There seems to be a movement within the church that is being referred to as “Progressive Christianity.” Over the last couple of years, I have noticed real changes being spoken by men and women who are in positions of ministry throughout our nation whose theology seems to be shifting. Initially I believed that this was an attempt at marrying Christianity with culture – and to some extent, I still do believe that is a piece of the puzzle. However, at this point, having dug deeper, I realize that there is more than one piece to this puzzle.
Progressive Christianity tends to cut and paste the parts of the Bible that “work for me” and discards the parts that do not. It preaches that God is a god of love and therefore all are saved. All are welcomed into eternity. It preaches that sin isn’t really sin, but rather just choices we make. At the worst, our choices only impact us, but not our relationship with our God of love.
Friend, there are so many more layers to this onion. If you haven’t yet heard of it, I’d recommend that you begin to make yourself familiar. Why? Well, primarily, while Progressive Christianity may feel good, and seem loving, it is contradictory to the Word of God. It misrepresents God’s character and holiness. It nullifies God’s laws. It separates us from the consequences of our sin and therefore our need for a savior. Thus, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is unnecessary. At its core, we are the ones who determine what is right and good, and what is evil – not a holy and unchanging God.
God doesn’t like being misrepresented. I doubt that any of us do either, right? But this is especially true of a God who has gone through so much effort to reveal his character, his holiness, his rules, and sacrificed so greatly.
God doesn’t like being misrepresented.
Think back to the book of Exodus. God’s people have been led out of Egypt. They are sitting in the wilderness. God calls Moses up on Mount Sinai to meet with him and give him instructions for his people. While he is gone, do you remember what happens? Aaron, the brother of Moses, a man who had seen God’s hand, had represented God before Pharaoh, gathers gold together and casts an idol in the form of a calf. Obviously, God has already spoken to his people time and again about being the One True God. Aaron knows this. But what Aaron does is not just make an idol. Aaron does, but remember what he says to the people? As he presents the idol to them he tells them “Here is your God that led you out of Egypt.”
Aaron, the man who is given the duties of priest to the people, presents them with something that is not God, yet states that it is. And what did the people do? Did they question him? Did they stop and use logic to determine if what he was saying was accurate? Did they seek God on their own to find out if this was true? No. They took their “leader” at his word and worshiped the calf.
Let me ask you – was this a big deal to God? God is in the middle of meeting with Moses giving instructions for holy living and then is ready to destroy his people.
God does not like to be misrepresented.
This morning I finished reading the book of Job. Job is such an interesting and somewhat puzzling book to me. My heart aches for Job and all the pain he endured. It does. And yet, there is so much to glean from the account. What fascinated me this time reading through it was how easy it can be for us to read about God and buy lies about him. In other words, how easy it could be for us to hear God being misrepresented – when things that are true about him and his character are blended with untruth – but because there is just enough truth mixed in – they sound believable.
Have you ever stopped to wonder how the devil – the father of lies – is able to convince people of doing evil? Have you ever noticed that rarely if ever, he speaks lies that are so blatantly obvious that they are immediately recognized as lies? That’s not his mode of operation. Why? It’s much easier to convince people if you sprinkle in things that sound true. Remember Eve in the garden? Satan’s questioning and temptation to stray from God begins with “Did God really say…?” Remember Jesus in the wilderness being tempted, Satan used the same strategy there. Partial truths were spoken in an attempt to misrepresent God and lead mankind into sin.
Back to Job. What happens there? In the midst of Job’s loss and pain, he has a few friends who come to sit with him. At first this appears to be an act of love and support – and then the friends start speaking. It is amazing to me that when the friends speak, they really do have some great things to say about God and about life. They sound great. They sound eloquent. They sound wise. But these friends are mixing truth with lies and misrepresenting God.
If you haven’t read the book, God gives an incredible account of his genius in the last few chapters when he begins speaking to Job in a sort of monologue. (If you ever need a reminder about how amazing God’s mind and power are, I’d recommend revisiting those chapters!) God says to one of Job’s friends in Job 42:7, “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.”
If God is angered by being misrepresented, how can we ever be sure we are not angering him through misrepresentation ourselves? How can we really know God? How can we really know what is true? Look, God has revealed himself. It is so important that we do not blindly believe others, but put the work in ourselves. Even those who may have good intentions, or titles such as pastor or priest, or those who have obtained higher education should not be your source of truth. God has given you the truth. Read his word – all of it. Some people will try and tell you that if you just read the gospel accounts of Jesus you have all you need. Please understand, I love Jesus. I believe with all my heart that Jesus is the Son of God, part of the Triune, which I do not fully understand – but he was God walking here on earth with us. I believe this with all my heart. AND, Jesus himself, studied, memorized, and quoted the Old Testament. He himself said that he came not to demolish the law and the prophets but to fulfill it. We also know that God is the same yesterday, today and forever – that means that He does not change. If he said something was evil in the Word, it is evil today. If he says we are all sinners who have fallen short of his glory – we are in fact sinners who have. If he says that there is one way to be saved, there is one way to be saved. If he says that heaven and hell exist and where we spend eternity depends upon the decision we make regarding Jesus – then we had better believe this is truth.
If we don’t want to misrepresent God – nor fall for the lies someone else is presenting us with about God – we have got to do the work of knowing what the Word says. Period. Become a student of it. Make God’s Word and the pursuit of knowing Him – really knowing him personally – a priority. If you don’t – it is too easy to be deceived. Friend, there is too much at stake to be passive in this area of our lives.
LORD, please open our eyes to the truth. Protect our minds from the lies of the deceiver. Lead us in the way of righteousness. Father, help us to pursue you passionately. May we never try to put ourselves in the place that you alone should hold as our God. We want you to come first. Help us in this endeavor. Forgive us of our sins, LORD – especially the sins of pride, and laziness when it comes to seeking you. Lead us, LORD. Purify us, LORD, of anything that separates us from you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Blessings.