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Woke Preacher Clips

Jun 8, 2023 • 17 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X

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Can these 3 perspectives on transgenderism be "integrated" somehow? Wheaton prof Mark Yarhouse says yes.

Today in "nuancing ourselves to death"... 🧵

I'm clipping from a talk Yarhouse recently gave to the social justice-focused Anglican Diocese known as C4SO (Churches For The Sake Of Others). It's some of the most nuanced nuance I've ever encountered. So I recommend watching the whole thing if you can

Yarhouse introduces his 3 "lenses" on trans identity: "I'm not asking you to pick one to the exclusion of the other two. I'm asking you what are the things that they might be getting right...I think we should integrate the best aspects of these lenses rather than pick one." (1/7)

First, the "Integrity" lens: "For this group, this is largely a moral concern. You're making a bad decision...I think it is a biblically faithful starting point to begin with Genesis 1 + 2, but some of the ministry applications have not always been as helpful." (2/7)

Second, the "Disability" lens. "The Christians drawn to this lens...believe in Genesis 1 + 2, but they minister out of the story of the fall in Genesis 3...emphasizing things not functioning properly, so they're less likely to try to restore creational intent." (3/7)

To illustrate this perspective, Yarhouse quotes a friend discussing the difference between lower-case "d" deaf people and upper-case "D" Deaf people... (4/7)

Third, the "Culture To Be Celebrated" lens, which is self-explanatory and "where the rest of culture is rapidly moving toward": (5/7)

As an example of a real-world interaction of people operating from different lenses, Yarhouse recounts an interview Barbara Walters did with Jazz Jennings and his siblings (note Mark blasphemes God by using preferred pronouns here). (6/7)

He wraps up: "I don't want you to so much land on one and say the rest have nothing to offer. With some intellectual humility, could we look at the three lenses and say what are they getting right before we critique them?" [I've deleted some dead air to make this <2:20] (7/7)

Again, this talk was extremely nuanced, there were some good things (he talks about how 75% of dysphoric kids desist after puberty), and it is important to understand other perspectives, but we dare not try to synthesize things that cannot be reconciled. A can NOT equal non-A.

While trying to erase the binary choice of "repent" (a word he never utters) or "transition," Yarhouse sets up lots of false dichotomies. The 1st group obviously grasps that feelings of dysphoria are not necessarily a "bad decision," but changing one's sexual presentation is.

Also, we notice when only the first perspective is described as "not helpful" and the absolute insanity of queer culture is merely describe as something "Christians grapple with." E.g. later on, Yarhouse dings a pastor for telling a dysphoric woman to "pick up your cross."

"For him it was kind of like a Pez dispenser. He just kind of said something that sounded right, but it wasn't ministry. Ministry is not proclaiming things from a mountaintop. It's stepping into the valley with people and saying 'I'm going to walk with you in this.'"

This isn't complex. Jesus declared (before taking up the cross) that he would do the Father's will and not his own, thus to do the Father's will wrt dysphoria is to agree that his will was to make you female, and you will resist your flesh's will and affirm God's choice daily.

Of course it goes beyond proclaiming truth from the "mountaintop" and it should turn into prayer and counseling and sharing in activities and hospitality, etc. But his alternative appears to be drowning people in empathy in the hopes of maybe, someday smuggling in a little truth.

In his closing remarks, Yarhouse says he's not "at war" with the lens of queer celebration and asks us to change our approach to be more like that one because otherwise, dysphoric ppl won't get identity and community from Christians.

Here's a direct transcript of his final statement. It's a flat-out lie to say that the first approach has no positive vision of identity and community. It's just that this community does not exist without belief and repentance.

John 3:3-8
Rom 6:6-11
Eph 4:17-24
1 Cor 6:9-11

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James T. Roberson III of Bridge Church NYC denounces the assassination of Charlie Kirk but spends roughly half his statement (and even the following prayer) dragging the man's name through the mud:

This morning before we pray, I want to lean into some of the political tension in our country and the recent assassination of gentleman named Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated this past Thursday, I believe. And I've written out a statement here.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 reads this way: "For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. And we take every thought captive to obey Christ."

