Theologian Warns Woke Pastors Are Preaching Neo-Racism

[98cwitr]

Theologian Warns Woke Pastors Are Preaching Neo-Racism: ‘They Think The Ultimate Medal They Can Win Is To Offend No One‘ | The Daily Wire

But then Strachan began to notice high-profile pastors and popular Bible teachers inserting terms like “implicit bias” and “white privilege” into their messages. Though his colleagues disavowed any adherence to Critical Race Theory, their language, which echoed CRT proponents like Ibram X. Kendi and Robin DiAngelo, alarmed him. What they were preaching, he believed, was a different gospel than the one Christ taught — a gospel of works-based righteousness, with racism as original sin.

 

[RDKirk]

The racial issue the church in America has is specifically between black and white people. "What about the Asians?" is being used as a distraction. Asians don't have the 400-year history of slavery and then Jim Crow oppression by white people claiming to be Christians.

Asians did not have white people who claimed to be Christian concoct an absurd "biblical" doctrine ("Curse of Ham") to justify holding them forever in bondage (which continues to be upheld even to this day in these very Christianforums.com discussions). Asians did not have an entire denomination of white people--the Southern Baptist Convention--invented for the sole purpose of allowing white people to keep them slaves, yet continue to call themselves Christian.

Asians did not have white people who claimed to be Christian snatch them up, torture them, hang them by their necks, set them afire while they still lived, hold picnics under the charred bodies, snip off fingers and toes as souvenirs, and then go to church the next morning singing, "How Great Thou Art."

Asians did not have white people bomb their churches on Sunday morning and then set the bombers free. Asians did not have white people bombing buses carrying blacks and whites in accordance with the law.

And many of those very same white people who supported and participated in such atrocities are still alive and even still in church leadership positions. And black Christians who personally experiences such things are also still alive.

Jesus calls us to be reconciled to one another, but He also tells us that before reconciliation must come confession and repentance. To this day, white Christians have largely not confessed and repented, but continue to claim there is no problem, even while perpetuating the problem.

That article conflates every attempt at confession, repentance, and reconciliation as "CRT" and "Marxism." They're digging in their heels to avoid the confession and repentance that has to happen before there can be reconciliation...because they don't actually want reconciliation. A racially divided Church is fine with them.

 

[GOD Shines Forth!]

Those in the flesh have no choice but to promote grievance and unforgiveness. As a believer in Jesus Christ I will not participate in that demonic enterprise. The unbelieving champions of the new Radical Chic are lost in it, no blood bought child of God should have even a hint of that bitterness and unforgiveness towards ANYONE. We are all leveled at the Cross.

The only "race" God accepts now is the one New Man:

"But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace"--Ephesians 2

"Peace" has already been made. Finis. Believe or don't believe.

"Having abolished in his flesh the enmity"??? Is that between black and white? Please, that's between Jew and Gentile and that was the ONLY rift that mattered racially. Now that problem has been resolved and its only those in the flesh who WILL NOT accept it.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Asians did not have white people who claimed to be Christian concoct an absurd "biblical" doctrine ("Curse of Ham") to justify holding them forever in bondage (which continues to be upheld even to this day in these very Christianforums.com discussions). Asians did not have an entire denomination of white people--the Southern Baptist Convention--invented for the sole purpose of allowing white people to keep them slaves, yet continue to call themselves Christian.

Two denominations if we're being nitpicky. The Presbyterians split like the Baptists, though they re-merged in 1983.
Presbyterian Church in the United States - Wikipedia

ETA: Three denominations. Before I wrote the above, I couldn't remember if the other split was in the Presbyterians or the Methodists. Turns out it was both.
Methodist Episcopal Church, South - Wikipedia

 

[RDKirk]

Two denominations if we're being nitpicky. The Presbyterians split like the Baptists, though they re-merged in 1983.
Presbyterian Church in the United States - Wikipedia

ETA: Three denominations. Before I wrote the above, I couldn't remember if the other split was in the Presbyterians or the Methodists. Turns out it was both.
Methodist Episcopal Church, South - Wikipedia

MEs had problems long before that, and in the north, too.

