Eschatology Matters
Christian News: Rick Warren 2.0 at the SBC
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The egalitarian push denies the good order of nature, corrupts the authority of scripture, and weakens our doctrinal boundaries. Welcome to the Reformed Reckoner on Eschatology Matters, part of the Fight Laugh East Network, and now available on Boniface Media. It's where we reckon the news of the week with scripture rather than taking our cues from the news. This past week, the largest association of churches in America, the Southern Baptist Convention held their national meeting. All eyes in the evangelical world were on this conference as the law amendment to solidify the SBC's position on barring women pastors would be decided. Passing this amendment would be a strong signal against the encroaching egalitarianism that comes to devour many a denomination. Going into this meeting, both sides of this debate sought to secure the moral high ground. The Center for Baptist Leadership and the Founders Ministry hosted a highly attended luncheon, while the establishment of the SBC was able to provide plenty of talking points via the executive committee's report given by the president of the executive committee, Jeff Iorg. God's eternal mission is not political, social, or organizational. Our mission must not be either. Our overarching eternal mission is introducing people to Jesus Christ and teaching them to live as his disciples. Did you catch what he was doing? He was hinting that the debate over the law amendment is a missional drift. Instead, we ought to put first things first and focus on the gospel. Where have I heard that argument before? Are we going to keep victory over secondary issues? Are we going to keep the main thing, the main thing? Outsiders looking in may think this is a bunch of hoopla for a secondary or even tertiary doctrinal issue. But this is to see things all wrong. The roles and offices of church leadership is not the only issue at hand in this debate. Now, a little sidebar for those who think that the amendment is unnecessary because the SBC's own statement of faith called the Baptist Faith and Message or BFM already addresses this issue. But my question is, if the BFM was already sufficient, then why are there hundreds of SBC churches that currently ordain women pastors? If the BFM is sufficient, why does it take years for churches like Saddleback or FBC Alexandria to be expelled? When there is no moral courage in the SBC, it is necessary to bolster conventional boundaries with clear language. So this is why the SBC establishment is running a full court press on gospel and missional centrality. If they can make the debate over the law amendment look like a distraction, then the slow descent into egalitarianism can continue. Listen to how SBC president Bart Barber encouraged the messengers to think at the annual meeting. But I want you to notice about this text that sometimes you cannot please God without seeking to please men. It's important to see how Mormons 15 is brought into debates like this. The logic follows that there are some topics like women ordination that are not worth fighting about because they are not gospel issues. Therefore, it's better to please your brothers and shut up. Keep the status quo and don't divide brothers on such secondary issues. However, this interpretation gets Romans 15 wrong on three accounts. First, Romans 15 does not teach us that there are moral gray areas in which we should be content with error. The Bible is definitive that all things can be distinguished between righteous or wicked, light and darkness. There is not one topic in which God is unsure whether he is honored or blasphemed. If you think about it, we talk about black and white areas and gray areas, white area. We say, God is honored, black areas, God is this one. But there are gray areas which it's just kind of what you want to do. But that misses the point. I like to think of gray areas rather like a tapestry or how your screens work with colors, right? Each pixel is only red, green or blue and some mixture of those three to create purple or gray or something else. In the same way, every issue is either a black or white issue. But because of different complexities, it may change. So yelling, I would say yelling at your wife would be a great example. Well, it may feel like a gray area because in one context, where I'm cheering her on and being excited for her and joy, that type of yelling would be viewed positively. But obviously yelling at her for messing up the dinner and some kind of tyrannical, you know, hamfisted way would be inappropriate. So the only gray as we are far away, but as we get closer, we should be able to distinguish between what is true and what is false. Second, Romans 15 does not teach us that both positions on secondary issues are equally valid. Paul describes one position as the strong position and the other as the weak. Therefore, it is the duty of the strong to lead the weak into truth, but to do so, quote, bearing with their failings. This means we are not to give into the errors of the weak, but to be patient with them as they come to greater and greater theological clarity. If you hold correct doctrine in the secondary matter, it is your duty as a stronger brother to be patient with your weaker brother and help lead them to truth. I think this would actually be very helpful in the Christian nationalism argument if we were more patient with our weaker brothers. Now third, Romans 15 does not teach us that secondary matters don't matter. There is a debate whether the Bible teaches us to think of doctrine in tears or triages, but this debate should be quickly handled by a simple syllogism. One, all things have come under the kingdom of God, Matthew 28, 18. The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace, and joy. Romans 14, 17. And the third point, in order for both one and two to be true, eating and drinking must be secondary to righteousness, peace, and joy in the kingdom of God. However, we are not to think that secondary issues do not matter. As we learn from Paul, the very topic discussed in Romans 15, that is the debate over whether to keep Old Testament dietary law, is viewed as a gospel issue in Galatians 2. Paul saw that the weaker brothers insisted on the imposition of wrong doctrine upon the stronger brothers. He rebuked Peter and his followers for claiming that quote, "They walk not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel." Galatians 2, 14. Paul understands that secondary issues can become gospel issues. So it's our job to notice that development and to shift our approach. In our day, we need to see how egalitarian encroachments are not secondary issues alone relating to the proper titling of church service posts, but they are actually gospel issues. As has been shown time and time again among our churches, the egalitarian push denies the good order of nature, corrupts the authority of scripture, and weakens our doctrinal boundaries. So as we look at how America has fallen, it's easy to draw a direct line from the denial of the natural order of male and female to the moral degeneracy of the LGBT cult. It's important to fortify our borders and gates, and that is why it is so tragic that last week the SBC voted against approving the law amendment. But the fight isn't over, as J.R.L. Tolkien put it, "But men are better than gates, and no gate will endure against our enemy if men deserted." There are good men in the SBC working hard to preserve it, and they are aware of what is at stake. In the same way, every man ought to care for his own people, his own family, his own church, his own nation, and see where the enemy is looking to gain a foothold. So just like we encourage those in the SBC to do that, I encourage all of us to do that in our churches and our communities. So be a gate, stand in the way of evil, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. With such a hope, let's never grow weary in doing good. So thanks for tuning in to the Reformed Reckoner. Be steadfast, immovable, always abound in the work of the Lord, and we'll see you next week. Readed here at my right hand, the Lord to my Lord did come, and for all these heathen I will make, a kingly footstool for your shame. The Lord shall do it. It can get lonely climbing Mount McKinley, so to entertain myself, I go to ChumbaCasino.com. At ChumbaCasino, I give lay hundreds of online casino-style games for free, like online slots, bingo, slingo, and more. Plus, I get a daily login bonus. 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