Welcome to this week’s edition of Progressive Christianity Watch. We’ve got plenty to talk about today.
Let’s start out with one of the most beloved creators of children’s entertainment who has allowed his Trump Derangement Syndrome not only to affect his politics but also to transform him into one of those Christians who believe that big-government solutions are the only way to take care of the poor.
VeggieTales came after my time, but Millennial and Gen Z Christian kids learned a lot about the Bible from it. Nowadays, the show’s creator, Phil Vischer, is just another progressive Christian. He recently took to X to lament cuts to foreign aid:
Other programs canceled by Trump admin:
— Phil Vischer (@philvischer) March 3, 2025
- Distribution of food supplement for severely malnourished children
- Distribution malaria prevention resources
- Prenatal care for vulnerable mothers and kids
- Tracking spread of ebola and bird flu
Obviously, none of this is pro-life.
In a small way, he has a point, but commenters took him to task for co-opting pro-life terminology, including one who pointed out that Vischer’s rhetoric would especially delight progressive Christians.
Phil, you know I like you, but it’s genuinely evil to attempt to rhetorically undermine the pro-life movement by co-opting the term to stretch it beyond the abortion debate (with which is has always been associated).
— John William Sherrod (@jwsherrod) March 3, 2025
You’re doing the work of the pro-choice side by essentially…
However, the most pernicious thing about Vischer’s statement is that he believes that the only solution to these issues is taxpayer money. Nowhere in the Bible does God command us to give money to the government to take care of the poor. It doesn’t take a mind that comes up with talking vegetables to figure that out.
Previously on Progressive Christianity Watch: Does Donald Trump Make It Harder for You to Study Your Bible?
It never ceases to amaze me how progressive Christians will twist scripture to try to make Jesus into a radical. This time, we’re going to Dallas and checking out First United Methodist Church.
This church includes two gay associate pastors. One of them is a woman (shocker) who is married to a woman who pastors at another church, and the other one is a man who lives with his boyfriend and “enjoys advocating for affordable housing” as a hobby. (Some people know how to have fun!)
Side note: Aside from the lesbian pastor thing, the idea that these two women work and serve at different churches doesn't sit well with me. Is it just a job to them? Are they merely showing up at the workplace and not seeing church as a place to worship with families? I don't get it.
But it’s another pastor who played fast and loose with scripture in a recent sermon. Rev. Anthony Tang was preaching about how Jesus took the Old Testament law to the next level, specifically citing a passage in the Sermon on the Mount:
You have heard that it was said, "You shall not commit adultery." But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
Matthew 5:27-30 (ESV)
“In the Mosaic Law, really, the only ones who could be accused of breaking that law were married women sleeping with [or] having intercourse with a married or unmarried man,” Tang claimed. “But the guilty one was still just the woman. You see how Jesus is kind of breaking this up and radicalizing it?”
This is a novel.
— Protestia (@Protestia) March 3, 2025
UMC impastor explains that Jesus doesn't defend the 10 Commandments, "because they've been used to hurt people" while saying that the only people who could be accused of breaking the commandments against adultery were married women, until Jesus changed it. pic.twitter.com/sgQXbQrAKR
The problem with Tang’s assertion is that it’s simply not true. Leviticus 20:10 says, “If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.” Furthermore, the commandment doesn’t say, “Ladies, you shall not commit adultery.”
“Jesus’ teachings expanded the OT law to address matters of the heart,” explains the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary. “Adultery has its origins within (Matt. 15:19), and lust is as much a violation of the law’s intent as is illicit sexual intercourse (Matt. 5:27–28).”
I can’t decide if Tang is lying about scripture or if he’s ignorant of it. Either way, his misinterpretation of scripture doesn’t make Jesus a radical. Jesus’ words marked a paradigm shift, but it wasn’t the work of a radical. It was the authority of the Son of God.
Related: Christianity Today CEO Denies Left-Wing Funding and Bias From Atop His High Horse
Finally, we turn to the low-hanging fruit of progressive Christianity. Some people love to dish out insults and call names, but they can’t take it. One of those people is Christianity Today’s Mike Cosper. The writer and podcast host decided to call Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) a name in reaction to the governor’s statement about Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump:
Coward https://t.co/pOFMdeG5Cr
— Mike Cosper (@MikeCosper) March 1, 2025
Cosper was way out of line to refer to a man who served his country and regularly faces down his opposition without fear as a coward. And it’s not just me saying that; Tom Ascol, pastor of Grace Baptist and president of Founders Ministries, thought so, too. Ascol used a Greek term to refer to Cosper:
Malakoi https://t.co/HH2RqZG7aL
— Tom Ascol @tomascol (@tomascol) March 3, 2025
The word “malakoi” means soft. The Apostle Paul uses it in 1 Corinthians 6:9 to refer to gay men, but that’s not the only meaning of the word. However, that’s how Cosper took it.
“I’m bummed their president feels the need to throw a slur implying homosexuality at me because he didn’t like my take on his governor’s servile response to the Zelensky/Trump meeting in the Oval Office,” Cosper posted on X. Notice in that quote how Cosper managed to get in another dig at DeSantis.
Ascol used Proverbs 26:5 to justify his use of an insult: “Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.”
Side note: Proverbs 26:4 reads, “Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.” So I’m not defending Ascol’s insult; it’s easy to argue that he’s equally out of line.
Ascol also explained in a sermon from a few years ago that a man doesn’t have to be gay to be “malakoi”:
Here’s a “community note” for you:
— Jon (@OzarksJon) March 4, 2025
No, @tomascol did not use a homosexual slur.
Both the “left” and the “right” are twisting his criticism of @MikeCosper into something that it never was.
I have provided a short, edited clip from years ago where Tom defines exactly what he… https://t.co/VQnr8IgkRt pic.twitter.com/mgGRScjJJ1
It's worth pointing out that Cosper was the mind behind the podcast “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.” It was a compelling podcast that nevertheless suffered from Cosper’s digs at Trump, conservatism in general, and traditional notions of masculinity. If he’s going to try to come across as a big man and call an American hero a coward, he ought to be able to take someone else calling him soft.
That's it for this week, but you know I'll dig up more. So stay tuned!
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