One of the ways in which I continue to be challenged is to how willing I am to be open to change. I believe that I should be always changing, always questioning my beliefs, always looking for better ways to do things, even better ways to make other lives better. I believe that the Bible is a progressive book and so therefore my faith and spiritual life should also be progressive.
Having grown up in more of a fundamentalist background, I take a lot of flack over this. I have friends and some family tell me how "back slidden" I am and that I need to come back to the "real" truth. When I try to question something, I am told that they simply know what is truth. I'm over that. I have more questions about the Bible than I have answers and I love the uneasy tension of that. It forces me to seek out His answers and to worship Him, and not the Book.
I said that the Bible is a progressive book. From the Old Testament to the New Testament alone one can see so many changes. In the Old, you killed all of your enemies. In the New, we are told to love them. In the Old men had many wives and were often commanded to do so. In the New, at least the ministers could only have one wife. In the Old women were seen as pieces of property. In the New we find that their rights are greatly expanded and women were even a part of Jesus' inner circle.
For myself and many others, we do not believe that progress should stop there. For example, in the New we find that slavery was still acceptable within the church and within that culture. Today's church fights hard against all forms of slavery. In the New, women still were not allowed to speak or to be heard. And yet the Word clearly states that there is no difference between male and female and so many in the church take that seriously today. Women now have the right to vote. They now have a voice. For a progressive, the right to equal pay for the equal work of men is next.
The Bible was never meant to be a stagnant book, stuck in time. It was meant to be progressive and Jesus wants that progress to continue. The Kingdom of God, we are told, is to continue to grow until it is felt in every remote part of our societies. We are to seek to bring more and more justice to all areas of life. Slavery, although in the Bible, is not justice. Women, being treated as pieces of property, although recognized in the Bible, is not justice. Health care for all, in the richest nation on earth, is justice. Reducing our thirst for a national war machine is justice. The list goes on.
I find that because people hear that I am progressive in my views, that they write me off. They say that I am trying to destroy the Christian faith with my "liberal ideas," that I focus to much on social justice, that I support equal rights with no discrimination for all people, not just a few. Fundamentalism focuses on a salvation prayer, abortion and homosexuality to the neglect of so many more issues. Fundamentalism is a religion that is desperately trying to hold on to a precious few ideas that may or may not be wrong to the exclusion of the meatier issues which will actually grow them in their faith.
I am a progressive. I attempt to follow Jesus and His teachings. I attempt to make this country and this world a better place in which to live. I refuse to be stuck in the Old or New Testaments. I use them both to spring into even more progress for the cause of humankind and for the Kingdom of God.
Blessings,
David
PS: Here is a great quick article that I challenge you to read if you want to know more about 4 ways in which fundamentalist get progressives all wrong.
http://www.faithstreet.com/onfaith/2014/08/07/4-ways-christian-fundamentalists-get-progressive-christianity-shockingly-wrong/33537
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