Is 'The Sparkle Creed' Proof of the 'Decline of Christianity'?

Every so often, we hear about a progressive Christian leader who says something outrageous and downright heretical. The latest case is Rev. Rachel Small Stokes, pastor of Immanuel United Church of Christ in Louisville, Ky. The United Church of Christ is a far-left denomination; it’s actually the denomination where Barack and Michelle Obama attended church when they lived in Chicago — until his toxic pastor began hogging the headlines.

In an undated clip courtesy of Woke Preacher Clips on Twitter (an essential follow), Stokes has her congregation stand and recite what she calls “The Sparkle Creed.”

"Let us confess our faith today in the words of the Sparkle Creed" pic.twitter.com/CXeQQZvhbC

— Woke Preacher Clips (@WokePreacherTV) June 27, 2023

Here’s the text of the creed, which Stokes wrote herself in 2021:

I believe in the non-binary God whose pronouns are plural.

I believe in Jesus Christ, their child, who wore a fabulous tunic and had two dads, and who saw everyone as a sibling child of God.

I believe in the rainbow Spirit, who shatters our image of one white light and refracts it into a rainbow of gorgeous diversity.

I believe in the church of everyday saints, as numerous, creative, and resilient as patches on the AIDS quilt, whose feet are grounded in mud and whose eyes gaze at the stars in Wonder.

I believe in the calling to each of us, that love is love is love, so beloved, let us love.

I believe, glorious God. Help my unbelief.

Amen.

Yes, it’s ridiculous, and yes, it’s a prime example of what happens when churches defer to ever-changing culture over the timeless truth of scripture. Progressive Christianity has taken over many of the so-called “mainline denominations,” and it’s why these denominations are on the decline.

Over at HotAir, my colleague David Strom wrote about this phenomenon, and he asserts that wokeness in some churches is proof of the “decline of Christianity,” as his headline suggests. He writes:

Christianity still exists, but for the most part, it is subordinate to the larger culture rather than driving it. Catholicism, more by its nature as the world’s oldest bureaucracy and its centralization than through stubbornness and adherence to the Word, remains countercultural to some extent. Protestant churches–not all, but vast numbers–are now gathering places for the “spiritually woke.”

This is a gross generalization, and not a knock on Protestantism as an idea. It is, however, true that Protestant churches have much greater theological flexibility because Luther argued that every man is his own priest. Doctrine is a slippery idea without a bureaucracy to back it up.

He makes a bit of a fair point, but I must respectfully disagree with part of his premise. First of all, “vast numbers” is a bit of an exaggeration. I don’t have exact numbers — and I’m sure David doesn’t either — but progressive Christians like Rev. Stokes are a minority in the faith.

To suggest that Protestantism is some sort of “Wild West” of theology that serves as a breeding ground for ideas like these may be fair to a certain point, but we can’t blame Protestantism for the United Church of Christ and other progressive pockets of Christianity.

Sure, Protestantism is a “big tent,” to borrow the political terminology, and while there are plenty of theological perspectives across denominations and non-denominational churches, the vast majority of Protestants agree on the basic tenets of Christianity, and we even share most of those common beliefs with our Catholic brothers and sisters, which is why I’m excited that my friend and colleague Stephen Kruiser and I are discussing faith issues monthly on the Kruiser Kabana podcast.

Podcast for our VIPs: Kruiser Kabana #218: New Monthly Faith Episode With Chris Queen!

Not a VIP yet? Click here to become one!

However, heterodox ideas — from theological liberalism to downright heresy — have been a small part of the fabric of Christianity since shortly after the church began, both in Protestantism and Catholicism. The early church fathers were constantly putting out fires of heresy as they worked to solidify the basics of orthodoxy. Unfortunately, as long as fallible humans are part of the church, we’ll always have pockets of heresy here and there.

But does all of this signal the “decline of Christianity”? Far from it. While the American church is sadly on the downslope, the church in places like Asia and Africa is on fire, the flames stoked by persecution. Besides, Christians know that, while we might lose some of the battles, God wins the war:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:1-4 (ESV)

Much like the remnant of faithful people that God saved for Elijah when he was fleeing from wicked King Ahab, there will always be believers who are committed to the truth, no matter how wicked our culture gets.