I was raised in the African Methodist Episcopal church. There is a reason why the African Methodist Episcopal church was founded. Back in the late 1700s, black freedmen joined the ME congregation in Philadelphia, and, yeah, they were received...but under Jim Crow-type restrictions keeping them separated from the whites (I guess maybe we should give those white ME members credit for being a hundred years ahead of their time).

But the back-breaking straw came during the prayer portion of one meeting. The white members had prayed at the altar, then the blacks were allowed to come to the altar to pray after the whites. But while the blacks were on their knees, a few more whites decided they wanted to pray after all, so the blacks were ousted in the middle of their prayers and shooed away from the altar.

At that time, blacks in America were not considered American citizens, but were called "Africans" in polite society. So that's how their break-away denomination was named.

 

[Sketcher]

I thought this was notable:

More recently, Strachan openly challenged a distinguished Southern Baptist professor for teaching that assigning white-authored texts to students results in “white supremacy” and “white colonization.”

What people often forget is that Robin DiAngelo, one of the authors that pushes the "woke" narrative, is white. But her stuff gets recommended all the time by the so-called progressives.

 

[iluvatar5150]

I thought this was notable:

More recently, Strachan openly challenged a distinguished Southern Baptist professor for teaching that assigning white-authored texts to students results in “white supremacy” and “white colonization.”

The point being made by the professor was that one of the vehicles by which white supremacy propagates is by establishing "whiteness" or white perspectives as the default or the gold standard by which ideas (in this case, theology) are measured.

Video here:

In his rebuttal, Strachan criticizes "standpoint epistemology" as making "exegesis a culture-driven practice" that justifies Christians in "coming to altogether different conclusions about the meaning of biblical texts."

I wonder if Strachan has every studied the history of the church before 1980 or so. Exegesis has always been influenced by culture and Christians have always come to different conclusions about the meaning of biblical texts. As an example - the modern evangelical focus on individual sin, atonement, and salvation to the near complete exclusion of any form of corporate sin is a byproduct of American culture of individualism and libertarianism. If that perspective were so self-evident in scripture, then it would be ubiquitous throughout the global church. But it's not.

What people often forget is that Robin DiAngelo, one of the authors that pushes the "woke" narrative, is white. But her stuff gets recommended all the time by the so-called progressives.

So?

 

[Sketcher]

The racial issue the church in America has is specifically between black and white people. "What about the Asians?" is being used as a distraction. Asians don't have the 400-year history of slavery and then Jim Crow oppression by white people claiming to be Christians.

Asians did not have white people who claimed to be Christian concoct an absurd "biblical" doctrine ("Curse of Ham") to justify holding them forever in bondage (which continues to be upheld even to this day in these very Christianforums.com discussions). Asians did not have an entire denomination of white people--the Southern Baptist Convention--invented for the sole purpose of allowing white people to keep them slaves, yet continue to call themselves Christian.

Asians did not have white people who claimed to be Christian snatch them up, torture them, hang them by their necks, set them afire while they still lived, hold picnics under the charred bodies, snip off fingers and toes as souvenirs, and then go to church the next morning singing, "How Great Thou Art."

Asians did not have white people bomb their churches on Sunday morning and then set the bombers free. Asians did not have white people bombing buses carrying blacks and whites in accordance with the law.

And many of those very same white people who supported and participated in such atrocities are still alive and even still in church leadership positions. And black Christians who personally experiences such things are also still alive.

Jesus calls us to be reconciled to one another, but He also tells us that before reconciliation must come confession and repentance. To this day, white Christians have largely not confessed and repented, but continue to claim there is no problem, even while perpetuating the problem.

That article conflates every attempt at confession, repentance, and reconciliation as "CRT" and "Marxism." They're digging in their heels to avoid the confession and repentance that has to happen before there can be reconciliation...because they don't actually want reconciliation. A racially divided Church is fine with them.

So, if we pare this down to the people who are still alive, what would reconciliation look like to you, specifically?

 

[Sketcher]

I wonder if Strachan has every studied the history of the church before 1980 or so. Exegesis has always been influenced by culture and Christians have always come to different conclusions about the meaning of biblical texts. As an example - the modern evangelical focus on individual sin, atonement, and salvation to the near complete exclusion of any form of corporate sin is a byproduct of American culture of individualism and libertarianism. If that perspective were so self-evident in scripture, then it would be ubiquitous throughout the global church. But it's not.

