If they were real progressives, then they would try to make backward progress. When they see where we are going with marriage, they would say, “I must have missed my turn. Let’s go back.” Real progress follows the road that God designed, and when we see that we’ve erred, we turn around.

We’ve all experienced it. We’re driving down the road not paying attention, when all of the sudden we realize we took a wrong turn somewhere. We smack our foreheads and then start looking for the next exit. Intuitively we know that in order to get back on track we have to turn around. Imagine if one time this happens while you’re driving with a friend. Stuck in a good conversation you miss your turn. You start to turn around, and the friend says, “What are doing? If you turn back we won’t be making any progress!” You’d probably reconsider what kind of company you were keeping, but you’d assume that this friend did not have the concept of backward progress.

What is Backward Progress?

What is backward progress? I want to differentiate this real progress from its counterfeit, Progress®. Backward progress is the progress that is made by reversing course. Just like the person who has to go backwards to make the correct turn, sometimes the only way forward is to turn around. Our culture is obsessed with Progress®. They want to see Progress®, but what they mean is this stale, rigid, non-thinking forward motion that always lands them further away, no matter the destination.

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