On March 3rd, 2026, James Talarico defeated the flamboyant Jasmine Crocket in the Democratic primary for one of the US Senate seats in Texas. Time will tell if he will be successful in the general election, but he has quickly become a hope for political progressives in a state that has consistently voted conservative. To have success in Texas has traditionally been linked with being Christian, at least in the cultural sense, but Talarico is banking on a new generation of voters that will embrace not only a progressive political ideology, but a progressive Christianity.
It is not unusual for people to challenge “orthodoxy” within Christianity. Most Christian denominations in the West have not only been challenged on matters that are “doctrinal” in nature, such as the deity of Christ or the reality of the Resurrection, but also on moral matters, such as the meaning of Christian marriage or the boundaries of a Christian sexual ethic. Many denominations have shifted positions on these issues in order to more closely align with cultural norms, and when those larger denominations shift it makes the news. There is nothing the mainstream media enjoys more than bolstering the myth of the inevitability of progressives ideology.
Is James Talarico actually a Christian? To answer that, we must ask whether or not Christianity is something that evolves or something that stays static. Is it something that changes with the times or something that is timeless? I have been hearing all of my life about how “outdated” the church is, and that if the church doesn’t change it won’t attract young people. Now there are certainly ways in which the Christian Church (I use that term as a broad category, feel free to substitute “biblical Christianity” or “orthodoxy” or another term) can make alterations without affecting its essence. For example, most local congregations utilize technological innovations. Most evangelical churches use a modern style of music. Most facilities are updated with new HVAC and modern décor, etc… While the wisdom in even these outward issues could attract some intramural debate, they generally live in the world of externals and are not issues that make it into the news cycle. But to make a claim about the Christian sexual ethic, or to suggest that the incarnation supports a pro-choice political stance, are claims that go beyond the color of the carpet.
Defining Christianity
James Talarico is just one example of someone who believes that secular, progressive ideology is compatible with Christianity. Without putting words into his mouth, I believe the general idea is that Christianity should “progress” along similar lines as the culture, rejecting positions on sexuality that belong “in the past”. In this way, Talarico can claim a sort of righteousness on behalf of his political ideology while also persuading Christians that voting for him is actually consistent with Christianity.
Is there such a thing as “Christianity”, and if so what are its boundaries such that we might say to someone, “I know you are going by the name of Christian, but you are not a Christian.” Now, this may smack of arrogance to many who have long ceased using their brains, but follow me here: If what makes an individual a Christian is that he calls himself a Christian, then being a Christian doesn’t actually mean anything. “Christianity” must be distinct from “not-Christianity”, otherwise it has no value as a signifier of meaning.
What then, is a Christian? For the sake of public life, when an individual calls himself a Christian, he should mean that he follows the teachings of Christ as revealed in the Scriptures. To put it another way, he must be a man who believes the things contained in the Bible and at some level, try to live according to those truths. If the Bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin (which it does), then the Christian is someone who believes that homosexuality is a sin. If the Bible teaches that Christ resurrected from the dead, then the Christian is someone who believes that Christ rose from the dead. This is not complicated. If you want to be a Christian, then you must actually…be a Christian! You must confess that Christ is Lord and live under His authority, believing the things which He taught and living according to His principles. By this definition, James Talarico is simply not a Christian. And I can say that not as a particularly moral judgment, but just as a matter of common sense and reality.
What About Progress?
In politics, it is relatively normal for a political party to change in such a way that one might hear something like, “The Republican (or Democrat) Party today isn’t the same Republican party that I belonged to thirty yeas ago.” Certainly the Democrats of the 2020’s hold very different positions than the democrats of the 1990’s or the Democrats of the 1860’s, and the same could be said of the Republicans. But this does not hold true of Christianity because whereas a political party’s desire to maintain power requires it to change with its membership, Christianity doesn’t work like that. Because Christianity is based on an immutable (unchanging) God who gave us an all-authoritative Savior revealed in an inspired book, Christians don’t get to vote on what it means to be a Christian. That reality lives outside of us. I’m sure there are many Christians who don’t like certain parts of Christian teaching, but they don’t get to cast a vote on whether or not it should be changed.
As we have seen more people try to claim the mantle of Christianity for their culturally acceptable beliefs (in opposition to identifying with Christ and suffering with him), this idea of “progress” keeps coming up. But if one were to examine this idea, it really is pointless. What is the point of adopting a religion that simply mirrors the culture of its day? What is the point of looking for timeless truth only to turn away because it doesn’t fit the spirit of the times in which you live? If Christianity can “progress” in its core doctrines and nature, then it has lost all value for you!
But even worse, if you are a “progressive Christian”, you are mostly likely already outdated. You might feel like you are on the cutting edge of religious philosophy, but somewhere out there is another academic, another pastor, another slick politician with a winsome smile, who has taken a step beyond where you have landed and is preparing a book or a speech or a sermon that will reveal that you are behind the times! You are believing Tuesday’s version of Christianity when Thursday is here!
“My attitude toward progress has passed from antagonism to boredom. I have long ceased to argue with people who prefer Thursday to Wednesday because it is Thursday.”
― G.K. Chesterton
I say again, what is the point of religion if it has simply become the vehicle for the ideas of the present? If progressive Christianity is true, I see no more value in being a Christian than in being a VIP member to my local movie theatre: both are simply reflecting the culture of today until they are steamrolled by the next best thing.
I am so glad that is NOT what Christianity is. Christianity is a real thing. An ancient thing. We experience the salvation of Jesus Christ, but we do not add to it. Our hearts are illuminated by the Words of Scripture, but we do not shine our light upon the Sacred Text. To be a Christian is to receive the faith delivered from one generation and to preserve it for the next generation, so that a man can share it with his father and his son.
False Shepherds and False Teachers
The Bible specifically warns against the kind of false teaching represented by progressive Christianity.
That ye henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up in him in all things – Ephesians 4:14-15
When it comes James Talarico, I don’t know if he is genuinely confused about what it means to be a Christian or if he is one of those using cunning craftiness to deceive. He seems like a smart guy with a plan, so it would seem to be the latter. Either way, the Bible tells us to “grow up”. We aren’t supposed to be manipulated like little children. We are supposed to be able to discern truth from error, orthodoxy from heresy, and virtue from vice. We cannot have Christ and the applause of the world. We cannot have Christ and our own way. When a man claims that God is “non-binary” when Jesus taught us to pray to our “Father in heaven”, we should be able to spot the error.
Conclusion
It certainly is appealing to hear what we want to be told, to be affirmed in our personal beliefs, and to discover that Christianity is actually saying all the things that I already think and believe. But if that were to be the case, then Christianity has no value. It is salt that has lost its saltiness. What we all really need is something transcendent. Something that lives outside of our ability to manipulate it or change it. Something that changes us. This is real Christianity. Christ came into the world and the world hung him on a cross to die because He was not of this world. You and I must come to Jesus empty handed, ready to be rejected because we have placed our faith in a rejected Savior.
Nathan Writes 