Timothy Isaiah Cho Profile picture
Sep 30, 2020 7 tweets 2 min read Read on X
Real divisiveness is any attempt to rebuild the wall of hostility between peoples that Christ tore down.

Racism, White supremacy, and White nationalism are ultimately theological and demonic attempts to undo the work of Christ.

Silence and inaction is floating in its current.
Fighting against those who fight against anti-gospel principalities of racism is playing into the devil's hand, who knows he cannot thwart God's ways but seeks to divide God's people and make them bite and devour one another rather than bear faithful witness in this world.
There is a time for disagreement and debate about policies, procedures, and the best way forward. But the telos of these conversations is to meet the urgent need of casting light into the darkness of White supremacy that holds many captive. Pious and studious inaction is...
simply intellectual flexing and posturing with no fruit. There is no healing and blessing. The hurting and those captive to harmful ideologies continue on in the cycle of oppression in the hush of precisionism.

Jesus said he came to bring a sword and division in this world...
of a different sort because of the gospel. His redemptive kingdom cuts through ideologies of racial and ethnic supremacy. His justification places all people in need of salvation and shows we are all sinful even in our thoughts. The great commission interrupts an "us vs them."
The apostles and the early church understood the important connection between the work of Christ and how dangerous racial and ethnic supremacy is. The new Testament makes these connections with stunning repetition to show us that it was constantly on their minds.
To fight against racism, White supremacy, and White nationalism is not a progressive, p.c., liberal, or "woke" thing to do. It is reading the Bible with open ears and hearts ready for the Spirit's guidance. It is "contending for the faith delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3).

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More from @tisaiahcho

Mar 1
This is the game that they love to play - they claim to have some secret set of information that only they know that completely acquits the abuser no matter how guilty they appear to be, but they won't release that secret set of information.

Columbus Metro Presbytery would not release the minutes of our church's session minutes during the time that they had a committee sit in to (purportedly) bring extra accountability after our pastor got caught in his sin. They also refused to release their report and
recommendations. The only way that one of the members of our church was able to even see these was because he kept following up with them for MONTHS until he was granted a time to see them in person while being monitored by a representative of presbytery. In fact, it *should have
Read 9 tweets
Feb 24
I was stopped in my tracks when I read this quote.

“'The unborn' are a convenient group of people to advocate for. They never make demands of you; they are morally uncomplicated, unlike the incarcerated, addicted, or the chronically poor; they don’t resent your condescension or
complain that you are not politically correct; unlike widows, they don’t ask you to question patriarchy; unlike orphans, they don’t need money, education, or childcare; unlike aliens, they don’t bring all that racial, cultural, and religious baggage that you dislike; they allow
you to feel good about yourself without any work at creating or maintaining relationships; and when they are born, you can forget about them, because they cease to be unborn. You can love the unborn and advocate for them without substantially challenging your own wealth, power,
Read 5 tweets
Feb 18
I've noticed that there are generally three progressive levels of complementarianism. The first is ministerial complementarianism, where women are only barred from ordained offices. The second is familial complementarianism, where, in addition to the constraints of ministerial
complementarianism, women are barred from certain types of roles within their household. The third is societal complementarianism, where, in addition to the constraints of the first two types, women are barred from certain types of roles within society at large.
Even though I disagree with it, very, very rarely have I even seen a church hold strictly to just ministerial complementarianism. It's often a very quick slide from ministerial complementarianism to familial complementarianism and then again to societal complementarianism.
Read 7 tweets
Feb 10
In Christian circles, the expression of anger is often connected to power. There are those who are afforded the right to express their anger freely and to have righteousness be attributed to it. There are others who are never allowed to express anger.

Those who can freely
express their anger also receive a wide range of grace, so that an instance of unrighteous anger is tucked away under righteous intent or ends. Those who are never allowed to express their anger are given no grace, so that anytime they step out of line, they lose all rapport.
Those who can express anger are rewarded for being "passionate" and "living out convictions." Others are rewarded for repressing their anger, being told that it's glorifying to God to be a doormat.

Expressions of anger, as they are connected to power, are necessarily connected
Read 5 tweets
Jan 11
What I learned from my time in the PCA is that it's not so much that leaders *can't* do something about abusive peers or that they are *unable* to do it quickly. It's rather that they choose to neither do as much as they can nor push to do it as quickly as possible.
There are plenty of leaders in the PCA who know about our church's story and who know our former pastor. They've reached out privately with their sympathy and sorrow. But they have not done anything substantive or public to bring about justice to our situation.
Many of these pastors are mutual friends of our former pastor and mine, and/or we rubbed shoulders in the Beautiful Orthodoxy/National Partnership circles. Y'all talked a big game about combating the abuse and racism in the conservative, Gospel Reformation Network, and similar
Read 8 tweets
Jan 11
Weaponizing words of grace is a common tactic of spiritual abuse. Examples include:

1) forced forgiveness.
2) "we're all sinners"/"if you looked deep in your own heart, you'd see that you're that bad too."
3) "he/she has repented enough already."
4) labelling a whistleblower
or advocate as simply adversarial (e.g. "bitter," an "enemy of the church/ministry," a "cynic," etc).
5) "the peace and purity of the church" as a method of silencing.
6) "no church is perfect"
7) "love covers a multitude of sins"
8) "did you talk to him/her privately first?"
9) "we can't just take one person's accusation"/"we need two or more witnesses"
10) "leaders are worthy of double honor"

In the context of unequal power dynamics, words of grace can become dangerous weapons that destroy souls. Every Christian should learn how to spot these
Read 4 tweets

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