re: Conservative and Progressive Christianity - Different Faiths

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not sure that's what our churches are doing

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They are not and they should be clinging to the doctrinal truth instead of bending to the wishes of society...

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he ones that fascinate me are the churches who are theologically sound and decide to go seeker friendly with casual dress, music, coffee bars, etc. More often than not they start the slide, and a few years later their theology is a mess.

It's fascinating because there's zero conflict with the gospel and flip-flops, an electric guitar and a cappuccino. Zero. Yet that frequently seems to open the door to liberal theology. Only thing I can figure is the numbers grow, they like the numbers so they focus more on keeping them than doctrine.

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My wife & I are currently visiting a church that is a lot more contemporary than what I am used to. They have casual dress (I haven't seen flip-flops yet, but this past Sunday was just our 3rd visit), a coffee bar and electric guitar/drums/keyboard. The preaching has actually been good (no feel good/name it claim it stuff), and the worship singing has been really good and Spirit filled. I have been in a small rural Independent Missionary Baptist Church for most of my Christian life, and this one is definitely a lot different than what I am used to. I am definitely worried at how much progressivism there is within the congregation.

I definitely plan on having a sit down with one of their elders to find out exactly where they stand on certain social issues that are also identified as sin in the bible, and if they actually preach against them from the pulpit. But even then, I'm still worried at the direction a church like that will end up. Scripture is very clear about being separate from worldly things, and also that "a little leaven leavens the whole lump" (meaning that a little rot will eventually rot everything). So I definitely have concern about joining a church that bends to worldly things in order to draw more people in.

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He was not suggesting that they allow a guitar be played with music or more modern music be utilized in the service... He stood in the pulpit and suggested that they needed to bend their beliefs in order to conform to the world..

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I was going to ask what he meant by his statement. I agree that using modern instruments or singing newer Christian songs isn't an issue. But since he was suggesting changing their doctrinal statement, that church either needs to run him off or vote to close.

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But ultimately decided that if the pastor of our church is afraid to tell the truth (riots are sinful, damaging property is sinful, harming people is sinful)

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This was what opened our eyes to our previous church. The pastor actually argued that telling the truth about statistics related to deaths caused by police officers in a discussion with black people who are "concerned for their safety" was sinful. How can refusing to discuss the truth be a Christian mindset?

Then they kept child activities closed for far too long. My middle school kid didn't have any middle school activities from sometime in 7th grade. I don't know if they ever started back. By the time she was set to move up to the high school level, they had not. As for younger kid activities and family outreach, they didn't even do their annual trunk or treat this year because apparently we're still scared of COVID. That was a huge ministry that drew tons of people to the church and gave us the opportunity to share Jesus with people who normally wouldn't attend. I just don't understand how a church community can fall so far so fast.

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I can't know someone's heart, but I find it hard to believe someone who identifies as a "Progressive Christian" is actually Christian at all.

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Check out people on FB that say they're gay and have Bible quotes...these are "Progressive Christian"

This OP nails it.

I am blessed to be in a bible based church and sent my kids to a bible based school. I live a very progressive area. So there are dramatic contrasts.

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but not at the expense of Biblically sound doctrine.

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Unfortunately, a lot of the "pastors" coming out of the seminaries are being schooled on "bending" doctrine... Depending on how a church might select its pastor the body might see this new pastor for one sermon before bringing him on the field... Maybe a search committee listened to him preach a couple of times before bringing him to the church for a vote...

Kinda hard to gauge where a pastor stands in a short time like that for small churches...

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Yep. They conveniently neglect the fact that God SPECIFICALLY calls homosexuality out as “un-natural affection” and an “abomination”.

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Do you wear clothing of mixed fabrics?

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So, progressive (I.E. liberal) “Christians” aren’t Christian at all. They are CINO’s. I think us conservatives already figured that out bc that’s what the Bible says.
“I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” Rev 3:15,16

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Yes, Matthew 7 specifically calls out those nominal Christians who Christ does not know in a saving way.

Historically, the Church has identified a distinction between the visible church and invisible church. The visible church is made up of all professing or nominal Christians alive today. They include both the elect (truly saved) and non-elect (reprobate and not saved). The invisible church is made up exclusively of the elect (truly saved), and includes all those who have died in the Lord, all those elect alive today, and those elect who have yet to be born.

There are a lot of people who are in the visible church who are not also part of the invisible church.

A lot of us view things thru the lens that we learn them. I read that in the past many religious scholars viewed stories like Jonah and the whale as allegory and not literal. It was in the past century that it became more literal. I certainly am not a scholar and cannot answer the question beyond what I’ve been taught. All that said, I think the New Testament is more the focus of most Churches than the Old Testament. I try to avoid being dogmatic or political with my beliefs. I have Christian friends of both political persuasions.

For the record, I currently attend a Baptist Church if it matters to you.