Promotion of Critical Race Theory in Your Church: What Would You Do?

[B.L.]

I would ultimately leave if it weren't taken care of. Being the OPC, we have a process for this sort of thing. I would appeal to another session in the presbytery and see it through to be dealt with at presbytery (or at GA depending on how it goes). By that, hopefully, the minister and elders guilty of promoting such false teachings would be expected to repent or be excommunicated and replaced.

Let me say this, I thank God that my session of elders is faithful after God's teaching. They don't stand for that sort of antichristian refuse.

What are your thoughts on this gentlemen who pastors an OPC congregation in the presbytery next to yours? He appears to be a heavy promoter of CRT. If true, do you think he should repent or be excommunicated and replaced?

 

[PuritanCovenanter]

I think the foundation of Critical Race Theory is faulty along with its conclusions. At the same time I have wandered for many years why there haven't been many sound men of other Nations who have contributed sound biblical works to help mature the body. That would help inspire their descendents to mature past all the crud of division.

The Urban Churches here in Indianapolis are more focused on Urban issues than the Gospel. The Urban Culture is more overrun with crime here than the Suburbs or rural areas. There does seem to be a problem. When I worked at a Christian bookstore in the late 80's I had a run in with a Social Justice Pastor. I asked him why he didn't preach the Gospel which would heal the wounds he was seeking to heal better than anything else. He looked at me dumbfounded. I don't think he understood the Gospel. He had a leadership role in his community and he saw it as a responsibility to try to help it. He just didn't have the correct ammunition.

I do see a problem. It is a problem of aspiration. Cultures set aspirations. We do it for our children even. I just wish that the Urban Culture (or all cultures as a matter of fact) would aspire to growing in knowledge of the Gospel and history instead of how beat down they have been. Then maybe there would be more solid works coming out of the Nations as they have come out of our past in Europe and North America.

I do applaud the effort to get black men and woman (or anyone) to College since it is so hard financially. I just don't applaud sending them to schools that teach CRT or focus on things that divide. The Gospel restores men and reconciles all things to God. All ground is level for all Nations at the foot of the Cross.

 

[A.Joseph]

This problem is not meant to be solved but to fester. Not sure there’s room for the gospel here. I see a political sledgehammer or a bully club to makeup and reconstruct. Not much even practicality in the rhetoric. At least nothing truly specific that can even be covered by the gospel.

Anyone know what actions he is calling for when he states .... “But racial “injustice” is more controversial because it addresses external actions, unjust social systems, specific policies & disparities in tangible resources.”

He loses me when he seemingly places ‘systematic’ over specific. It’s hard to even accurately identify and measure these things sometimes. They can be subtle...

Mika Edmondson
@mika_edmondson

Many will agree that “racial bigotry” as an internal attitude is sinful & should be addressed with the gospel. But racial “injustice” is more controversial because it addresses external actions, unjust social systems, specific policies & disparities in tangible resources.
Quote Tweet

Russell Moore
@drmoore
· Oct 31
Racial bigotry & injustice are not trifling secondary matters, but are objects of the wrath of God. The gospel is to crucify such satanism and bring about a people modeling love, justice, reconciliation (Eph 2-3). This isn’t a “distraction,” but right at the core of mission.
3:57 PM · Oct 31, 2019·Twitter Web App

What are your thoughts on this gentlemen who pastors an OPC congregation in the presbytery next to yours? He appears to be a heavy promoter of CRT. If true, do you think he should repent or be excommunicated and replaced?

 

[Dachaser]

What are your thoughts on this gentlemen who pastors an OPC congregation in the presbytery next to yours? He appears to be a heavy promoter of CRT. If true, do you think he should repent or be excommunicated and replaced?

Does he teach the social gospel in place of the real one?

 

[A.Joseph]

I think there are even militant strains of CRT... and the potential to take it there is always hovering for black and even white brethren consumed with an inflated view of race and race relations, bordering on paranoia. The premise and foundation is the wickedness of whiteness.

“Logic and science are based in whiteness and therefore he refuses to embrace them...."

The guy critiqued in this video is a gay, black, ‘Christian,’ award winning debator, and college professor. https://apps.weber.edu/wsuimages/Communication/Faculty Photos/Bios/Wash Web Bio.pdf

https://www.weber.edu/Communication/faculty.html

 

[ZackF]

I would have to leave eventually if it didn't stop but not before meeting with the session.

I think there are many things that can be done in the time between the following two situations:

1. The pastor has given at least one sermon on social justice(whether defined or not) as a topic.

2. The church has given over to CRT with all of the sad trappings of said ideology from 'whiteness' renunciation to a long list of things now essential to the gospel.

I would personally go to the pastor and the session about the issue and plead my case. I would then go to some lay advocates of CRT, whether racial minorities or not, and plead my case to them. If no change, as a last resort, I'd pull my family out.

 

[EcclesiaDiscens.]

