Has the American Church given in to the Beast by silencing the wrong voices? Beast #4

Did you know that Jesus raised a young man from the dead because “He felt compassion for her [the mother]” (Luke 7:13)?

Did you know that Jesus wasn’t praising the widow for her generous offering in the temple treasury, He was condemning the religious elite who made her give when she had no money left for food: Mark notes that she gave “all she had to live on”—that can’t be good! (Mark 12:41-44)?

Did you know that Jesus’ exhortation to the rich young man (Luke calls him a “ruler”; Luke 18:18-23) to sell all he had was intended to have him return the land to the rightful owners from which he had taken it?

NB: Israelites cannot sell their ancestral lands. Thus, to acquire “much property” (Matt 19:22), as Matthew says the rich young man had done, could only have been accomplished by means of exploitation.

I am convinced that the Jesus we read about was concerned with far more than our personal salvation. After all, He announced His ministry in Nazareth by proclaiming the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:16-19)—which included the restoration of land to its owners.

Do we need to rethink things?

I had a wonderful conversation with a couple from my generation (50’s-60’s) recently about Jesus, Scripture, justice, and the Church. It seems that many in my generation are beginning to rethink things. After all, our kids have been doing so for some time now. It is about time we got on board.

Now, I am not talking about compromising our faith—I hate that I even have to issue such a disclaimer, but I can see someone accusing me of capitulating to the “woke” movement (more on that in a future post) or some “liberal” agenda (I really despise the use of labels as a means of silencing one’s opponents).

This rethinking includes the message of Jesus: that is, was He only concerned with “dying for our sins so we could go to heaven?” or do the larger issues of justice matter to Jesus?

NB: as a biblical scholar I find this latter question laughable. The demand for justice pervades the Scriptures. Of course, Jesus was concerned with justice.

I have been writing about this for some time. I firmly believe that we (evangelicals) have gotten much (and I mean a whole lot) wrong and that the message we have been preaching is vacuous at best and seriously misguided at worst.

What do I mean? I mean that the Jesus I read about was concerned with people’s well-being and not just their “conversion.”

As I noted earlier, Jesus raised a son from the dead because “He felt compassion for her [the mother]” (Luke 7:13). Luke is clear that this was Jesus’ objective. After all, he introduces the son by noting that “a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow” (Luke 7:12).

Note that the description of the mother takes center stage: she was a widow and this was her only son. Why would Luke make such an effort to identify the mother? Because he wants us to know that she had no male to provide for her well-being. In a culture in which it was difficult for a woman to provide for her own well-being, and in which such a woman was vulnerable to abuse, this would have been devastating. This woman was the epitome of the “poor” to whom Jesus came to preach “good news” (Luke 4:16-19).

That Jesus raises the son for the sake of the mother is made explicit by Luke, when, after He raises the young man from the dead, Luke adds, “Jesus gave him back to his mother” (Luke 7:15).

Note that the text provides no indication that Jesus did this to “prove” that He was God, or that He had the authority/power to raise the dead—all of which I was taught when I first learned the story. Nor does the text indicate that “many began to follow Him because of this.”

Instead, we are to read this account, which follows Jesus’ teaching on love and the nature of the kingdom of God (Luke 6:20-38), as an example of what love looks like. Jesus was concerned for the poor and the marginalized.

What can be done about it?

In my recent conversation with my middle-aged friends (yes, 50’s-60’s is the new middle-age), I noted the “despair”—my opinion—in the state of the evangelical church. The question was then raised, “What can be done about it?”

I responded by noting that one of the solutions is for us to begin to hear from the other. Listening is far more important than you might suspect.

Endemic to the ills of evangelicalism has been its propensity to rashly defend itself from all forms of criticism. Corollary to this has been evangelicals’ proclivity to condemn others in such a manner that their voices are silenced.

Labeling the other

One of the tactics used by evangelicals to silence the other (and at the same time condemn those who side with the other) is through the use of labels.

Thus, anyone who wants to speak about the race issue is somehow espousing CRT (critical race theory) or BLM (Black Lives Matter).

Of course, it is easy to find elements within CRT or BLM that “clearly contradict” Christian values. As a result, the whole of CRT and BLM and other such movements (e.g., “Me Too”) are condemned. These labels, however, are effectively employed to silence all conversations pertaining to race.

