Expressive individualism. . ..

Our cultural move to a hyper-individualism focused upon the pragmatism with respect to the wants and needs of the individual in the moment has been well documented -- even celebrated.  It should not need to be defended here.  How deeply this expressive individual with its preoccupation on the felt needs or wants of the individual has affected Christianity and movements within Christianity is still being worked out.  It is not difficult, however, to see how many of the churches in America, and not only those who have a progressive or liberal bias, have capitulated to this expressive individualism both in the form and content of the worship and the doctrine or teaching of the faith.

Everywhere you look, the images of our society include those who live on the fringes merely by virtue of their numbers.  Yet those who are transitioning from one gender to another or adopting a non-binary view of gender and those who flaunt their divergence from the norm, such as drag queens, for example, have become the cultural icons of the moment.  It is pretty hard to argue that expressive individualism has not triumphed in the thinking and living of the West -- even among those who personally are not identified with these extremes.  How deeply this has infected the church depends upon which churches you are looking at.  The mainline Protestants (mostly liberal Christians) and even many “progressive” evangelicals appear to have conformed to the radical subjectivity of sexual desire and gender identity. They have adopted the view that Scripture and the teaching of the church must adapt to where people are at and follow the movement where people are going both in what is believed and how it is practiced.  The statistics tell us that such progressive and liberal mainline churches have not prospered in this move but have actually dwindled and, surprisingly, the more traditional churches in doctrine and practice and the adoption of the positions of culture are actually more demographically robust than those who have mirrored the world around them.

What is remarkable is that even these churches are not quite immune from all the pressures to adopt and be adept at maneuvering within the landscape of our modern world.  These churches have attempted to remain faithful to biblical orthodoxy but have they also allowed the spirit of pragmatism, consumerism, and individualism to prevail at the same time.  To what extent has their preaching and teaching focused more on the path to successful living rather than holiness of life and faithfulness amid challenge?  To what extent has their worship life reflected practices and music that emphasize the same over doctrine and faithfulness to the Biblical witness?  Look at these churches and what is both the soundtrack of their formal and informal devotional lives in the contemporary Christian music that sounds much like a secular playlist for the day.  Look at what their youth have understood to be the cardinal truths of their faith as they come of age in the world.  You will find more folks participating in the fitness centers and self-help groups of these churches than those willing to be taught what God says and how that truth neither depends upon nor changes by the faith of the individual.  Look at how easily they move from church to church in pursuit of something other than doctrinal orthodoxy.  What is all of this saying?

The indictment of modern liberal and Progressive Christianity does not depend upon nuance but is fairly and accurately defined by the shallowness of what passes for modern day preaching and teaching and the worship services which entertain more than they do anything else.  It was never about your children or grandchildren at least attending some church but always about which church and what that church believed or taught and how that church worshiped the Lord.  It might be that the church they are attending is doing a pretty good job of helping them depart from orthodox Christianity, from the solid truth of the Biblical witness, and from the categories of sin and forgiveness in which the Gospel lives.