Thoughts on all sorts of things, including the PCA

Escape to Theology

If you aren’t in the PCA, you can skip to the next headline.

I haven’t been back to seminary in some time. I’m desperate to go back. But in so doing, I’m mindful of how hard it is to escape politics everywhere these days. I went to seminary for a lot of reasons. I wound up staying because I loved it, but also because it became a great escape once a week from politics. I’m really ready to go back.

Right now, my denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America, is considering two “overtures” that would change the rules of the PCA. The world is invading and bringing politics with it.

Long story short — a few years ago, a group met in a PCA church and held a conference called “Revoice” on how to minister to same-sex attracted individuals. It went off the rails. Since there, there have been many well-meaning attempts to bridge a divide on ministry in and around the big cultural issue of the day — Biblical sexual ethics.

Right now, the PCA is considering Overtures 23 and 37. These would make clear that the PCA has no room in the pulpit for those who’d define themselves by their sin as some are wont to do these days.

I think the PCA needs to pass these and if you are in the PCA you need to encourage your elders to support the overtures. We’re living in an age where Christians need to speak boldly as culture clashes with our values. Many would argue that this is all needlessly controversial.

The problem here is that these matters are spun as Christians picking fights. In reality, orthodox Christianity is on defense here. We didn’t pick the fight. But we must answer. Silence and obsequiousness in language where scripture speaks plainly is self-defeating. Again, the people who support Overtures 23 and 37 never asked for this fight. They did not push this fight. They are responding to that into which they themselves have been dragged and the PCA should answer in the affirmative to both Overtures. I know others oppose these measures as unnecessary or could be better worded, but I haven’t seen the opponents offer the better wording that accomplishes the same goal.

You’d be amazed at the number of people who have reached out to me on all sides of this issue. I feel like I need to start making people register as lobbyists. I’ll be as plain as I can on it. These should be considered must pass.

Relevant to All of You

Based on all the conversations I have had in the past year, there is a bit of divide between congregants and pastors in many denominations, including my own, the PCA.

Presbyterians divide themselves between teaching elders, who are the pastors, and ruling elders, who are the laity of the church and take up leadership positions. The ruling elders tend to be more conservative in some cases than the pastors on a lot of these issues.

I am reminded of a survey of churches from some years ago in mainline denominations focused on the Church of Canada.

Overwhelmingly, the laity believed in miracles, that God hears prayers, that the resurrection is real and physical, and the Bible is the word of God. Overwhelmingly, the pastors and priests believed none of those things.

In the American church, most conservative denominations may squabble on some theological points, but they all believe. The progressive denominations, if not yet dead, have given up the game to culture altogether. Thankfully, while I think there are some in my own denomination who lean too far left, overwhelming across the spectrum of pastors, they’re all orthodox and just differ on how to speak Biblically into the present culture. It’s no surprise the pastors in cities and the pastors in rural areas disagree.

My big frustration right now is the theologians and pastors who have taken to Twitter to build followings and pick fights. It just isn’t healthy. Some of them, however, gain followers so they keep at it.

In the Southern Baptist Church right now and, frankly, in the PCA, anyone who brings up racial reconciliation is considered woke and an CRT advocate, even when they aren’t. The Twitterati have lost the nuance. There is organized bullying among Christians, some of whom operate as if they’re in a political campaign.

Tim Keller comes to mind.

Keller wrote one of the best critiques of critical race theory out there. I have referred thousands of people to his critique, which specifically shows how CRT is not compatible with Christianity and will not lead to true racial reconciliation. But the fringe with an audience of Twitter has repeatedly attacked Keller as a proponent of CRT because (1) he thinks the church does need to address racial reconciliation and (2) he is willing to engage with those with whom he has disagreements and he does so civilly.

He told me a while back that if we are all made in the image of God we all have something to share with others even if we don’t agree. There’s a wisdom there not found on social media.

But who needs nuance when you can get Twitter followers by being either an uncompromising absolutist fundamentalist who condemns anyone who disagrees or an uncompromising culturalist who condemns anyone who has Biblical standards.

Frankly, the people who think the church needs to look just like the world and the people who think the church needs to look nothing like the world are both doing it wrong.

Schumer Is Doing It Wrong

That the Democrats are wasting another week on voting issues is ludicrous. The voting rights stuff is a garbage issue. It will not win them an election and is doomed to fail. Manchin and Sinema are refusing to alter the filibuster. But Schumer now has to force it because performance is more important than results to a post-modern world.

For years we have all heard “no means no.” Apparently, the only time no does not mean no is when Manchin and Sinema say no to changing the filibuster. Every day they get asked again. They are not changing it.

The voting measure is dead. Punchbowl DC quotes Schumer on if Democrats are abandoning other priorities for this. Schumer said:

“This is so sacred. It's so important. The right to vote is the wellspring of our democracy. We're not abandoning the other issues – we can do more than one, but to abandon voting rights, when you have seen how important it is in the country, when it is the wellspring of our democracy, when it is so vital to bringing full equality in this country, and racism has been the poison of America would be a disgrace. We're not abandoning it. We will do other things as well.”

Yes, Democrats are abandoning a focus on any issue voters care about for one few care about and it won’t pass anyway. Despite what he says, Democrats cannot multitask right now.

How have they gotten this bad at stuff? Except, this is all part of the plan.

The Democrats’ Own “Stolen Election” Conspiracy Theory

Erick Erickson @EWErickson

When you understand the Dems are doing this voting right stunt not to win, but to explain their coming defeat as "the GOP stole it, the voters didn't reject our agenda," it all makes sense. Some in the press will help them after 2yrs of denouncing the GOP stolen election stuff.

The Democrats’ theater in Washington is part of a plan. They know they are going to get their butts kicked in November. Flaming bags of dog poop have higher popularity than President Biden right now.

So the Democrats are seeding the ground for their own version of the “stolen election.” They’ll scream about voter suppression, etc. to talk about their losses instead of having to explain that Biden’s policies or the progressive shift of the party cost them the election.

What might surprise some of you is that a large portion of the American political press will give them aid and comfort on this particular talking point. Instead of rejecting it as the press has with Trump, many of them, particularly MSNBC, will embrace it.

It will become there excuse to never have to admit how out of touch they are. Nonetheless…

Voting Rights is a Garbage Issue

It really is. It is the issue on which Democrats will lose their majority because it has distracted them from the things voters really care about.