A Current Church Divide that You NEED to Know About

Six days ago (on September 4), a group of courageous Christian leaders decided to tackle a dangerous threat to the church. These men – including Voddie Baucham, John MacArther, James White, Phil Johnson, and Tom Ascol – released ‘The Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel.’

Leftist social theory is being added to the Gospel. This is dangerous, and its happening in the church.

So how dangerous is this? Tom Ascol gave this eye-opening warning, “… several of us had described the errors of this movement as the most serious threat to the gospel that we have seen.”

I’ll be honest. I didn’t realize that this was much of an issue until a few months ago. When I recently became a student at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, I quickly realized that a progressive, leftist ‘social justice’ theory is being pushed by many in Christian ministry.

As the signers describe it, “…we are deeply concerned that values borrowed from secular culture are currently undermining Scripture in the areas of race and ethnicity, manhood and womanhood, and human sexuality. The Bible’s teaching on each of these subjects is being challenged under the broad and somewhat nebulous rubric of concern for ‘social justice.’”

Michael O’Fallon, another signer, said, “Seminaries previously focused on Scriptural exegesis and proclamation are now focusing on teaching their future pastors’ postmodern concepts such as critical race theory and intersectionality.”

What Did They Say?

So, what did these men say? The statement contains fourteen pairs of affirmations and denials. While you can read the whole statement yourself (it isn’t long), here are a few highlights:

“…we deny that the postmodern ideologies derived from intersectionality, radical feminism, and critical race theory are consistent with biblical teaching.”

“We further deny that one’s ethnicity establishes any necessary connection to any particular sin.”

“We deny that human sexuality is a socially constructed concept. We also deny that one’s sex can be fluid. We reject “gay Christian” as a legitimate biblical category.”

“We reject any teaching that encourages racial groups to view themselves as privileged oppressors or entitled victims of oppression.”

“We affirm that racism is a sin rooted in pride and malice which must be condemned and renounced by all who would honor the image of God in all people.”

So What?

This is an important issue in the church, and it is happening right now. People are lining up on both sides of the issue, and they are doing so in places like your church. You need to be aware of this.

Take a few minutes to read the statement (click here). As you read, realize that the issue of the Gospel is at stake. Consider signing the statement to show your solidarity with those who have made this stand.

*boldface type added to some quotations for emphasis, not in original quotation.