Am I responsible for your sins? Are you responsible for mine? If so, why? If not, why not?

 

[iluvatar5150]

Am I responsible for your sins? Are you responsible for mine? If so, why? If not, why not?

Maybe in part. It depends on the specifics.

If one of us presents a stumbling block to the other, then there would be some shared guilt. If we're both part of a single group/organization and that group does something sinful as a group, then we share guilt. If that organization did something sinful prior to our joining, our status as current members puts on the hook for at least some of the atonement and cleanup, even if we didn't personally partake in the sin.

 

[Sketcher]

So?

White liberals are long on talk and short on understanding. Their hostility to the right causes them to reflexively dismiss any conservative idea or principle that is actually less racist than they are.

 

[iluvatar5150]

White liberals are long on talk and short on understanding.

That's funny given how often I find myself correcting basic factual errors around here. Even the content of the OP is pretty short on understanding, as I pointed out in post #9.

Their hostility to the right causes them to reflexively dismiss any conservative idea or principle that is actually less racist than they are.

I don't understand how this comment follows from your pointing out that Robin DiAngelo is white.

Either way, you're just wrong, especially in the context of "white liberals" within the American church. I don't know what perspective you're coming from, but the vast majority of us promoting some flavor of "woke" Christianity are neither far left nor ignorant of conservatism. On the contrary, we're quite familiar with conservative ideas - we grew up with them being taught in our families, our churches, and in many cases, our schools. Most of us still hold to a number of conservative values. What we reject is a specific sort of politicized Christianity like what's being peddled in the OP. Just because you may not be aware of or able to follow our logic doesn't mean it isn't sound.

 

[Bobber]

MEs had problems long before that, and in the north, too.

I was raised in the African Methodist Episcopal church. There is a reason why the African Methodist Episcopal church was founded. Back in the late 1700s, black freedmen joined the ME congregation in Philadelphia, and, yeah, they were received...but under Jim Crow-type restrictions keeping them separated from the whites (I guess maybe we should give those white ME members credit for being a hundred years ahead of their time).

Well I suppose that would say to us the spiritual development of these white leaders were somewhat akin to how Paul the Apostle talked about the carnal. Religionists, yes but really getting what it means to have the life of God working in their lives I'd say not. To draw a distinction between men based on race and ethnicity would have got from Paul strong reproof. Gal 2:11

But the back-breaking straw came during the prayer portion of one meeting. The white members had prayed at the altar, then the blacks were allowed to come to the altar to pray after the whites. But while the blacks were on their knees, a few more whites decided they wanted to pray after all, so the blacks were ousted in the middle of their prayers and shooed away from the altar.

I'd say those who shooed them away should have backed away from taking communion and their prayers wouldn't have meant much. Seeing scriptures states men reap what they sow there was probably things that didn't work well in their lives and they might have wondered why but may not have known why until the next world. Point is one can't just do those things and be blessed.

 

[RDKirk]

So, if we pare this down to the people who are still alive, what would reconciliation look like to you, specifically?

It's going to look very much like the exercises that Strachan is exhorting white Christians to resist. He is doing wrong by conflating anti-racism teaching with Marxism or even CRT.

The Church should always have been doing anti-bigotry training, just as Paul did. Bigotry is never a solved problem in the Church, any more than any other sin is a solved problem in the Church, because the Church continually brings in people from the world who still have their sins. So we have to constantly preach against bigotry the same way we preach constantly against adultery and every other sin.

 

[Blade]

I like the daily wire but... I don't know any preacher I listen to and don't really care for ever talk preach like this. I guess there are woke preachers out there.

Lets be careful not to LUMP all into this

 

[Sketcher]

It's going to look very much like the exercises that Strachan is exhorting white Christians to resist. He is doing wrong by conflating anti-racism teaching with Marxism or even CRT.

Got any specifics?

The Church should always have been doing anti-bigotry training, just as Paul did. Bigotry is never a solved problem in the Church, any more than any other sin is a solved problem in the Church, because the Church continually brings in people from the world who still have their sins. So we have to constantly preach against bigotry the same way we preach constantly against adultery and every other sin.

I definitely agree with that.