Progressivism from the Pulpit
How a lack of basic Biblical principles in America's "Christian" clergy has created an overly political hodgepodge of beliefs
Syncretism - the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought, which involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thus asserting an underlying unity and allowing for an inclusive approach to other faiths. While syncretism in art and culture is sometimes likened to eclecticism, in the realm of religion, it specifically denotes a more integrated merging of beliefs into a unified system, distinct from eclecticism, which implies a selective adoption of elements from different traditions without necessarily blending them into a new, cohesive belief system.
One of the most interesting happenings of Inauguration Week wasn’t necessarily the speeches and events Trump gave and hosted, or the Executive Orders, or ICE rolling out deportations literally on the first day of business… No, what ended up being one of the most moving, shaking, controversial topics of the week was the Service of Prayer for the Nation at the Washington National Cathedral. And while we’ll get to the specifics of that sermon and what roused controversy on both sides of the political aisle, I’d first like to look at some statistics that I think help explain why Christianity finds itself in the position where politics and progressive idealism have replaced theology in the pulpits of America’s churches.
In 2022 the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University conducted a nationwide survey1 of Christian pastors to see how many hold to a biblical worldview, or “a philosophy of life that largely reflects biblical principles.” What the survey revealed was that only about 37%2 of American pastors possess a biblical worldview. Instead the overwhelming majority hold a worldview that is called Syncretism, which I defined at the beginning of this piece. A short explanation of Syncretism would be a blending of different worldviews based on the personal preference of the individual pastor. What might be even more concerning when looking at the statistics on this is digging further in to the difference categories of pastors. For instance, only 12% of children’s/youth pastors hold a Biblical worldview, while 13% of teaching pastors hold the same. And potentially worst of all, only 4% of executive pastors maintain a Biblical worldview. In many instances it is the executive pastor who is responsible for leading the formal employees of the church and implementing the mission and vision of the church, which in cases such as that of the Episcopal Church are set by their General Convention and then handed down to the affiliated congregations.
Which brings me more in to focus on the Episcopal Church and why I believe it has become a progressive sounding board rather than a missionary of the Bible. While the pastors often use Biblical trappings and find ways to cherry pick specific scriptures to match the “message” they aim to deliver, the church as a whole has engaged itself in politics from the pulpit. The church’s website (episcopalchurch.org) often has most of the space on its front page dedicated either to internal politics of positions within the larger church organization, or letters from those filling those positions giving their opinions of Donald Trump and other Republican political figures (there is virtually never a write-up about a Democrat). It is also the official position of the Episcopal General Convention to fully support unrestricted abortion, and has been since the 1960s.
All of this brings us back to the Service of Prayer for the Nation and the Bishop Mariann Budde. It would have been one thing if this was merely a plea to care for the sick and displaced as we’re called to in the Bible. It could have been taken as her “preaching the gospel faithfully as she has interpreted it in her own home church.”3 It could have been a moment for Conservative Christians to think about the moment we’re living in and take time to consider the actions of an administration and think about a potentially more gracious way forward. Except that, when delivering a message, you have to consider not just the message itself but also the messenger. Perhaps it would have come across less incredulous if it weren’t for the fact that Bishop Mariann Budde has been crusading across network news programs against Donald Trump since 2018. When Trump called her "a Radical Left hard line Trump hater" who "brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way” it wasn’t just in reference to this single sermon. It also didn’t help the Right Bishop’s cause when, before the ink even had time to dry on the transcripts of her “sermon,” she was already going on CNN to get patted on the back for standing up to the horrible Orange Man.
NPR4 and MSNBC and all of the most liberal rags were lining up to sing her praises before the day was even done. And then she went on to do the rounds on all of the same programs and stations she’s been going on for the past 6 years to tell the world how evil Donald Trump is to get her congratulations for telling him to his face. I’m sorry, but it seems to me it should be hard for anyone who’s not suffering from outright TDS to look at this and not think “yes, this was making her faith into something political.”
Pastors have overwhelmingly taken a worldview of syncretism as we’ve moved further in to the 21st century. While that may not mean explicitly progressive idealism over puritanical theology, what it often does amount to is pastors choose to blend more and more of their own political beliefs and personal ideologies in to their messaging, rather than stick strictly to what the Bible says and the theological interpretations of the time and context of the books and verses. They make it about them and their message rather than it being about God and His word. And I’m not saying this exclusively applies to progressive pastors either. Be wary of anyone preaching something based on opinion that’s not directly tied to scripture and history.
What’s especially frustrating about the Bishop’s message was the cries of innocence for everyone being “targeted” by Trump’s executive orders, and yet the orders exclusively target those who aren’t innocent…the literal criminals here in this country illegally who have terrorized and taken the lives of innocent, in many cases churchgoing, young women. The Right Bishop didn’t have anything to say for those innocents though… (look it up, if you find something send it to me, because I can’t find a peep from her about any of them that have happened over the past 4 years)
www.arizonachristian.edu/2022/08/30/basic-biblical-beliefs-lacking-among-most-pastors-in-all-u-s-denominations/
www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/AWVI2022_Release05_Digital.pdf
www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10160815303852187&id=576442186&rdid=7WOAeNoYn1pHEvrx#
www.npr.org/2025/01/21/nx-s1-5270031/bishop-mariann-edgar-budde-confronts-trump-in-sermon