In this text, Paul is reminding us that as believers, our battle is not a physical battle. It's a spiritual battle God has called us to be a part of. And it is therefore not fought with carnal weapons but with spiritual ones. And I think in this political tension that we live in, Charlie Kirk and other political activists, particularly some on the evangelical right, often see ideas and policies that claim to be Christian, but they're fought with in a carnal posture. They're fighting for Jesus with anger and harshness and rage. And the danger of that is when you when you fight spiritual battles in a carnal way, the world responds with that same carnality. It's as if the world says we know how to do worldly better than you.

So, let me be clear. I denounce his assassination veheminently [sic], and we all should. That shouldn't be hard. It's wicked. That's obvious. It is also wicked to celebrate his death. It is carnal to celebrate his death. To lack empathy for someone who doesn't have empathy for you is to live in carnality.

At the same time, while he fought for ideals that he believed were Christian, I also denounced the way he carried himself and especially the way he talked about black people.

So, here's what I want us to remember as a church, what I need all of us to know. People are not defined by their ideology. They are defined by the image of God. Genesis 1 says "God created them in his own image." So here's what we've got to understand. Charlie Kirk, at his core, is not a Republican or a conservative. He is a child of God made in the image of God who has right-wing positions. And as a believer, we're called to see people not politically but spiritually. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5, "From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh." I think we're getting some feedback over here, FYI.

So, let's be clear. We should be grieving with his wife, his kids who have woken up this morning without a father. We should weep with those who weep, and we should be praying for their families. But I also grieve for our country that elevates people into hero status and martyr status so quickly.

Disagreement is not wrong, but it's how we disagree that matters. And my prayer is that we, the people of God, would resist the temptation to fight our battles with carnal weapons. Instead, let us choose a spiritual posture that Christ has given us, because truly, the weapons of our warfare are spiritual and not carnal. Amen. Pray with me.

Father, we pray right now that as we jump into the word here, we do lift up the Kirk family. We lift up those who are weeping this morning. And I pray, God, for a spirit of compassion in this room. Make us wise with what we post online. Make us wise with what we watch online. But just because someone fought for Jesus doesn't mean they fought like Jesus. God, I pray for a spirit of peace. I pray that a spirit of fruit in our community and I pray that we would renounce all elements of the flesh. Now, God, be with us. Speak to us in this time. In Jesus' name. Amen? Amen.

Of course, Roberson is throwing stones in glass houses here. I knew to look him up because in 2020, his was one of the most harsh and angry voices I found. He plagiarized a profane, viral video in defense of riots during a sermon

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A PCA Mission To North America (MNA) employee under Irwyn Ince speaks out in support of the segregated event that has caused controversy in the past week.

Kellie Brown, the MNA staffer who suggested the Trump assassination attempt in PA was "staged," says "safe spaces" for minorities are the reason she remains in the PCA.

Brown and her husband Howard Brown are currently planting a church for the PCA, "Kindred Hope," which advises white Christians to become "allies" and financial backers rather than congregants.

"There's a lot of conversation around diversity. And a lot of, sadly, Christians are saying that we shouldn't have spaces for black folks, that it's divisive and whatnot. And I actually am a testimony that that's just not true.

When minority people have a safe space to be themselves and to share their hearts, and that space is protected and initiated and supported by the majority culture that's around them, then that makes them feel even safer, and it actually pushes us closer to being one church.

And a lot of voices out there would lie and manipulate that and make it seem like it creates divisiveness, but Christ Central is a testimony that that's just not true. And I'm still here in the PCA after 30-some odd years because of safe spaces and places like you had with Pastor Omari [Hill, of Perimeter Church] and other brothers to help navigate."