#WeNeedToTalk: About Jesus

And why progressive Christians and conservative Christians view him so differently.

Photo by Jonny Swales on Unsplash

I had a realization on Easter that really helped me understand why conservative Christians and progressive Christians have such vastly different views of Jesus and what it means to follow him.

I posted something on my socials about what Easter means to me—how I’m not sure if Jesus physically rose from the dead, but my uncertainty doesn’t change my commitment to upholding his teachings in my life and work.

Almost immediately, I was bombarded with comments from conservative Christians telling me I wasn’t truly a Christian. To them, the resurrection is the entire point of Christianity. But to me, it’s about loving God and loving others—because those are the very values Jesus expressed.

Conservatives focus on the crucifixion, death and resurrection. Progressive Christians like myself focus on the life he lived and the impact he had when he was alive.

Many people in the evangelical space have been taught Christianity through the lens of sin and personal redemption, not through the lens of service and justice. That’s why redemption stories are everything to them: it’s about being persecuted, crucified, then rising again. That’s also probably why they show so much grace for Trump—they see him as a flawed, persecuted man who “rose again.” They rarely condemn wrongdoing, because their theology centers more on sin and forgiveness than on responsibility and transformation.

But it raises the question: who do conservative Christians consider worthy of forgiveness?

Conservative Christians don’t embrace the Jesus who healed others, challenged systems, uplifted the marginalized and made a real difference in people’s lives. Their Christianity is obsessed with sins, forgiveness and sacrifice. Progressive Christianity, on the other hand, is rooted in Jesus’s words, actions and the causes he stood for.

Some also cling to the idea that since Jesus is God, anything in the Old Testament—including violence, judgment, oppression—is something Jesus participated in and condoned. This leads to misinterpretations that justify hate, particularly toward things they fear, like gay marriage, trans rights or abortion. But Jesus never spoke against love or condemned people for being who they were. Ironically, the Old Testament includes God ending the lives of many children—yet conservative Christians weaponize scripture selectively.

Even if the crucifixion and resurrection are central, it still comes back to love. We love because he first loved us. That was his message. His greatest commandment wasn’t to believe in the resurrection, it was to love God and love others. Everything else, he said, hangs on that. If you believe in the resurrection then you should believe the power of the resurrection is that it demonstrated love—a selfless, radical love. God is love—not just someone who does loving things. His love should change us and push us to be people who serve others in a way that doesn’t put our own self interests first.

Conservative Christianity has also taught people they can be forgiven without ever being held accountable. The idea that you’re absolved by asking Jesus for forgiveness sets a dangerous precedent. It creates a faith with no accountability, no growth and no responsibility to do better.

It’s heartbreaking that for so many the only takeaway of Jesus’s life is that he died for our sins and rose from the dead, not what he lived for and why. To omit his entire life trajectory as if it doesn’t play a role in the story is to deeply misunderstand what it means to be a Christian.

If loving God and loving others isn’t at the center of your faith, then what exactly makes you a Christian? Because simply saying you believe Jesus died for our sins—therefore you are saved and leaving it at that—is lazy Christianity at best and it doesn’t emulate anything Jesus told us to do.

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