What Is "Sermongate" All About?
Regardless of your views on the plagiarism scandal surrounding newly minted SBC President, Ed Litton, here is a good article from the New York Times that provides a fairly neutral perspective in describing the issue.
TL;DR - preaching another pastor's sermon is not new. It is a grey area where there are differing opinions. While not condemned, it certainly diminishes a pastor's credibility when discovered.
This quote by Scot McKnight probably best describes the sense of betrayal church members feel when they discover their pastor is not preaching his own material:
For many churchgoers, a sermon is not just a clever speech but proof of the pastor’s deep spiritual life. “A sermon is a person studying the Bible, encountering God in their own life and history, and then spewing it all out on Sunday morning for the good of the people of God.”
The article also points to the possible root of the issue with the various pastors involved: they all employed a company called Docent Research Group.
On their website, Docent describes their services:
We do everything from demographic research to help plan for a new campus launch or church plant to sermon series preparation and planning. We help churches craft position papers to articulate beliefs, and we write custom curriculum for small groups, Bible studies, and Christian education programs. If you need it, we can do it!
J.D. Greear was an endorser of Docent Group until the scandal broke, and his endorsement has been removed.
Still, all of the players involved in the plagiarism scandal are on public record as clients of Docent including Tim Keller, J.D. Greear, Matt Chandler, and Ed Litton.
Perhaps its not so much an issue of plagiarism as it is all of the pastors mentioned are drinking from the same well, which unfortunately is The Docent Group, not the Bible.
This scandal has also exposed perhaps some previously unknown schisms within SBC leadership. Danny Akin and Adam Greenway have both tweeted in support of Ed Litton, basically saying, "nothing to see here, move along," while Jason Allen tweeted a statement condemning plagiarism without mentioning Litton specifically. Al Mohler has remained silent on the issue.
SBC 2021 Annual Meeting Sets New Direction
Southern Baptists gathered in Nashville, TN, June 15-16 for the 2021 Annual Meeting. This was the first Annual Meeting in two years after the 2020 meeting was canceled due to COVID. With 15,769 registered messengers attending the 2021 meeting, this was the largest gathering of Southern Baptists at an Annual Meeting since 1995. More than 30 messengers attended representing Iowa churches.
As outgoing SBC President, J.D. Greear observed in his address to the convention,
I believe we are at a defining moment in our convention, at a crossroads. In fact, if I can be so bold, it might be the most important crossroads in our generation. Forty years ago a previous generation of Southern Baptists came to a defining moment, a moment in which they considered whether they would hold fast to the authority of God's word, whether they were going to follow the path of every other major denomination in America into the darkness of liberalism and the wilderness of cultural accommodation.
The Annual Meeting began under a cloud of controversy following the leak of two incendiary letters by former president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Russell Moore. More resigned from the ERLC June 1 to take a position with Christianity Today and with a non-SBC church.
Moore's letters highlighted the growing conflict between the moderate wing of the SBC and the conservative wing.
Great Commission Baptists
The theme of this year's Annual Meeting was "We Are Great Commission Baptists."
During his convention address Greear noted, "My prayer is that this will be more than a theme for our annual meeting, that it will be a declaration of who we are and who we aspire to be. Our convention is a coalition of churches committed to doing whatever it takes to get the gospel to those who haven't heard it."
Election of New SBC President
A primary item of business during Day 1 of the SBC Annual Meeting was the election of a new president. J.D. Greear served a three-year term after last year's convention was cancelled.
Four men were nominated to become the new SBC president:
Randy Adams, who serves as the Executive Director of the Northwest Baptist Convention.
Ed Litton, who serves as pastor of Redemption Church in Saraland, AL.
R. Albert Mohler, who serves as president of the Souther Baptist Theological Seminary.
Mike Stone, who serves as pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Blackshear, GA.
Ed Litton was elected president in a runoff with 52 percent of the messengers voting for him versus 48 percent voting for Mike Stone. The divided election results reflect the divisions and fault lines within the SBC.
Resolutions of the Southern Baptist Convention
The Resolutions Committee, chaired by James Merritt, presented 10 resolutions to the messengers for consideration. These included,
Baptist Unity and Maintaining Our Public Witness — the priority of Christians to “walk worthy of their calling” and “make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit” (Eph. 4:1–3).
On the Sufficiency of Scripture for Race and Racial Reconciliation — affirming that Scripture in “inspired by God” (2 Tim. 3:16–17) and that all people are “one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:26–28).
On Taxpayer Complicity in Abortion and the Hyde Amendment — affirms the sanctity of human life (Gen. 1:27; 9:6) and opposes the use of taxpayer money to fund abortion procedures.
On the Equality Act — affirms that God created two distinct sexes (Gen. 1:27; Matt. 19:4) and opposes the Equality Act that “seeks to revise the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by adding a prohibition of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.”
