Man, oh man...where do I start (thanks for the link, btw!)
The "Christian Left" website/organization (by glancing at their page) appears to be a group of Christians who espouse "Leftist" or "Liberal" political and social viewpoints--and bits of other things (website statements in
blue).
Please note, there will be a bit of sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek comments on my part.
We’re Christians. We’re Liberal. We make no apologies. In fact Jesus' ways are “Liberal.” That’s why He was killed. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were the conservatives of their time.
People have tried making Jesus a "political Messiah"--certain followers in 33 AD who wanted an earthly Messiah who would defeat the Roman Empire and take back Jerusalem, the Liberation Theologists of the 20th Century, etc.
Jesus Christ is not a political Messiah, and I reject that He was the standard-bearer for modern liberals and the Pharisees and Saducees stood in the place of modern conservatives. Jesus wasn't crucified because He was "liberal" (and I'd like to see their definition of "liberal" for Jesus here), Christ was killed because 1) It was in the Divine Plan. No Sacrifice, no Redemption 2) Those who rejected Him did so out of fear of losing their earthly power/prestige, or fear of having their sins exposed, or of their love of darkness rather than the Light.
Holding the view that Christ was some type of social-political Messiah with a cool spiritual ideal is what leads people to start proclaiming that "Well, Christ REALLY didn't come to die on the Cross...He really came to teach us how to live, and they just rejected Him and it turned out that way."
See, it wasn’t just Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection that matter. It was his life too! The life he lived is a huge part of the deal, and he asked us to do a few things if you look at his words. Not only is what Jesus said the Word of God, but what Jesus DID is also the Word of God. Looking at the life of Jesus we see that Jesus made room for those cut off from the rest of society. Jesus put a name and a face on all who had been forgotten or pushed aside, even the dead. Jesus called us to carry our cross daily and follow him. That’s what Social Justice means.
A noble goal indeed. God expects compassion and mercy of us. In the early Church, this was especially true because the ancient Romans looked upon forgiveness, mercy, etc. as weaknesses and undesirable qualities. When they left their infants in the streets to die, Christians would take them in and care for them. Christians fed the hungry, and cared for the sick and downtrodden. Christians started the University system and hospitals in the West.
Scripture says that God heals the broken heart, and I think that's beautiful. If God cares about us with such perfect love and compassion, then as His children we ought to do the same
.
The Christian Left holds that social justice, renunciation of power, humility, forgiveness, and private observation of prayer (as opposed to publicly mandated prayer), are mandated by the Gospel (Matthew 6:5-6). The Bible contains accounts of Jesus repeatedly advocating for the poor and outcast over the wealthy, powerful, and religious. The Christian Left maintains that such a stance is relevant and important.
"Social Justice" is a political activity and ideology, not theology or moral virtue. "Renunciation of power" is meaningless because power in and of itself is not evil (abuse of power is). Private prayer is good, but Christians are also called to pray publicly (i.e., worshiping at church). Yes, Jesus cared for the poor and outcast, but His criticism of the wealthy and powerful wasn't because they possessed wealth and power--it was because they loved these things more than God. Ah, and there we go, "religious" (I'm not
religious, I'm spiritual!). Nothing wrong with being religious.
The Christian Left sometimes differs from other Christian political groups on issues including homosexuality. This is often not a matter of different religious ideas, but one of focus — viewing the prohibitions against killing, or the criticism of concentrations of wealth, as far more important than social issues emphasized by the religious right, such as opposition to active homosexuality. In this case, similar to philosophies expressed by writers such as C.S. Lewis, these members of the Christian Left believe homosexual sex to be overemphasized when compared with issues relating to social justice, or even matters of sexual morality involving heterosexual sex. Bottom Line: We welcome ALL to their place at God’s table, just as they are. All means ALL. No exceptions. We reject all attempts to define our Faith by the two wedge issues of Gay Marriage and Abortion.
Now we're getting into the REAL reason the Christian Left is set against those "rule obsessed religious people." They do not accept that homosexuality is sinful and that we should resist legitimizing gay marriage. Note (on the site) that they are against war (which they call militarism) but they say they choose to put "less emphasis" on abortion (isn't abortion one of the worst forms of unjustified killing or murder?).
The Christian Left doesn’t get uptight about the same things as their right-wing brothers and sisters. Lefties tend to accept that we’re all trapped in the human condition, that we all struggle, and that we’re all sinners. They tend to focus on behaviors that Jesus focused on while he was here in body -- things like hypocrisy, organized oppression, exorbitant greed, self-righteousness, judgmentalism, selfishness, abuse of power, violence, etc.
While Our Lord definitely addressed these issues, He is also the only person in the Bible to preach/reference Hell around 15 times. I'm curious as to why the only person to speak about Hell the most in His teachings are suddenly ignored in order to "focus" on rich people and the attempt to equate conservatives/righties with the Pharisees. I see this as nothing more than an attempt to justify Christian Leftism because there are so many moral and doctrinal problems with this ideology. In other words, "Christian Left" ideology is incompatible in several ways with the Gospel, with Scripture, and the teachings of many Christian churches.
Matthew 22:34-40 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
You can't love God without keeping His commandments. Love is tied in with Justice. Morality is ordered toward the love of God. Their interpretation of this passage is an attempt to divorce morality from love of God and service of God.
The Christian Left rejects exclusivity. We believe that John the Baptist wasn’t kidding when he proclaimed the coming of Jesus saying, “and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” We firmly believe that all means ALL. The exclusionary gospel of the Christian Right is foreign to us. We do not recognize it. Jesus came to set the captives free and announce the arrival of the peaceable kingdom of God where ALL are welcomed. Like a member of The Christian Left (Shannon Maynard) has said, one of our favorite words in the Bible is “whosoever.”
In other words, they believe the Gospel isn't the only way to salvation. Oh, shame on those "religious" hypocrites who teach otherwise.
Unfortunately in this country today, we have a sort of spiritual revival of the Pharisees --people who don’t want to practice love, grace, or compassion, but would rather try to bury people under legalistic demands that they themselves aren’t capable of keeping.
::Raising my hand:: Let me guess who they're going to define these people as?
Culturally crusading right-wing Christians have substituted the Gospel of Jesus Christ for a Gospel of Morality.
Because Jesus and morality don't mix, haven't ya heard?
They've made it more about following rules than loving God (having a relationship with Christ) and loving their fellow brothers and sisters. This is unacceptable.
Sounds familiar?
They are drained by the shame [the Gospel of Morality] produces. Far too many are repulsed by this false religious system they can't live up to.
The Gospel is the Gospel, and it is one. You can't divide it. We are called to acts of Justice and Charity,
and acts of righteousness. The most charitable thing we can do for people is to lead them to Christ so that their souls may be saved. This cannot be compromised, diluted, or reworked as spiritual Marxism.
Whoa, they are, huh?
this is so sad!!!!
I think that their intentions are for the best but they came down on me hard
And I simply want there to absolutely no mistake by anyone who comes across this thread in the future, which comments are theirs and which are yours, for yours stands out as the Truth.
Hey Little Summer. I'm not angry. Just putting it out there, that's all. 
