Eighth Principle of Progressive Christianity

Lenten Online Series
by Pastor Durrell Watkins
April 1, 2010

GOOD FRIDAY Service at Sunshine Cathedral: 7:30 pm
EASTER SUNDAY Services at Sunshine Cathedral: 8 am, 9:30 am, & 11 am

This Lent, Sunshine Cathedral is offering this free online study series, to invite us all into a deeper experience of the Progressive, Positive, and Practical spirituality that we teach. This is our final reflection in the eight part series.

Eighth Principle of Progressive Christianity
We Are Generous.
We recognize that being followers of Jesus is costly, and entails selfless love, conscientious resistance to evil, and renunciation of privilege.

Jesus' Golden Rule was to treat others as we would wish to be treated. There is a Jewish tradition that says when a rabbi was challenged to teach the entire Torah while standing on one foot, the rabbi accepted the challenge, saying very simply, "What is hateful to you, do not do your neighbor. This is the message of the Torah. Everything else is simply commentary." Leviticus 19.18 says, "love your neighbor as yourself." Over and over, the message is clear: the spiritually mature are never concerned only with personal comfort, but with well-being, justice, compassion, and opportunity for all people. Whether people have been injured by poverty, homophobia, sexism, racism, unjust wars, abuse, neglect, or natural disaster, the progressive Christian responds with generosity, compassion, and goodwill.

Prayer Treatment: All people have sacred value. As a follower of Jesus, I recognize the holiness within each person as I endeavor to treat all people the way I would wish to be treated. Amen.


The Sunshine Cathedral is affiliated with The Center for Progressive Christianity, whose mission is:
- To reach out to those for whom organized religion has proved ineffectual, irrelevant, or repressive, as well as to those who have given up on or are unacquainted with it.
- To uphold evangelism as an agent of justice and peace.
- To give a strong voice both in the churches and the public arena to the advocates of progressive Christianity.
- To support those who embrace the search, not certainty.