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Evangelical Christianity and Invasion of Postmodernist Political Heresy

The Jones
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This is the third note in what has become a series.

This post gives a bigger context to the invasion of Postmodern thought into Christianity.

First, it gives a general introdcution to how Postmodernism has invaded both the academic level of Evangelical Christianity and ordinary churches.

Next, it gives examples of how Postmodernist Critical Race Theory has invaded both the language and thinking of our Church.

Next, it shows the damaging effect this has on the presentation of the gospel (with a helpful suggestion to change that).

Finally, it documents an argument against my “Black Lives Matter (TM)” warning, and then presents a forceful rebuttal to that argument based on what we’ve all seen and heard.

The “Weird” Direction of Christian Preaching These Days on Race

Here’s an easy question: Is the belief that people of a certain race are inferior, unworthy of the civil liberties of others, and prejudicial beliefs regarding the character of people of a different race a sin?

Well, DUH! If you don’t believe that, then you won’t have much to agree with here. That’s a question about the old definition of “racism.”

Here’s a second question: If you are white and other racist people have given you things because they are racist, is that “sin” that you need to repent of? Is failing to renounce those privileges (including money, respect, jobs, and positions of influence) an act of “racism”?

Well, that’s more complicated, but this is a question based on the new definition of “Racism” that “Racism is Prejudice plus Power.” That is what is being pushed through out church. It is explicitly Postmodern, and it has invaded our Church.

And just like Gnostic heresies came to the church through the question of “Who EXACTLY was this Jesus guy, anyway? What was his nature?” The Postmodern Heresy has come to our church on the issue of “Race” and “Shouldn’t we be against racism?” after it failed to come through the direct-frontal LGBT assault of “isn’t discrimination wrong?” (though it took some churches down in the attempt).

The Academic And Day-to-Day Invasion

Ideas of Critical Race Theory are alive and well at Evangelical Universities.

For one example, take a look at the dissertation of this paper from Duane Terrence Loynes Sr., who is a professor at Western Theological Seminary, a Reformed Church of America seminary. The title is “A God Worth Worshiping: Toward a Critical Race Theology.”

That’s about as explicit as you can get, and here is what this teacher of preachers believes:

This dissertation begins with the claim that Christian theology still operates from the normativity of whiteness. I will argue that, although the Church has made admirable progress with regard to racial justice, the attempts have been at the surface: the underlying structural logic of White supremacy remains intact. My thesis will be that the systemic problem in North American Christianity of a persistent “White privileged theology” or “normalized whiteness” can best be eliminated by constructing a theological response in classical categories—theodicy, anthropology, and epistemology. A black existential phenomenological approach—perhaps best illustrated in the work of Lewis R. Gordon—and the intersectional analysis exemplified in critical race studies, offer significant promise for exposing and correcting the existing methodological privilege of White theology.

That may sound like impenatrable academic gobbley-gook (and it is) but it is explicitly Postmodern academic gobbley-gook that sees our theology as a product of White Supremacy. Note: It’s not that he argues that any current actions or practices are the products of white supremeacy. It’s that our THEOLOGY is from this. He is explicitly stating that our THEOLOGY needs to be changed.

Yikes.

But I don’t mean to pick on this one guy. He’s just the first one that Google brought up because of his paper. There are many more. Additionally, in this link, you can see Dr. Carl Ellis Jr. saying that while Martin Luther Kind Jr.’s BELIEFS were not orthodox, his THEOLOGY was orthodox, because he acted in agreement with the gospel. And if we expand our definition of theology to incorporate practice and not merely doctrine, we can see this. (NOTE: This video was uploaded in 2014, before we learned in 2019 from declassified FBI documents that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was in some shocking aspects, not a very good guy.)

But the heresy does not just come through the academic sphere. It comes to ordinary churches. It comes to the way we tell the Bible stories to children. Whatever “it” is, it is here.

And “it” is Postmodernism.

Examples of Postmodern Heresy Coming Through the Issue of Race

In light of the large things I’ve claimed, I’d like to give a somewhat long but quite truncated list of the examples of a heresy coming for the church. I don’t think any single example below constitutes an invasive heresy, but by the collective power of them all together (as well as the growing intensity of them), I think the matter of heresy is clear.

