On Wednesday Night, March 29^th, we will be studying the new trend in Christianity called “Progressive” Evangelicals. I was recently given an article in Charisma Magazine by Chelsen Vicari describing the “expanding gulf between traditional Christian teachings and contemporary moral values.” Chelsen describes this “gulf” as more than just a difference in style of music or better technology used in worship services. She sees the message of the contemporary church changing to try to be tolerant of the non-Christian culture in order to keep evangelical kids from leaving the faith. But the result is a compromise of the Gospel. She sees 3 types of evangelical Christians emerging from this “progressive” movement in the church:

1)Couch-potato Christians: These Christians adapt to the culture by staying silent on the tough culture-and-faith discussions [i.e. Abortion, Same-sex marriage, Jesus is the ONLY way to Heaven]. Typically, this group will downplay God’s absolute truths by promoting the illusion that neutrality was Jesus’ preferred method of evangelism.

2)Cafeteria-style Christians: This group picks and chooses which Scripture passages to live by, opting for the ones that best seem to jive with culture. Typically, they focus solely on the “nice” [Feel Good!] parts of the gospel while simultaneously and intentionally minimizing sin, hell, repentance and transformation.

3)Convictional Christians: In the face of the culture’s harsh admonitions, these evangelicals refuse to be silent. Mimicking Jesus, they compassionately talk about love and grace while also sharing with their neighbors the need to recognize and turn from sin.

The author of the article documents how the trend among young evangelicals is more toward “Couch-Potato & Cafeteria-style Christians” and less toward “Convictional Christians.”  She says “All across this nation, ‘old- fashioned’ conservative evangelicalism is being traded in for a bright and shiny, mediocre Christianity.”

Chelsen goes on to make the point that the reason that young evangelicals are choosing a watered down version of the Christian faith is because maybe the older generation of Pastors, Youth Ministers, Volunteer Leaders and Parents may not be “Convictional Christians” either. Maybe the older generation of Christians are not as strong in the faith as we want to admit.

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