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Bart Barber Profile picture
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19 Jul, 4 tweets, 2 min read
In the Southern Baptist Convention, our churches’ commitment to closed communion, congregationalism, and religious liberty are clearly waning. Warning signs are all around.

But nobody is hashtagging #downgrade about that, and nobody is trying to #taketheship over that.
And yet these things are both in the Bible and in the Baptist Faith & Message.

Critical Race Theory, on the other hand, isn’t spreading in SBC churches like these things, isn’t in the Bible, and isn’t in the Baptist Faith & Message.

But it IS on cable TV news channels.
And it’s THAT THING—the news channel thing instead of the Bible things—that has created a takeover movement in the SBC.
Let that sink in.

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More from @bartbarber

Bart Barber Profile picture
21 Jul
I appreciated my conversation with @bobsmietana today as a part of his research for this story. From one angle, it is interesting as a part of the conflict over race in American Evangelicalism. religionnews.com/2021/07/20/dav…
From another angle, the polity issues here highlight issues that more than one church is facing. Most normative-sized churches can manage issues over who may and may not vote just by looking around. The members know who the members are, and non-member voting becomes apparent.
That aspect of congregationalism becomes more difficult as churches scale up in size. Having multiple sites only increases that difficulty.
Read 6 tweets
Bart Barber Profile picture
20 Jul
I thought I'd take a moment to comment upon this video of @plattdavid addressing a moment of disunity at @mcleanbible.

I do so because I write sometimes on the subject matter of polity. Public moments like this are teachable moments.
I am a committed congregationalist. I am thankful that McLean Bible Church practices congregationalism—that affirmation of pastors/elders/overseers requires congregational approbation.
Read 11 tweets
Bart Barber Profile picture
14 Apr
If you're someone who would like to keep the SBC conservative, you and I are on the same page.
By "conservative," I mean THEOLOGICALLY conservative—biblical inerrancy, Baptist distinctives, etc. I'm not interested in getting the secular political tail to wag the theological dog.
But if you're talking about anchoring the SBC to those theological moorings, I'm all-in.

And yet, consider with me for a moment some other motivations that we ought to beware.
Read 8 tweets
Bart Barber Profile picture
9 Apr
Here's what I think I am: I am a Southern Baptist who (a) is pretty strict about everything in the BF&M as well as some other things, but who (b) waits until someone publicly teaches or acts contrary to the BF&M before concluding that he or she differs with it,…
…and then, (c) tries to deal lovingly, respectfully, and redemptively with that person at that time rather than dismissively or pejoratively.
So, like, with regard to Complementarianism, I'm a strict Complementarian, and I'm not ashamed to say so. Also, I think that limiting the office of pastor (there is no biblical office of "senior pastor") to men is the SBC position, and I'm not ashamed or reluctant to defend it.
Read 6 tweets
Bart Barber Profile picture
14 Dec 20
Today the Electoral College will confirm what we learned in November: @JoeBiden is the legitimate President-Elect of the United States. @realDonaldTrump lost. I lost (ie, voted for the loser).
This is worth pointing out because learning how to react when God doesn’t give you what you want is a major element of Christian discipleship. It’s the element of discipleship most avoided by the Prosperity Gospel heresy that has taken the lead in claiming Trump won.
Paula White has been at the forefront of this movement. @ericmetaxas has said that he knows President Trump won because somebody he trusts “prophesied” it (prophecy is real, but this hogwash deserves scare quotes).
Read 9 tweets
Bart Barber Profile picture
9 Nov 20
I applaud @JoeBiden’s call for greater unity and civility in American politics. For many topics, this should reasonably be within reach.
Immigration: there is no reason whatsoever for Republicans to oppose LEGAL immigration, as the Trump administration has done. Our economy thrives when we have healthy immigration policies, and the election results show clearly that many immigrants vote GOP.
Middle East: There is no reason for Democrats to dismantle President Trump’s very successful pro-Israel policy in the Middle East. Eschatology does not require a pro-Israel posture, but common sense does.
Read 22 tweets

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