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Many churches today mirror The Wizard of Oz — searching for heart, mind and courage in all the wrong places — when these virtues are found not in the culture, but in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Few stories have etched themselves into the cultural imagination like The Wizard of Oz. Beyond its colourful characters and fairytale journey, it stands as a profound allegory of human longing. Dorothy’s unlikely companions — the Tin Man, Scarecrow, and Cowardly Lion — set out seeking a heart, a brain, and courage, unaware that the qualities they pursued were already dormant within them.

In many ways, the modern Western progressive church mirrors this journey. In its eagerness to reflect the values of an evolving society, it has set off down a yellow brick road, hoping to find relevance, acceptance, and purpose in a world increasingly indifferent, if not hostile, to Christian faith. Yet, like Dorothy’s friends, the church risks losing sight of the very virtues that gave it life in the first place.

This is a story not of condemnation, but of reflection. The progressive church, with its heart set on inclusion, its mind opened to new ideas and its courage aimed at confronting injustice, often seems like a movement with noble intentions. But intentions without grounding drift easily. The result? A community in search of love but wary of truth, eager for wisdom but suspicious of doctrine, longing for courage yet paralysed by fear of offense.

In the land of Oz, the travelers found that no wizard could give them what they truly needed. Likewise, the church will not find heart, mind, or courage at the feet of cultural approval. These are gifts given by God, through His Word, His Spirit, and His Son. This is the journey of the modern Western progressive church; an allegory of losing heart, mind, and courage — and the hope of revival that involves their rediscovery.

The Loss of Heart: When Love Becomes Hollow

The Tin Man longed for a heart. He feared that without it, he could never feel, love, or truly live. His shiny exterior masked a hollow core. The modern progressive church, in many respects, finds itself in a similar position; beautifully adorned with messages of inclusion, compassion, and social justice, yet often hollowed out by a diluted understanding of love.

To love, in the biblical sense, is to will the good of another in accordance with God’s truth. It is not mere affirmation or emotional resonance. Love calls for honesty, even when truth stings. It dares to correct, to call to repentance, to challenge sin and to point people toward the life-transforming grace of Christ. Yet the progressive church, eager to avoid offending, often redefines love as unconditional acceptance of all beliefs, behaviours, and identities.

This redefinition strips love of its covenantal depth. Instead of a fierce, sacrificial commitment to the wellbeing of others — including their spiritual well-being — love becomes a sentimental nod, a passive tolerance, a safe applause. Like the Tin Man, the church may shine outwardly, embracing causes and movements that appear loving, but inwardly risk being devoid of the heart that pulses with the heartbeat of a holy God.

Consider how some branches of the Anglican Communion, particularly in the West, have embraced theological positions on marriage and sexuality that directly contradict centuries of biblical teaching, all under the banner of love and inclusion. The blessing of same-sex unions and the endorsement of non-biblical sexual ethics in certain Anglican provinces have fractured the global communion, leading to painful divisions between churches that seek to uphold biblical fidelity and those conforming to cultural pressures.

In Australia, this tension surfaced clearly within the Anglican Church when the General Synod of 2022 rejected a motion affirming traditional marriage, despite significant support from conservative dioceses like Sydney. The event exposed a deep divide between progressive and orthodox voices within Australian Anglicanism, with some bishops publicly endorsing revisionist views on marriage and sexuality in the name of love and inclusion.

Likewise, within sectors of the Catholic Church, particularly in regions of Western Europe and North America, voices have emerged advocating for a reinterpretation of sexual ethics and a softening of the church’s stance on moral teachings, often citing pastoral care and love as justification. The German Synodal Path, for instance, has been a flashpoint of controversy, proposing changes that many argue conflict with Catholic doctrine, all in the name of love and inclusivity.

The Uniting Church in Australia provides another clear example. As one of the nation’s largest Protestant denominations, its 2018 decision to allow ministers to conduct same-sex marriages, while still permitting traditional views, was framed as an expression of love and inclusion. However, this move sparked deep unrest, causing some congregations to leave the denomination, highlighting again the tension between cultural adaptation and biblical conviction.

In Baptist contexts, while a dwindling core remains true to the Bible, some progressive congregations in Australia have embraced an affirming theology on sexuality and gender identity, often citing love and acceptance as primary values, while quietly shifting away from biblical definitions of repentance and transformation.

The result? A faith community that draws people with warmth but leaves them unchanged. Like the Tin Man yearning for a heart, the church discovers that a hollow love cannot sustain spiritual life. It forgets that true love is inseparable from truth; and that Christ, in whom love is perfectly expressed, did not shrink from calling people out of darkness.

The heart the progressive church seeks will not be found in the world’s applause but in the cruciform love of Christ, which dares to both embrace and confront, to welcome and warn, to heal and to sanctify.

The Loss of a Brain: When Truth is Abandoned

The Scarecrow believed he lacked a brain. He fumbled his way through situations, easily persuaded, craving wisdom he thought he lacked. In his self-doubt, he became a symbol of naivety and malleability. The modern progressive church, likewise, often appears to have surrendered its intellectual heritage and theological backbone in favor of cultural conformity.