The problem isn’t just CRT. It’s Critical Theory as a whole. It’s spawned Critical Gender Theory, Queer Theory, etc. and lays the foundation for absurd things like “Womanist Theology.”

This stuff has been the knockout blow to the Mainlines since they abandoned orthodox doctrine

So yes I would leave a church if it’s Elders started promoting critical race theory.

 

[B.L.]

I was reading an article on Aquila Report just now and ran across the work Neil Shenvi has done on critical theory. There is a lot of material here that exposes it for the threat that it poses to the church. Worth bookmarking.

https://shenviapologetics.com/critical-theory-all-content/

 

[Dachaser]

The problem isn’t just CRT. It’s Critical Theory as a whole. It’s spawned Critical Gender Theory, Queer Theory, etc. and lays the foundation for absurd things like “Womanist Theology.”

This stuff has been the knockout blow to the Mainlines since they abandoned orthodox doctrine

So yes I would leave a church if it’s Elders started promoting critical race theory.

It seems to neglect the worse problem of all of us died in Adam sin and fall.

 

[Susan777]

Neil Shenvi’s work is important. I found this article particularly helpful

https://shenviapologetics.com/critical-theory-within-evangelicalism/

 

[FivePointSpurgeonist]

I have heard about CRT a bit from the Dividing Line, and when he was here in Australia recently.

Is this an issue exclusive to the US?

 

[Andrew35]

I have heard about CRT a bit from the Dividing Line, and when he was here in Australia recently.

Is this an issue exclusive to the US?

We're (sort of) exporting it, like most of our cultural garbage. The thing is, when it goes overseas, it's going to get a bit messy. Untangling grievances in the various socioethnic divides in countries with long histories can get surreal.

I think it tends to merge a bit with postcolonial theory, as that's its nearest correlative ideology: White colonialism bad; other colonialisms... we ignore.

 

[B.L.]

The below was posted yesterday to Twitter by one of the big names in SBC circles.

 

[ZackF]

The below was posted yesterday to Twitter by one of the big names in SBC circles.

View attachment 6394

I'm not that familiar with the prominent voices in the SBC leadership other than some of the biggies like Mohler, Patterson, Akin, Moore and so on. I don't recognize the name above.

I will say this right away, even if he is only presenting this as a thought experiment, Yarnell is at least trying to be consistent but why not go beyond that? In a conversation with him, I'd ask him if we're serious about diversity, whether or not white men should resign from a current post for the same reasons? I think the implications are terrible for the psyche of those serving now.

What has me thinking about this was an article in "Fast Company" that I had read this week. It's an older article that came through my Medium digest but I think it is representative of typical D&I initiatives. To make long story short a tech company owner felt bad that he had created a company with mostly men with a toxic, 'brogrammer' culture. He then proceded to take in advice from others at his company and professional diversity experts to remedy the problem. My question when I read these, 'we're not diverse enough' accounts, do you want certain people to quit? If one's company doesn't have enough ______ type of people, why are you not seeking to replace your current, inadequate people? What should they think about your ambitions? I think it is a terrible way to speak and think about the people around you. Surely, those of the newly unwanted demographic would find themselves under the gun.

What are the faithful men in Yarnell's charge to think of him?

 

[Andrew35]

The below was posted yesterday to Twitter by one of the big names in SBC circles.

View attachment 6394

The load-bearing assumptions about "leadership" here seem to me to be about as far from any Biblical principle--or indeed, any prudent managerial principle--as one could get.

 

[B.L.]

For those who might be interested...here is an article written by Jared Longshore of Founders Ministries and posted two days ago.

Getting our Bearings in the SBC on Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality

Have a joyful evening!

 

[Susan777]

For those who might be interested...here is an article written by Jared Longshore of Founders Ministries and posted two days ago.

Getting our Bearings in the SBC on Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality

Have a joyful evening!

That was a well-written article. I pray that many will read it and consider it. While everything seems to be rolling downhill so fast I am happy to see that there are men who have the courage to stand against this evil tide.

Off topic, that is an incredible photo of that rock. It’s almost as if the LORD himself had split it.

 

[SolaScriptura]

I wouldn't permit it.

 

[B.L.]

Morning,

To add to the growing list of linked articles on this topic are two that were published on The Aquila Report today.

A Letter from a 'Woke' PCA Brother to the PCA: Live in the Full Freedom of Our Identity in Christ

Welcome to the Culture War 2.0: The Great Realignment

Grace and peace to all.

 

[Dachaser]

I wouldn't permit it.

I still cannot find critical race theology in the Bible.

 

[J.L. Allen]

I still cannot find critical race theology in the Bible.

Of course you cannot. It's not in there. It's an atheistic philosophy that is born out of the result of decades of so-call enlightenment principles.

 

[ZackF]

Of course you cannot. It's not in there. It's an atheistic philosophy that is born out of the result of decades of so-call enlightenment principles.

Or a reaction to them.

