’ words in John’s Gospel when he told his followers he had many more things to share with them — but they were not able to bear them yet. Like the alcoholic who wins the lottery and then drinks himself to death, it is keenly merciful for a loving God to withhold a mighty blessing from those whom it would crush.

I believe this is the unfortunate state of far too many churches today. How could the glorious God of the universe pour out supernatural power upon communities who are deeply confused and divided over the most basic attributes and desires of The King?

Too many pastors today are mushers, not leaders. Instead of knowing the voice of Adonai and leading the people from the front, they are desperately holding on in the rear as the pack of untrained sled dogs feverishly chase every emerging social movement the media tosses in front of them.

Harmony or Dissonance?

Without unity, the church is powerless. The beautiful picture of New Testament unity depicts an orchestra with a myriad of distinctly unique instruments creating a glorious, harmonic sound. We are the orchestra, but the score is the Lord’s.  

So as the left ignores The Maestro and focuses on the diversity of instruments, the size of their mouthpieces, and prominence of the seating chart, all I am trying to do is point out that we are no longer playing the same song. And the world is walking away plugging its ears.