Are you "Progressive"

[pelathais]

Originally Posted by bishoph

Over the last couple of years, and here on this forum in the past few weeks I have witnessed the emergence of a new “buzz” word, namely, “Progressive.” Here is the dictionary’s definition: (I have deleted 9 definitions which did not apply)

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
pro·gres·sive [pruh-gres-iv] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
1. favoring or advocating progress, change, improvement, or reform, as opposed to wishing to maintain things as they are, esp. in political matters: a progressive mayor.
2. making progress toward better conditions; employing or advocating more enlightened or liberal ideas, new or experimental methods, etc.: a progressive community.
9. Medicine/Medical. continuously increasing in extent or severity, as a disease.
–noun

I remember hearing a camp evangelist introduce himself as a "progressive" almost 20 years ago. Later I heard another popular UPC speaker introduce himself almost verbatim with the same words. A few others over the years seemed to use the same intro. I remember wondering if all these guys had gotten together and had worked it all out. Then I seemed to realize that they were just feeding off of each other's passions. I have a family member that was among this group and so I figured that I would have heard some rumblings if it was all part of a planned coup. In time I really appreciated the rather broad range of opinions represented by this group. In American history, Teddy R. was "the great Progressive." Bully!

Originally Posted by bishoph

As I read and hear many use this term, I have become increasingly disturbed in my spirit by the redefining of what it means to be “progressive.” On the one hand, I believe that the church should be a truly progressive force in our world. We should favor and advocate progress, change, improvement, and reform, both on a personal and corporate basis. However, progress does not mean the abandonment of principles, morals, and values that are established by God. ...

These are the musings of a young old time preacher with a hunger for a return to the old paths.

I think I understand your angst. But our movement is a complex and dynamic force. Many of the blocks laid up in one structure were never present in another. So when you try to add one person's "old blocks" to another structure, they're entirely new and don't have the patina people are accustomed to seeing. When you say it is "old" many of those around you will be perplexed. You might even show a very old genealogy - but if the block was never a part of their structure, they won't accept it as old.

Also, so many of the things that were once heralded as great signs of "separation from the world" were really reactions against worldly fads. And worldly fads are fickle. To try and keep up with everything we would have to become fickle as well. I remember in the early 1980's being told not to wear skinny ties because "punk rockers" were wearing skinny ties. Then I'd look at a picture of a bunch of preachers from the 1950's/early 1960's and they were all wearing skinny ties.

I had a friend that moved from a snowy climate to a warmer climate. When it began to rain one day (and it really rained!) she had no better shoes to wear than her leather boots. People in the church were shocked. In their climate only prostitutes wore leather boots. Of course as women are want to do; they all used it as an excuse to go shoe shopping. It's funny how many of the ladies can settle their differences with a shoe shopping spree.

When you say "old paths" my heart jumps and longs for things that are eternal, not fickle. And please, I'm not saying that you're "fickle" or even that I disagree with you. I think we're actually hungering for some of the same things. It's just that over the years I've learned that to get to those "eternal" things I have to be willing to inspect my building blocks a little more carefully now. Just because it's someone else's heritage doesn't necessarily make it mine. In fact, sometimes it would be wrong for me to even claim it as my heritage (1 Kings 21 and 2 Kings 9).