The Danger of Progressive Christian Thought — Bad Christian Podcast Interview With Alisa Childers

​Recently, I was invited to come on the Bad Christian Podcast to talk about my article, 5 Signs Your Church Might be Heading Toward Progressive Christianity. As progressive-leaning Christians, the guys did not agree with my article but invited me on the show to discuss my views anyway. Even though we disagree on a lot of things, they were gracious and I think we had a fruitful conversation. Let me know what you think in the comments below!
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I tried, I tried to listen to the guys at BadChristian Podcast, but their posturing and “trying” to sound humble though pretty puffed up, was more than I can take. I came out of a super liberal background (probably the most liberal church out there), and can not take the lies. Thank you for walking in love and faith with your heart AND MIND, to go and share with these guys.

Hi Meg, so glad you are free from your liberal background, and that God protected you as you walked through that! Thank you for your kind words.

Hi Alisa. I’m a new listener to BC podcast. I’ve been listening to Pastors with No Answers with Joey for a while now. I like Joey’s honesty and transparency in wrestling with Christian doctrine and culture. On BC, I listened to the podcast where the three guys discussed your blog post on progressive Christianity. Honestly, I thought, “This poor lady doesn’t know what she got herself into.” Then I listened to this podcast episode where Joey interviews you, and I have to confess again that I thought you were going to repeat Evangelical mantras, and use common slogans, and sound like an alarming and upset fundamentalists. But you were none of those things. And I feel like I owe you an apology for stereotyping you. You were very thoughtful, intelligent, patient, and kind-hearted. Honestly, I don’t think Joey, Toby, and Matt would have expected you to be so well equipped and well-versed on debates about homosexuality. I think Preston Sprinkle would have been very proud of you. I think you did a fabulous job defending your position on same-sex practice and identity. I do agree with your position. I’ve been around those debates myself. I think you’re right that this discussion always leads to some kind of emotional or anecdotal appeal. I also think the “progressive christian” constantly conflates the debate between two issues: one’s theological opinion on same-sex practice and identity, and how one treats those who identify or practice same-sex orientation. It’s very difficult for many to see these as two separate issues. I think once we’re able to separate the issues, then there can more clarity on this issue.

Hi Jesse, what kind and thoughtful words! I’m so glad you found the podcast helpful, and have found my blog. Welcome!

You took the words out of my mouth, Jesse. Thank you, Alisa, for being a patient and loving voice of truth and willing to stand up for what so many of us (still) believe.

Soooo… Were you able to check out those links on hell? If so what are your thoughts?

Hi Justin, yes I read the article. Obviously, I’m not Eastern Orthodox and have my disagreements with some of their theology. (We could trade articles back and forth all day on all things related to God’s wrath, penal substitutionary atonement, and hell.) Ryan asked how prevalent the view of the article is, and I have encountered it, or some iteration of it quite a bit. Like I said in the podcast, my particular view of hell (Eternal Conscious Torment) is not the only one, but a denial of hell altogether was the issue at hand. In my opinion, any view that denies hell or leads to universalism or universal reconciliation is not within the bounds of orthodoxy.

The comments they made in just the first hour about homosexuality are truly unreal. I feel like it’s clear that they care MORE about how delicately they treat others then they care about preaching the true gospel. I give you a ton of credit for standing your ground and I really hope your appearance on the podcast leaves a long term effect on them and the listeners.

Just out of curiosity, what do you consider “the true gospel”?

Hi Alisa. I sent you an email regarding this, but I hope this comment finds you faster. I had a questions about the hypothetical situation you talked about during this podcast of the two women in church who enter into a romantic relationship. When asked how you would handle this situation, you reference Matthew 18:15-17, where Jesus gives instructions on how to handle conflict in the church. You touched on the topic of some portions of the Bible having discrepancies as well in this podcast, and it seems like this verse is one of them! Lots of translations I read said ” If your brother sins against you…” and in the footnotes said “later mss added ‘against you'”. This changes the whole message of this verse! One could argue that the two women in the church are sinning against God, but not against you, which would void any type of conflict resolution needing to happen at all. However if the “against you” is omitted, what you said in the podcast would be correct; they would need to be approached. My question is do you have any information on why some translations include this and some omit it? When going through a few different translations, I did notice that most of them did include the “against you”, even though it was found in later manuscripts. I’m sure you can see how this completely changes the heart of the scripture, and is an important instruction for how we handle sin in churches. I’d love any feedback.

Hi Michelle, thanks for your comment and question! Regarding that question on the Bad Christian podcast, to be honest, I think I flubbed that one. It’s always kind of bugged me. First of all, I wish I would have answered a bit differently because it’s very difficult to give an answer to a hypothetical situation, and I don’t like to deal in hypotheticals. Also, our internet connection went out during this question after I had spent about 3 or 4 minutes talking about relationship and a discipleship approach. When we got re-connected we decided to just start fresh with the question, and I forgot to say all the stuff I had said before we were disconnected. So I think my answer came of a bit trite. Wish I had a redo on that question! Regarding the verse, it’s probably a textual variant which is why it’s different in different translations.

Here’s the thing about liberal Christians; they’re morally ambiguous. I come from a very strict Christian background, and not the good kind. I’m talking the kind where you grow up, paint yourself like Gene Simmons, and start burning churches in the name of Satan, while shrieking.😆
The funny thing about that is…I never did any of that (OKAY OKAY, so I wrote a black metal demo in 2018; it wasn’t satanic and I’m very proud of it😂). I “identify” as “philosophically agnostic, morally Christian”; meaning that my faith is in VERY low supply, but I’m not crossing over into the morally ambiguity of atheism and the Left. By all rights I should be a militant atheist. My upbringing was very restrictive (unnecessarily) and because of the propaganda I was fed (and was then repeating to other people) pretty much all of the neighborhood kids had completely disowned me by the time I was 9.

Why am I giving my life story?😂
Well, I’m trying to make the point that moral ambiguity is a weak minded choice. A person can live their childhood under religious fundamentalism and not become an atheist or a “progressive Christian”. I can’t speak for the guys at BCPC, and I’m not saying I disagree with everything they say, but I actively despise liberal Christianity; I think it’s a cancer. The fun part is that I can say without a shadow of a doubt that I formed that view on my own, with no religious “brainwashing” to influence me. For all the things I was told and restricted from as a kid, I always knew how thighs were, deep down. Even if I was completely messed up on the surface, deep down in my heart of hearts, I knew.
When I look at the “progressives” I see people out to abolish morality, and the lines we should never cross; the lines that I myself have crossed, and continue to cross knowing that it’s wrong (nobody’s perfect, especially me).
My main rant is against those who, unlike me, don’t even see the moral lines. It’s one thing to cross a moral line and feel guilty; it’s another to blatantly defy the line and not even care, and then dump on those that see the line.
Alright, I’m done.😆👍