I have one follow up thought from the Minneapolis
Multi-Faith Network discussion from last night. Each of the panelists was asked
about labels in the context of the source of truth from within their faith
tradition. In the answers I was especially struck by the answer by the pastor
of the Plymouth Congregational Church, a progressive Christian church, and what
he thinks of liberal and progressive as descriptions.
His response was that the progressive label does not come from
stances on social issues; that is it does not come a stance on abortion or gay
rights or economic issues. Rather, the progressive church, progressive
religion, comes when the individual passes the point that they no longer
consider their religion truer than any other.
If this is the accepted definition of progressive religion,
it would be impossible for me to ever define myself as progressive (political
positions aside). If the standard is that no religion is truer than any other,
what exactly is the point of having any religion at all? If I didn’t think my
current understanding of Christian faith as I follow it was the most true, I
would certainly choose a different path.
I want to flesh this out a little more. I am absolutely an
advocate of multi-faith networks and of people from different faith traditions
working together to address social issues. The previous panel discussion was
about religious communities working together to bend the moral arc of the
universe towards justice. Yes, yes, and yes. I am especially cognizant of this
in a more urban setting, but this should be the goal of religious communities
wherever they may be. Issues of hunger, homelessness, family issues, poverty,
violence, education, etc. can and perhaps demand collective action on behalf of
all religious traditions.
However, to work together is not to water down the truth
found within each faith tradition. From a personal perspective, if I watered
down the fundamental truth I find at the core of the evangelical tradition I
would certainly not be as passionate about my desire to address these issues.
In short, my understanding of Christ demands that I address them.
It is no big secret that many people who are not active in a
faith community (especially a church), when they encounter anything about
a church, generally think first and
foremost of a more conservative and/or right wing church. This has much to do
with the way the church is presented in the media and the way that there has
been a fusion between politics and the church and the way that has been
exploited. I am not going to speak specifically of political positions (I
certainly will in the future), but want to share a more general thought on the
damage that having solely the conservative church as the face of the church does
to faith and to Christ. Certainly a fusion of church and politics is a sweet
deal for the politics side of it, as addressing a few issues will allow
passionate support for a party that allows for political positions that have
nothing to do with Christ. The danger is when support for specific political
positions are equated with what it means to be a Christian.
This can be all well and good if you agree, but it surely
limits Christ. To take the current environment, people who are liberal or
Democratic (or perhaps just more moderate on a few issues) surely need Christ
too. And Christ is big enough for all political positions. Salvation should not
depend on what you think of tax cuts.
This brings me back to the progressive church, as it was so
defined. I do not think the progressive church is the appropriate response to
the conservative church dominating media coverage. I suppose it is inevitable
that there will be some sorting in faith communities by political positions,
but this is a shame. There is certainly room under Christ for all people, and
there should be room in His church for all people as well.
Over time I will continue to flesh out what this means to me
and what I think this means to the church going forward and hopefully try to
cast a new vision of what the church might look like.
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