Some say the SBC isn't woke & there's nothing to be alarmed about. Don't be so sure.
Paul said "a little leaven leavens the lump."
The broader SBC may not be full-blown woke, but some places are.
A friend recently shared notes from a SEND Philly training.
See for yourself🧵
My friend attended a training who's purpose was "to assist planters, pastors, ministry leaders and lay persons with a heart to serve those within the urban context."
The "urban context" is defined according to progressive priorities using leftist buzzwords.
Page 8 describes "marginalized" people as "the other."
They are subject to:
* Systemic racism
* System disparity
* Modern day slavery and
* Environmental oppression
Jesus' ministry is presented as a social justice crusade to empower "the least of these."
This is a misuse of that text. The "least of these" in Mt25 refers to Christians who are socially ostracized because of their faithfulness to Jesus. It doesn't teach social activism.
The biblical justification they provide is simply to accept the social justice framing as valid and then quote texts where Jesus ministers to people who fit those categories.
In light of the recent news that NT scholar/ethicist Richard Hays is now gay affirming, I pulled my old copy of his ethics book from seminary and revisited the chapter on homosexuality.
In 1996, he said homosexuality is sinful. In 2024, he reportedly believes the opposite.
After a casual perusal of this chapter, it was there all along. We should not be surprised by Hays' announcement. Further, current evangelical leaders exhibit similar warning signs.
I'll mention three here.
First, Hays misapplies the concept of "nuance."
He opens with a sad story about Gary, his Christian friend who was gay and dying of AIDS.
Through this friendship, Hays realize that "public discussion of [homosexuality] has been dominated by insistently ideological voices."
The church planting craze of the 2000s and 2010s was a mess. We're feeling the downstream effects of it now.
🧵
Here's a dirty little secret of the church planting world. It's a haven for guys that don't want to take the traditional route of waiting their turn in an established church so they could move up when the senior pastor retires.
Most of them are young, high-charisma, youth/music guys with a knack for technology. They're good at marketing too. They know how to sell a product. They deploy these skills to great effect, attracting people by creating hype and buzz around a exciting Shiny New Thing.
Guilt and shame are powerful, negative emotions that are like warning lights in our souls that something is wrong. They are gifts of God for our good, but can also be manipulated for our harm.
In our day, progressives use shame as a manipulation tactic. Here's how it works. 🧵
Guilt is the feeling that something you did was wrong. It's the sense that you violated some external standard.
Shame is the feeling that who you are is wrong. The standard is vague and internal. Your very existence is wrong.
Being "put to shame" was greatly feared in the Bible.
To be "put to shame" is to be utterly cast out as worthless, humiliated, exposed, and naked.
It's the feeling of a child on the playground, knocked down and surrounded by bullies, pointing, laughing, and mocking you.
God made the world one way. When God’s design is followed, it will generally produce good results as a gift of common grace. When God’s design is rejected, it will produce bad results.
It should be fairly obvious that the conditions of our modern society, where traditional gender roles are no longer the norm, have significantly contributed to the overall psychological distress of men, unhappiness in women, and a crippling dating scene.
Some fascinating stats about singleness, loneliness, dating, and marriage, with some concluding counsel for singles at the end. 🧵
1. First off, the US marriage rate is at an all time low. [1]
Consequently, US birthrates are at historic lows, well below replacement rate.
2. Men and women are lonely. [2]
52% report feeling lonely
47% report their relationships with others are not meaningful
57% of Americans say they eat all their meals alone
73% of Millennials and Gen Z say they feel lonely
People of higher income levels report greater loneliness
(This is just a sampling of data and there’s plenty of nuance that could be added)
* The average marriage length is 8.2 years.
* An estimated 41% of first marriages end in divorce.
* The average age of people going through a first-time divorce is 30
Big Divorce is Big Business
* The divorce industry is worth $50 billion/yr
* The average total cost is $12,900 per divorce
* The average attorney’s fee is $11,300 per divorce
* The avg divorce attorney’s hourly rate is $270
IOW, divorce is financially incentivized in the USA
Children and divorce
* 26.5% of children under 21 have a parent living in a different home. That’s about 21.9 million kids.
* 30.1% of these kids are in poverty.
* 67% of Americans believe divorce is better for kids than them witnessing the problems in a troubled marriage.