 

[Dachaser]

Of course you cannot. It's not in there. It's an atheistic philosophy that is born out of the result of decades of so-call enlightenment principles.

Why do we hardly hear anything on how blacks enslaved and mistreated fellow blacks, as in slavery among Islamic nations?

 

[pressing_on]

Somewhere someone wrote: "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."

pretty good foundation to run a church, losing this entirely.... well we all know that movie plot...

 

[B.L.]

Morning,

Here is an article written by the provost at SBTS on the topic.

'For he is our peace': The centrality of the gospel of Christ in racial recognition

An excerpt:

"In recent months, the topics of critical race theory (CRT) and intersectionality have prompted no small measure of discussion in Baptist life. It would be virtually impossible to get into a complete review of CRT here. But let’s be very clear: Christian witness must reject CRT and the ideological foundations that shape it, along with the proposals it offers for change. In the big picture, it seems to me that CRT assumes a basic materialism, ignoring spiritual realities and, in particular, the truth that human beings are made in the image of God. It also seems to me to have a deficient teleology, one that sees history most basically as a contest between oppressors and the oppressed. Because of its deficiencies, CRT can never adequately diagnose the fundamental problems inherent in racism, nor can it adequately prescribe a true solution. Only the gospel of Christ can do that. Similarly, this is why liberation theologies are irreconcilable with the biblical gospel. While the biblical worldview certainly acknowledges injustice in a fallen world, the defining story of Scripture is redemptive, centered on the person and work of Christ, propelling history forward to the glory of God. This story is inseparable from the miracle of the new birth and the necessity of personal saving faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior."​

 

[Pilgrim]

Morning,

Here is an article written by the provost at SBTS on the topic.

'For he is our peace': The centrality of the gospel of Christ in racial recognition

An excerpt:

"In recent months, the topics of critical race theory (CRT) and intersectionality have prompted no small measure of discussion in Baptist life. It would be virtually impossible to get into a complete review of CRT here. But let’s be very clear: Christian witness must reject CRT and the ideological foundations that shape it, along with the proposals it offers for change. In the big picture, it seems to me that CRT assumes a basic materialism, ignoring spiritual realities and, in particular, the truth that human beings are made in the image of God. It also seems to me to have a deficient teleology, one that sees history most basically as a contest between oppressors and the oppressed. Because of its deficiencies, CRT can never adequately diagnose the fundamental problems inherent in racism, nor can it adequately prescribe a true solution. Only the gospel of Christ can do that. Similarly, this is why liberation theologies are irreconcilable with the biblical gospel. While the biblical worldview certainly acknowledges injustice in a fallen world, the defining story of Scripture is redemptive, centered on the person and work of Christ, propelling history forward to the glory of God. This story is inseparable from the miracle of the new birth and the necessity of personal saving faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior."​

This after he was interviewed on a podcast just a few months ago and, achieving what one commentator termed "Peak Wokeness," said he was a racist and would always be a racist merely because of the color of his skin and by virtue of being from the USA. It appears that whole podcast along with a post on the SBTS website have been scrubbed from the web without comment or acknowledgement.

Without Matthew Hall coming out and saying "I was wrong" this recent post is kind of hard to take seriously and should be viewed with a jaundiced eye as far as I'm concerned. Mohler is running for SBC president and some see this action as a response to the previous outrage and trying to deflect from that.

One thing I haven't seen in this thread is that the apostles of "Wokeness" and "Social Justice" in Calvinistic evangelicalism are almost all proteges of Ligon Duncan, Albert Mohler and Mark Dever. If they aren't directly, then they are indirectly, as with whoever Russell Moore (formerly Dr. Mohler's right hand man) has mentored. This has been the cause of a recent split between them and John MacArthur.

Will the "New Calvinism" will come to naught and the situation be worse than it was before? They foisted the likes of Mark Driscoll and Tullian Tchvidjian on the world, and now the kind of SJWism that used to be the purview of radical left-wing humanities departments and ministries such as Jeremiah Wright's.

Let’s not forget that it was the moderates and evangelicals rather than the liberals who were ultimately responsible for pushing the likes of Machen and Mcintire out of the PCUSA in the 30s. And I’m sure a similar thing happened with the Northern Baptists at that time.

 

[Pilgrim]

It seems to me that saying “I’ll always be a racist” has some similarities with “Gay Christian.” But in the case of “racist” here, it’s sort of like calling a kid gay because he’s not quite as macho as some think he should be. In other words, because of how he looks rather than what he is actually thinking or doing.


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[Dachaser]

It seems to me that saying “I’ll always be a racist” has some similarities with “Gay Christian.” But in the case of “racist” here, it’s sort of like calling a kid gay because he’s not quite as macho as some think he should be. In other words, because of how he looks rather than what he is actually thinking or doing.


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In too many circles, racist is said to be sin, while homosexuality is shown to be a noble thing. Both must be exposed as sin.