A blog post by Maggie Nancarrow describes the problem that Progressive Christians face in a world gone mad over red coffee cups.
How many times have you started a conversation by saying “I’m Christian, but I’m not…crazy/fundamentalist/mean/convinced that there is a war on Christmas”?
Nancarrow argues that beginning with “but I’m not” allows the very things that Progressive Christians are not to define what we might call “Regular Christianity.” Instead of offering a negative defence, Nancarrow suggests, let’s start declaring what we are, positively and out loud. Her examples include,
1 I am a Progressive Christian, and I believe that God loves me and you and everybody exactly as they are, unconditionally.
and
4 I am a Progressive Christian, because I believe that God rose from the dead in order to prove how much he [sic] loves us.
One might suggest that adding the qualifier “Progressive” itself undermines the normalizing of Nancarrow’s defining statements. Why not simply say,
7 I am a
ProgressiveChristian because I believe that through Jesus, God declared that death, hate and oppression are never the last word.
Citing Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s installation sermon as one of her influences, Nancarrow asks, “How are you reclaiming what the Jesus movement truly is?” Read the whole list here, then share your favorite positive ways of introducing yourself as a proud and unapologetic Progressive / Christian.