Posted on 01/28/2021 8:58:16 AM PST by SeekAndFind
One of the easiest ways to oppose the church is to criticize Christians in communist magazines, like Time. Often Big Eva Woke Evangelicals have gained major publicity by badmouthing the church on a pagan platform, whether it be the New York Times, Washington Post, or in this case, Time Magazine. Russell Moore got to sound off on his thought on politics and the church to a pagan audience and it could not come across as more pretentious. The article is titled “Theologian Russell Moore Has a Message for Christians Who Still Worship Donald Trump.” Note, that this was not written by Russell Moore, but look at how Russell Moore is okay with being described.
The past few years have not been an easy time to be God’s lobbyist. A lot of folks claiming to represent the Almighty have been jostling for space in the corridors of Washington, with a lot of conflicting agendas. Their methods often seem mutually exclusive with the Christian tenet that one should love one’s neighbor. So perhaps it’s not surprising that shortly after the events of Jan. 6, the guy whose actual paid job it is to try to get those in power to think about a higher power got about as ticked off as a polite Southern gentleman of faith is allowed to get.
Getting called God’s lobbyist is probably the most undeserved superfluous title that Russell Moore has ever been called. The article makes no mention of any accomplishments Russell Moore and the ERLC have had in their lobbying quest. After all where was the ERLC when government was locking down churches? Nowhere until Amy Coney Barrett was confirmed. But it’s not like the pagans will see through that. After going on about the false narrative of January 6th, Time writes:
The pushback against Moore is surprising. Born in Biloxi, Miss., and ordained at 23, he checks dozens of typical conservative boxes, from his gentle demeanor, to his five sons, two of whom are adopted from Russia, to the family photos he posts of the entire clan clad in khaki pants and navy sport coats. He publicly supported the right of a Colorado baker to decline to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. He would love to see Roe v. Wade overturned. He believes gay Christians should remain celibate. He has also championed protection for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients, undocumented immigrants and refugees. He helps guide church thinking on living wills and end-of-life decisions, weighing in on the role of doctrine if people are in terrible pain.
You can tell by now that this is a fluff piece. If it’s not meant to read by pagans, it’s meant to be marketed to Big Eva from preventing some sort of no confidence vote of his performance and status. By being seen this way by Time Magazine, Russell Moore is improving his street cred for worldliness which Big Eva certainly values. Consider how the author continues:
In many ways, Moore’s job is to pull his fellow Baptists into the future. In others, it is to try to prevent the culture from abandoning convictions that are several millennia old, some of which–like celibacy outside marriage–no longer seem to make sense to most people. “I think the problem with evangelical Christianity in America is not that we are too strange but that we are not strange enough,” says Moore. “We should be countercultural in loving God and loving our neighbors in ways that ought not to make sense except for the grace of God.”
The arrogant assessment of Russell Moore continues.
Often Moore has to tap-dance around the gap between his church’s beliefs and its behavior. He dismisses as a “manufactured controversy” the criticism of six SBC seminary presidents who in November released a public condemnation of critical race theory. “I don’t find any postmodern theory motivating those who are concerned for racial reconciliation and justice,” says Moore. “I find that what motivates such things is the Bible.” And while Moore has set himself apart from those who support the President, he declines to condemn those who opted to vote for Trump because they believed in the platform, not the man.
In this paragraph, we get some substance from Moore. Though unsurprising, he comes out in support woke Seminary presidents and professors. It cannot be any clearer that Russell Moore is an enemy within the church.
Christians should not criticize the church in pagan settings any more than a husband should not demean his wife in front of his friends. There is a time and a place for Christians to debate the flaws of other Christian practices but communist magazines are never the place.
Bkmrk.
I thought poor Russell is a Southern Baptist.
I guess the title could have meant he is from America.
I think he is the president of the SBC. The SBC is heading the way of the rest of the American denominations. Hey lets go liberal will get more people in the pews, except you don’t in the long run and by the time you realize it you really don’t have any semblance of a Christian church. I belong to a SBC affiliated church and the pastor and deacons are getting ready to sever our ties with the SBC because they are going liberal.
American Baptists have been leftwing for decades, like the PCUSA, the ELCA, the UCC, the Episcopals, half the UMC (the other half is splitting as it should have done 30 years ago), and Pope Francis.
Not true. It has really come about in the last decade.
I worked in a Methodist church in the mid 80s as the music director, and the youth director was an American Baptist (why the church hired her as opposed to a UMC deacon I don't know). She was a full-on liberal theologian and feminist, and left when the bishop assigned a conservative pastor to the congregation. The liberals in the congregation were mad, but they couldn't fire the pastor, so they fired me instead. That was my experience of the American Baptists :-)
Moore is the main reason I no longer identify with the Southern Baptists.
Perhaps I am confusing SBC with American Baptist. My apologies.
Did you say Laurie joined the SBC?
This article says that doesn’t make sense. SBC churches elect their president. A majority of them elected the guy in this article.
Evangelicals got played.
Moore is the reason I campaigned hard against my church affiliating with the SBC when church leadership decided to put the matter to a vote about 4 years ago. Fortunately the congregation voted against affiliation.
No, I think JD Geerer is president. Moore is something like the chairman of the committee on biblical ethics.
Yes. Harvest Christian Fellowship is SBC now. They were only loosely associated the Calvary Chapel and were basically independent.
I stopped going there before the change.
There are a lot of these guys around. I heard a Southern Baptist preach if we just gave enough we could end world hunger.. that’s while he drew in around 100,000 a year. He never shared how much he gave..
Moore is the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, which is the moral and public policy agency of the SBC. Circlecity is right, Greerar is the SBC President, and he has some serious flaws himself, including capitulating to the “pronoun” madness.
Now he's another story! Many SBC churches who are losing membership may take a closer look regarding their SBC affiliation. A lot of wasted $$$$$. The denomination needs the direction of the Holy Spirit. Not man.
“A majority of them elected the guy in this article.”
Moore isn’t the SBC President, which is pretty much a meaningless position anyways.
Moore IS a reason to consider leaving the SBC. The leadership positions in the SBC are almost entirely figurative, but it seems the folks in office just rotate between a bunch of BLM types.
When I arrived in a new town, I used to seek out a SBC church as my first choice to visit. Now? I’m done with them.
Whatever happened!? And so fast.
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