Thread by @sometimesalight

Good addition to the conversation about "evangelical elites" HOWEVER... I want to share a brief observation about this conversation from the grassroots

https://twitter.com/AJWTheology/status/1448970503167881218

I live btwn 2 worlds. I've spent majority of my entire life in the working class but have a college degree & write for mid-upper class readers. I grew up poor & have lived on small church pastor's salary for 15+ years. But I've also traveled the world & move in academic circles.

For years, I taught conferences Fri-Sat in mid-upper class churches only to fly home to worship on Sunday at my rural church of >100. I've spoken at international conferences while some of my neighbors have never seen the ocean. (We can talk about imposter syndrome later.)

Here's my observation: Only a certain class of evangelical talks about the temptation of respectability. Only a certain class of evangelical worries about trends in academia.

The first time I encountered an evangelical worried about CRT or issues of diversity was an mid-upper class woman who was absolutely *beside herself* about what she perceived was happening at her child's university. I was stymied. I'd never seen this before.

What I eventually realized (b/c she said it) was that she was worried about her child's job prospects & that if they didn't accept a particular framing of issues, they might be blackballed from future educational & professional opportunities.

That's when it clicked: Mid-upper class culture rests heavily on social networks. Ivy Leagues aren't necessarily better education; they're access to better, more powerful social network. Future success depends on prof recs, introductions, getting job from your dad's friend, etc.

ALL of this is completely out of reach for poor & working class. Left to themselves, they don't care a bit about what happens in a certain dept at XYZ university b/c *they never had a chance to be there in the first place.*

They never had access to the social network that mid-upper class peers are so concerned about preserving. Like A. Ham, they "don’t have your name... don’t have your titles... don’t have your land..."

But that doesn't mean that the poor & working class don't get dragged into debates that have little significance for them. B/c what often happens is that conflicts btwn mid-upper class peers (on left & right) get reframed as a conlfict btwn "elites" & "grassroots."

Spoiler Alert: It's never about the grassroots.

So while I *am* sympathetic to the plight of those in academia & mid-upper class spaces who feel a certain pressure on them to conform, I have ZERO sympathy for conservatives who hide behind the poor & working class while they aim at their more liberal peers.

This is a conversation btwn elites. And that's totally fine! I am under no delusion that the world isn't stacked--that some people have more access to power & opportunity than others. But please don't act like what's happening in mid-upper class spaces is anything but intramural.

The real conflict btwn elites & grassroots looks completely different from the current conversation. And it's one that even mid-class conservatives generally can't stomach IME b/c it puts a finger on all the ways that the poor & lower classes have been neglected.

In fact, the real threat to poor & working class evangelicals isn't the "evangelical elite." It's that they've been abandoned to "elite evangelicals"--FAITH leaders who make their power & wealth off their backs.

The real threat to the grassroots are folks like Jerry Falwell Jr & Kenneth Copeland & Paula White & every other RELIGIOUS leader who's used them to pursue their own political & financial amibitions. All while living by completely different rules among... the elite.

All that to say, I'll believe you're really concerned about the grassroots when you
1) have true understanding of both their strengths & weaknesses
2) advocate for them in ways that challenge both left & right elitism
3) commit to discipling them & supporting their churches

(To this last point, too much of church practice & discipleship among poor & working class feel like hand-me downs from mid-upper class older sibling. By the time they get to us, they're worn out & don't fit.)