For centuries, the church was known as a wellspring of deep thought — the birthplace of universities, the guardian of philosophy, the steward of theology. The Scriptures were studied, doctrines debated and believers equipped to give a reason for their hope. Today however, progressive Christianity often regards doctrine with suspicion. Theology is dismissed as divisive. Exegesis gives way to experience. Biblical authority is subjected to cultural critique rather than the other way around.

The Scarecrow’s dilemma plays out as churches embrace popular ideologies under the banner of love or justice, even when those ideologies stand at odds with Scripture. Progressive movements align themselves uncritically with political causes, social theories and secular ethics, adopting language and frameworks that subtly, or blatantly, contradict the gospel.

Without a “brain” grounded in the Word of God, the church becomes vulnerable to every wind of doctrine. It begins to preach a Jesus who bears little resemblance to the Christ of Scripture — a teacher of tolerance, a symbol of social activism, but not the sovereign Saviour who calls for repentance and faith.

The problem is not intellect itself but the source of wisdom. The church’s mind must be renewed by Scripture, not reshaped by societal trends. Romans 12:2 calls believers not to conform to the pattern of this world but to be transformed by the renewing of the mind. Yet progressive Christianity often reverses this command — conforming first and rationalising later.

In seeking to be intellectually respectable in the eyes of a post-Christian culture, the church forgets that the wisdom of God is often foolishness to the world (1 Corinthians 1:18-25). Real wisdom does not fear being out of step with cultural norms. It fears being out of step with the Word of God.

The Scarecrow had a brain all along, just as the church has access to the mind of Christ. But it must choose whether to think with it — or continue down the path of intellectual hollowing.

The Loss of Courage: When Boldness Gives Way to Fear

The Cowardly Lion wanted courage — the nerve to be who he was meant to be. Yet every threat, every challenge, sent him trembling. The progressive church, in its fear of being labeled intolerant, bigoted, or regressive, often behaves in much the same way.

Where once the church stood with boldness — facing persecution, challenging emperors, speaking truth to power — today, segments of the progressive church seem paralysed by the fear of cultural backlash. Hard truths are softened, offensive doctrines omitted, and biblical teachings reinterpreted to avoid confrontation.

The Cowardly Lion’s fear wasn’t mere timidity; it was a crippling inability to stand firm when it mattered. Likewise, the progressive church’s hesitation reflects a deeper issue — a shifting of allegiance from God’s approval to man’s. The desire to be liked, to be on the “right side of history,” becomes more compelling than the call to be faithful.

Courage, in Scripture, is not bravado or arrogance. It is a steadfast confidence in God that allows one to speak the truth in love, even when it comes at a cost. The apostles preached Christ crucified, knowing it could — and did — cost them their lives. They feared God more than the rulers of their age.

The progressive church’s cowardice is often cloaked in the language of nuance, dialogue, and cultural sensitivity. While these can be virtues, they become vices when used to mask an unwillingness to proclaim uncomfortable truths. Avoidance becomes the norm; silence the strategy.

True courage does not seek conflict, but neither does it retreat from it. It loves people enough to risk rejection. It values truth enough to proclaim it without compromise. It fears God enough to obey Him, no matter the cultural cost.

The Lion discovered that courage was not the absence of fear but the willingness to act in spite of it. The church must remember the same. The gospel has always been countercultural. It will always provoke opposition. The question is whether the church will have the courage to remain faithful or be silenced by its fear of man.

The Church of Oz at the Crossroads

At the end of The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy and her companions discover a profound truth: what they longed for was within them all along. The Wizard, a mere illusionist, could not grant what they already possessed by virtue of who they were created to be.

The modern Western progressive church stands at a similar crossroads. It has sought heart in the applause of culture, mind in the wisdom of the age, and courage in the affirmation of the crowd. Yet these, like the Wizard’s gifts, are hollow substitutes for the real virtues found only in Christ.

The church does not need a new heart; it needs a heart renewed by the Spirit of God, one that loves with both grace and truth. It does not need a new mind; it needs the mind of Christ, grounded in Scripture and unafraid of standing apart from the world. It does not need a new courage; it needs the boldness that comes from knowing it is Christ, not culture, who holds history in His hands.

The Lord will refine it somehow.  The Victorian government has opened an inquiry into religious cults and it will be interesting to see if this is the instrument God uses to expose wrongdoing in once mainline churches that have downed the Kool Aid. A higher level of government intervention or oversight for wayward church leaders may be the ruby slippers that cause the nightmare to end.

The progressive church’s journey forward is not about rejecting progress, dialogue, or engagement with the world. These are necessary and often noble pursuits. But they must be pursued with a heart that beats with gospel love, a mind sharpened by biblical truth, and a courage anchored in the fear of the Lord.  Only then will the church fulfill its calling — not as a hollow echo of the world’s values, but as a faithful witness to the One who alone can give heart, mind, and courage to His people.

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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.