There is a GROWING philosophical tradition in our church that is explicitly anti-Christian, including Black Lives Matter (TM). No, you don’t need to go out and buy a “Thin Blue Line” sticker for your truck, but Christians need to be mindful about this belief system, and be different.With that, here is a non-exhaustive list of 10 times explicit Postmodernism showed itself in the Evangelical Christian Church:

Example 1: The Southern Baptist Convention Denounces Racism, Sin, and Itself

Example 2: John Piper is a “Racist” (By the New Definition, Not the Old One)

Example 3: Desiring God Organization Puts the Stamp of Approval on the Black Lives Matter (TM) Movement

Example 4: Cru Adopts a Postmodern Definition of Race

Example 5: The Southern Baptist Church Issues Report on Slavery and Racism in the Southern Baptist Church

Example 6: The Gospel Coalition Puts on the MLK50 Conference

Example 7: The President of the Southern Baptist Convention promotes “Diversity” as Goal of the Church

Example 8: The Provost of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Proclaims He Is a Racist, and It’s Not That Big a Deal

Example 9: Southern Baptist Leaders Issue Statement on Death of George Floyd that is Connected to 400 years of Oppression.

Example 10: The Gospel Coalition Tacitly endorses Black Lives Matter (TM) and the New Definition of “Racism.”

I could go on, but you get the picture.

The Danger of This Reaction to the Christian Church, using the SBC as a Case Study.

Actually no, I don’t care if you get the picture. I’m going to literally give you a picture. The following screen-shot of the Southern Baptist Convention front-page was taken on June 6, 2020. Look at what you see.

I see “We must not be silent on racism.” I see “I am too conservative to stay silent on racial injustices.” I see “A personal resolution.” I see something about a “soul patrol” that “has led 186 people to the Lord.” I see that “Confederate monuments’ removal praised by Southern Baptists.”

Do you see the gospel? There’s that tab up top that says “Good News.” Let’s click that. When you do, you get this:

Which is easier to access on the SBC webpage: The gospel of Jesus Christ, or a postmodernist condemnation of “racism”? As of June 9, 2020, the picture is mostly the same:

There’s more stuff on “racism.” There’s that word “lament” again. There’s the news on the joint statement after the death of George Floyd, which includes a protest sign with the political hashtag of “I Cant’ Breathe.”

From a quantitative and informational standpoint: Does this website look political or religious to you?

The Gospel That Is Missing from the SBC Webpage

In my brief review of the SBC website, I noticed that it took 3 clicks to get to any presentation of the gospel. None of those three links were easy to find. Yet SBC’s denunciation of “racism” is hard to miss.

But even in that presentation of the gospel (which you can find here), the message is “How to Become a Christian” and not “Christ died for Sinners, Saving Us, and Renewing Us Through His Spirit.”

Since the SBC is the largest collection of Christian Churches in America, maybe something like this would be a good PERMANENT AND PROMINENT FEATURE on their site (any any church or organization’s site):

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

God describes himself in this way: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty.” (Exodus 34:6-7)

He has commanded us to do what is right, and it is a choice between life and death: “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. . . . It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it. “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. (Deuteronomy 30:11-15)

But we have not done what is right, and we have all sinned, (Romans 3:23) and God who is just can by no means clear the guilty from what they have done.

Yet God, who is rich in Mercy, saved us through Christ (Ephesians 2:4), and all who call on the name of the Lord shall be saved! (Romans 10:13)

So we invite you to call on the name of the Lord and know him and how he has directed us to live. Walk with him with one of the churches in the Southern Baptist Convention, and help us as we strive to become like Christ, who humbled himself, served us, and saved us. (Philippians 2:1-11)

I wrote that in like 15 minutes. I recommend they use it, or you know, at least something LIKE that. They can have it for free.

And if they don’t like my presentation, then maybe the SBC could just go full-block quote on the gospel and say:

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed. (1 Corinthians 15:3-11)

So let me just take the opportunity to say as a member of a church associated with the Southern Baptist Convention: THANK YOU for passing on to me what you received, even though (based on your actions as individuals and as an organization) you are “unworthy to be called a disciple of Christ.” But as is clear, by the grace of God, you are what you are, and his grace toward you was not in vain. You preached, and I have believed.

But for Christ’s sake, do NOT fall for this Postmodernist heresy where “racism” is everywhere, always repented, and never forgiven! Because that is NOT the gospel and it will destroy your ministry and the church!

An Argument Against My Position By Someone Who Once Held It

A helpful test-case of my position above about Black Lives Matter (TM), is this link of a clip from John Piper’s “Ask Pastor John” podcast. In it, he first explains how he accepted a position similar to my own in 2015, but then rejected it in 2016, due to the words of a Christian brother who disagreed:

One of the main things to learn from the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement is the need to distinguish between 1. the plain truth of the slogan, 2. the ideological nature of its origin, and 3. the strategies of action that it unleashes on the street.

