Red Letter Christians

What can you tell me about the Red Letter Christians?

On its web site the organization describes itself as espousing “an evangelical theology.” “Evangelical” is a broad term that individuals and churches use to mean different things. It often designates a theology that professes a set of doctrines, including decision theology and a rejection of the sacraments as means of grace, but then “agrees to disagree” in other matters of Scripture.

The goal of Red Letter Christians is: “To take Jesus seriously by endeavoring to live out His radical, counter-cultural teachings as set forth in Scripture, and especially embracing the lifestyle prescribed in the Sermon on the Mount.”

While that sounds laudable, the result is a liberal theology that addresses social issues in ways that depart from Scripture. The organization would do well to apply the red letter words of Jesus in the sermon on the mount in a manner consistent with the rest of Scripture and then put greater emphasis on other red letter words of Jesus—words that speak of the enslaving nature of sin (John 8:24) and words that speak of full and free forgiveness through him (Luke 7:48).