But not everything CRT and BLM have to say is wrong. Can we not agree that America has a deeply entrenched racist past and that the problems of systemic racism continue to this day?

The answer seems to be no. And anyone who dissents is apparently promoting a “woke” agenda.

But what if we are silencing the wrong voices?

Many evangelical institutions, churches, and denominations have taken it upon themselves to act. And they have acted with ferocity.

Jemar Tisby wrote about the firing (or the failure to renew her contract) of Julie Moore from Taylor University because she spoke to her classes about race issues. Unfortunately, her firing (or the failure to renew her contract—a rose by any other name is . . .) is not the exception. In fact, the title of Tisby’s post is, “Shaken and Heartsick”- Another Professor at a Christian University Fired for Racial Justice Teachings.”

Soong Chan Rah, an evangelical professor at Fuller Seminary, wrote about how he was disinvited to speak at Westmont College. Was it his race? Sadly, Westmont never provided him with any explanation for his disinvitation.

Soong Chan asks, “SO . . . WESTMONT COLLEGE. Could you please give me a clear, Biblical reason why you disinvited me? Could you for the record, state why you would take such a rude, ungracious action towards an Evangelical pastor and scholar who was planning to speak on encouraging students to persevere in their faith?”

Soong Chan then concludes his post by noting, “I have no plans to leave my evangelical faith. But it certainly feels like I’m being pushed out.”

There is no denying that “cancel culture” works both ways. Evangelicals and conservatives get canceled, disinvited, or not invited at all because they are evangelicals.

But this is not the point. The point is that not listening to the other is wrong. In fact, it is simply unloving. And just because “they” do it, does not make it acceptable when “we” do it.

So, I ask again, what if we are silencing the wrong voices?

The First Seal (Rev 6:1-2): false teaching/deception

I recognize that what I have said thus far does not sound serious. In response, I would only affirm that I can’t say enough as to how serious this is.

I also cannot stress enough how this topic relates to my current series of posts on how the evangelical church has gone to bed with the Beast (here is the link for post #1—4 reasons why I believe the Western Church has fallen prey to the Beast”; post #2—Why I think the American Church is in bed with the Beast).

It might seem that I am speaking about nothing. In fact, it may even appear as if I have sided with the enemy; or capitulated with the liberal agenda. . . .

But, I would retort, this is precisely what the Beast wants us to think.

In Revelation 6:1-17, we have the first six Seals—which are not judgments but that is for another post.

The First Seal in Rev 6:1-2 is false teaching. This is followed by “war” (Rev 6:3-4), “famine” (Rev 6:5-6), and “pestilence and death” (Rev 6:7-8). Unfortunately, we have taken this to mean that we must guard the truth so that we do not listen to the other nor allow them to speak.

The reason why this is so important is because it is precisely what the Beast wants us to do. False teaching is his first weapon. Then he justifies war, which creates famine and death.

But, and I reiterate, what if we are silencing the wrong voices?

So, how can we tell?

But how can we tell who is right? This, of course, is the million-dollar question.

NB: It is worth noting that the prophetic voices in Scripture were always the minority voices. One of the reasons why it was so easy for the people to dismiss Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the lot of righteous prophets is because they were the lone wolves. And, in fact, there were hundreds of other “prophets” who were assuring the people that everything was just fine.  

One of the ways we can discern is the follow the money. As Paul says, “The love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim 6:10).

Money and power go hand and hand. And with power comes the demand to maintain one’s power. And the best way to maintain one’s power is to maintain the narrative that got you in power. “We are good. They are bad.”

Could it be that large donors are behind the firing of those in evangelical institutions who begin to speak about race? Could it be that is why Soong Chan Rah was disinvited to speak at Westmont?

I have been arguing that the evangelical church in the US is in bed with the Beast. Of course, my claim almost has the air of a conspiracy theory (I hate conspiracy theories. But sometimes we need to listen to them). After all, if I am right, then we have been duped by the false teaching that corresponds with the ascendancy of the Beast.

Needless to say, many evangelicals claim precisely the opposite of what I am claiming. The fact that I am not alone, that many are beginning to speak, suggests that maybe we should start listening.

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