Now you would think that after wrestling with these things for 40 years, the ethnic, racial, social dynamics, that after 40 years, these things would be more obvious to me – those distinctions. But they weren’t. I had to be corrected. So another thing to learn, besides those distinctions, no matter you’ve been at this, like me . . . you can easily fall into unhelpful ways of thinking or talking. Which is why ongoing friendships across ethnic lines is important.

. . . So let me tell a story to illustrate my blowing it.

Last year, 2015, there were widespread protests under the banner of Black Lives matter, largely because of some high profile cases in which police killed unarmed black men . . . As I was watching this happening, I wondered what to think about it, to say about it, and I Googled and found “Oh! There’s a website called Black Lives Matter.com” and I read it, and oh my goodness! It was awful! I mean, I didn’t like it. Because it featured three women who claimed to be the founders of Black Lives Matter, Alicia Garza, Opal Tometi, Patrisse Cullors, and they self-identify as “Queer black women” and in big black letters on their “Her-story” not “history” page, they say that they they are “queer-affirming” and “transgender-affirming.” And I was so surprised that I tweeted this link, so that the’s people could be aware of these roots.

Well, a few weeks later, I was in Louisville with the Together for the Gospel team which included Thabiti Anibwule, and if you don’t to Thabiti, he’s a black pastor in Washington D.C., and he is as everyone who knows him realizes, intellectually, culturally, theologically, highly intelligent, highly intelligent, highly courageous, and not a push-over. And he let me know, clearly, “That wasn’t helpful.” That kind of thing, unqualified, no context. In the give-and-take . . . and he helped me see that for the mass of ordinary folks, black folks in particular, that website is a non-issue. It doesn’t even exist. They don’t know it’s even there, and it’s not driving anything.

So that’s the similar objection that John Piper put forward and got argued out of by Thabiti Anyabwile. It looks like it might be the same argument against me.

But let me give my rebuttal.

My Rebuttal of Recent Events

In contrast to that 2016 assurance by Thabiti Anyabwile that that website is a non-issue that “doesn’t even exist” and “is not driving anything,” let’s just notice a few things that have happened these past few days:

Strangely, the narrative has suddenly changed. Amazingly, we’re not longer talking about the “obvious” truth about the fact that black lives matter. Instead, we’re talking about defunding the police. If you think this is just a strange happenstance of shifting narratives, let’s note who is explaining this change.

And YES, this is precisely the same woman who was the co-founder of that website that “isn’t driving anything” and “doesnt’ even exist” according to 2016 Thabiti Anyabwile. And if you think that this call to “Defund the Police” is a random statement from a crazy person that has no effect in the real world, note the following:

So…. AS I’VE BEEN SAYING ALL ALONG, this is about power and politics and who gets money. That’s what this group is about, because to them, POWER is all that exists.

If you want to know how this movement treats those who try to pander to them but don’t agree 100% on their issues, note how they treated the Mayor of Minneapolis in this link here.

Whenever he did not agree to “Defund the Police” they cut him off mid-sentence, aggressively wave him away, flip him off, chant “Shame! Shame!” and yell “Go home, Jacob, Go home!”

It’s frightening and evil, especially considering that this is a man who has tried to do everything they want except for the request of dismantling all of the governing power of the city to them according to their most recent demands.

What do you think will happen to the church when a similar situation arises?

Conclusion

So Christians, once again, beware of Black Lives Matter (TM) and the entire Postmodern philosophy that it comes from.

Is it fine to want structural police reform? Sure. Is it fine to want to police the police? Sure. But think twice about using their hashtags. Think twice about joining their cause. Think twice of aligning your language and theology with their Postmodernist way of reorganizing the entire world, including your local church.

This Black Lives Matter (TM) organization is explicitly anti-Christian. They DO run things. They ARE influential. They DO influence things through their hash-tags and appearances and all of that. And Christians should RECOGNIZE that they are the strongest force for societal and theological change at the moment.

They have already used aspects of Christian theology and turned them to their own purposes. It does not accurately reflect the gospel of Jesus Christ and it will destroy our church if we don’t watch out. Though our battle is not one of flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12), we do know what we should do in the face of our enemy:

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9)

As I have said before, despite whatever genuine pain is being experienced by those around us, we have an explicit command NOT to Listen and NOT to act in response to non-Biblical ideologies:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:1-3)

So stand strong for the Christian faith and the gospel of Jesus Christ, knowing that by doing so, you will be standing against a very big Postmodernist movement today.

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