So, yesterday’s post has generated lots of great suggestions for a label to replace “Progressive” Christian. Below is a survey in which you can vote for your favorite. But before we get there:
- Yes, we need a label. Words shape us; words do things; words have power. It’s no mistake that conservatives have captured the term “evangelical.” They did that because they know that words matter.
- Calling yourself a “Christian” or a “follower of Christ” is fine, but when your local paper quotes you in an article about the next presidential election, they’re going to put a qualifier on that, whether you like it or not. Trust me, the organizers of the Wild Goose Festival didn’t want it to be considered primarily a gathering of “emergent Christians,” but that’s what it said in every news report.
- We can’t be “post-evangelical” or “post-conservative,” because then we’re just defining ourselves over against others.
- Of the suggestions that came in, I have chosen five for a vote. I eliminated the non-theological terms (except for one), and I eliminated the theological-but-obscure (soterial, basieleia, hodosian).
- I already have my favorite, but let’s see what you think.
Please vote below, and feel free to justify you vote in the comments (and rally others to your cause!):