Examining progressive Christianity’s misinterpretation of Scripture and its political impact.

There’s a lot of talk in the mainstream media about some kind of resurgence of progressive Christianity in politics. Left-wingers have tried to co-opt Christianity for years when it benefits them, while simultaneously attacking biblical Christianity.c

But does this handful of politicians — along with others — constitute some kind of rise in progressive Christian influence? Not necessarily. As Damian Thompson recently wrote at the Spectator:

Media articles about faith-filled Democrats are working a bit too hard to talk up the story. According to a Wall Street Journal report, “the expansion of far-right Christian initiatives, such as the push to display the Ten Commandments in schools, has inspired a wave of progressive Christians to run for office, analysts say.” Really? There are only about a dozen of these “progressive Christians” running for office in the midterms – hardly a “wave.” And most of them belong to mainline Protestant churches with shrinking congregations.

The problem with progressive Christians, particularly when they try to influence political debates, is that they get so many things wrong. Don’t get me wrong: the biblical commands for justice and care are real. God calls His followers to feed the hungry, clothe the destitute, welcome the stranger, and care for widows and orphans. But progressive Christians approach these and so many other issues by looking at Scripture incorrectly.

Overrelying on the ‘red letters’

There’s a tendency to overemphasize the direct quotes of Jesus — the “red letters” in many Bibles — and downplay the rest of Scripture. This isn’t just a phenomenon for progressive Christians, but liberal believers tend to do this publicly and vocally. There’s even a left-wing Christian group called Red Letter Christians, which pompously boasts the tagline, “What if Jesus really meant what He said?”

This tactic comes into play when progressive Christians argue their positions on issues by pointing out that “Jesus didn’t say anything about” those topics, whether they be abortion, homosexuality, or other subjects. Just because Jesus didn’t explicitly address something doesn’t mean that God’s Word doesn’t provide counsel.

The red letters don’t cancel the rest of the Bible. Jesus did not treat the Law and the Prophets as disposable, and the early church devoted itself to the apostles’ teaching.

Jesus said that He came to fulfill the Torah rather than abolish it (Matthew 5:16-20), and the Apostle Paul told his charge, Timothy, that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16, emphasis mine).

Cherry-picking verses

Look, we’re all guilty of this at one time or another, but when progressive Christians pull a verse or passage and use it out of context, it can range from merely misguided to downright dangerous. One article I stumbled on this week makes the case against cherry-picking Scripture pretty clear.

Here’s the problem with citing that verse: In the full context of that passage, Jesus was answering the Sadducees, who didn’t believe in the resurrection. They had invented a case involving a woman married to seven brothers in succession after each brother died. Their question was about whose wife she would be after the resurrection. Jesus’ answer tells us something about the resurrection; it doesn’t rewrite his teaching on marriage in this life.

This is just one example of this phenomenon, but it can show you just how dangerous it can be. It can also demonstrate how progressive Christianity can lead people astray.

Turning God’s commands for His disciples into government policy

The Bible has certain commands for leaders and governments to act justly and treat citizens properly, but progressive Christians try to take the commands that Scripture gives to believers, families, and churches and turn them into big government solutions to problems.

Left-wing Christians take the passages in Acts about the early church sharing possessions with each other and transform them from the church being the church and Christians taking care of their own into a system of socialism or communism. Progressives interpret Matthew 25 to assert that Jesus meant that “whatever your government did to the least of these, it did to Me,” which isn’t what He was talking about.

The big picture

Conservatives can misuse Scripture, too, and we should be the first to admit it when we do. But neither party gets to decide which parts of God’s Word still apply. Jesus’ words deserve their full context, alongside the rest of Scripture. And when He commands us to care for our neighbors, our first question shouldn’t be how to hand that responsibility to somebody else.

Source: The Mesabi Steel Plant: Trump’s Tariffs in Action – American Thinker

With just a little over a month until Election Day, the balance of power in Congress is not the only thing at stake.

Addressing the Family Research Council’s (FRC) Pray Vote Stand Summit last week in Leesburg, Va., House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) characterized the midterm elections as a battle of worldviews.

“We’re at a crossroads,” Johnson said during a video interview with FRC President Tony Perkins. “It’s not just a contest right now between Republicans and Democrats. As everybody in that auditorium knows, this is a contrast between two completely different worldviews for America, who we are, and what we’re going to be. And that’s what’s on the ballot.”

While serving as speaker of the House of Representatives for the past three years, the Louisiana congressman says he has tried ardently to remain true to his core Biblical convictions.

“I’m doing the same thing as speaker as I did as a rank-and-file member of Congress, as I did as a state representative, and as a constitutional lawyer, and as a young guy in law school when you met me, this is who we are. We don’t separate our faith from who we are.”

Johnson said he doesn’t view how he does his job as much different than the nation’s founders. “While that seems radical right now, that’s exactly what previous generations of leaders in Congress did. I mean, they were overt about it. And so, while the media tries to portray me as some sort of unusual circus act or something, this is exactly what the Framers of the Constitution and previous generations did and believed and spoke like.”

The choice voters have this election season, Johnson said, could not be more different. “By our count … about 38 or 40 of these openly avowed, radical leftist Marxist ideologues have won their primaries in the Democratic Party, and that’s for Congress and state offices,” he said.

“This is a serious threat,” Johnson continued. “It’s not just isolated to New York City or San Francisco. This is across the country, and we have to be wary of that. And we have to defeat that ideology because it’s anti-American. And frankly, it is anti-God.”

During Johnson’s 19-minute acceptance speech in the House chamber on Oct. 25, 2023, following his election to the speaker’s post, the former religious liberty lawyer acknowledged the nation’s motto, “In God We Trust,” adorned above the rostrum. He reminded his fellow lawmakers then that the U.S. adopted the motto in 1956 largely as a rebuke of the Cold War-era Soviet Union’s atheistic philosophies of Marxism, communism and socialism.

Three years later, Johnson remains convinced that God is not done using America for His purposes. “I’m comforted by the reminder of John Quincy Adams,” Johnson told the summit attendees. “They called him the ‘hellhound of slavery’ because he ran for Congress after serving as president to try to eradicate slavery—and he wasn’t successful during his lifetime, but he planted the seeds so that the next generation could complete the job. But he reminded everyone, ‘duty is ours, results are God’s.’”

Decision Magazine, founded by Billy Graham in 1960, works through its website and monthly magazine to communicate the Gospel, as well as inform and challenge readers about key cultural and Biblical issues. Decision is also a Contributing Publisher to Harbinger’s Daily.

Source: House Speaker Johnson: The Midterms Are A Battle Between Two Completely Different Worldviews – Harbinger’s Daily