On Abuse and Pastoral Qualifications — affirms that Scripture teaches pastors, elders and overseers are to be “above reproach” (1 Tim. 3:2) and states that any person who has committed sexual abuse should be permanently disqualified from holding the office of pastor.
On Sole Membership — upholds the Southern Baptist foundational belief that each individual church member is in a “legal relationship” with the SBC and convention entities and that only the convention in session — not the Executive Committee — is the legal “sole member” of the various agencies and institutions of the convention.
On the Uyghur Genocide — denounces atrocities inflicted by the Communist Party of China against the Uyghur people.
On the Coronavirus Pandemic — expresses grief for the more than 3.78 million lives lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Appreciation for the City of Nashville — adds an extra emphasis because of how many top officials worked together to allow the SBC Annual Meeting to continue in Nashville when restrictions were still an issue up until a few weeks prior.
The messengers also voted by two-thirds majority to call one additional resolution out of committee that the Resolutions Committee chose not to present. This resolution, which passed, called for the Abolition of Abortion, immediately and without compromise.
All of the resolutions were approved by the messengers.
Critical Race Theory
Since the approval of Resolution 9 by the SBC in 2019, there has been strong disagreement over the acceptance of Critical Race Theory/Intersectionality by the convention.
According to Kimberlé Crenshaw, one of the leading scholars to develop Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality,
It is an academic discipline composed of civil-rights scholars in the United States who seek to critically examine the law to show, first, that it maintains white supremacy, white power, and enforces societal or structural racism; and, second, that transforming the relationship between law and racial power, and also achieving racial emancipation more broadly, is possible.
Many Southern Baptists have argued that CRT is incompatible with the New Testament teachings concerning racial reconciliation and the hope for true unity found through the gospel.
The Resolution Committee chose to omit any mention of Critical Race Theory in Resolution 2, which was submitted to reverse the decision of Resolution 9 in 2019 that affirmed Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality as an analytical tool to help Southern Baptist better understand racism in America.
When a motion was made from the floor to specifically address Critical Race Theory in Resolution 2, James Merritt made an impassioned statement:
It’s time to find out who we are and where we are headed. If some people were as passionate about the gospel as they were CRT, we’d win this world to Christ tomorrow.
We are all created in the image of God. We’ve been given the ministry of reconciliation. …
We are not the 2019 Resolutions Committee. We are the 2021 Resolutions Committee. We are not going to limit anything to just one thing (responding to questions about the resolution on race and racial reconciliation, see above).
What we have done in this resolution is settle this issue once and for all, yesterday today and forever. We reject any theory that the problem is anything other than sin and the solution is anything other than salvation.
There is a world watching out there and this (division about CRT) is exactly what they want.
We can either build bridges and tear down walls or we can put up walls and tear down bridges.
To build a bridge it takes hard work, sacrifice, commitment to reach to the other side but do everything we can to get them there.
IMB Sending Celebration
By many accounts, the highlight of the week happened before the Annual Meeting began. Monday, June 14, at the conclusion of the Send Conference, the International Mission Board presented 64 missionaries to be sent to foreign fields around the world.
Reflecting on the difficulties presented by the COVID pandemic and 20202, IMB President Paul Chitwood stated, "I questioned at times if we would be able to do everything that is necessary to appoint, train and deploy new missionaries in the midst of a global pandemic. But by God’s grace and with His help, your sending of missionaries through the IMB has not. even. slowed.
The majority of the 2021 missionaries being sent were presented from behind a screen to conceal their identity because they are going to closed nations.
Future Impact of SBC 2021
While the decisions and statements made in Nashville during the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting have little direct impact on Iowa Churches, it does signal the overall direction the convention is moving. Local church autonomy is still the hallmark of the Southern Baptist Convention and ensures that each local congregation holds full control over their own doctrinal positions and missional efforts. Southern Baptists agree to voluntarily cooperate for the gospel and the expression of this cooperation is in giving through the Cooperative Program.
Next week, we will examine one of the key initiatives to be approved by the messengers to the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting: Vision 2025.
The SBC Alamo
In 1716, Spanish Roman Catholic missionaries established a small chapel in an unexplored and relatively uninhabited piece of land in what would one day become Texas. The nearest Spanish settlement was more than 400 miles away.
By 1744, the mission was home to more than 300 Indians who had converted to Christianity.
It was at this site, in 1836, that one of the most memorable battles in American history would be fought.
Texas was in the midst of a revolution. Settlers from the United States and native Tejanos (Texas Mexicans) started an armed resistance to the rule of the Mexican government, which had become increasingly centralized and authoritarian, eroding away the individual rights and local autonomy of the Texans.
Determined to put down the rebellion, Mexican president and general Antonio López de Santa Anna sent Mexican troops into Texas in early 1836.
On February 23, the first shots were fired at the small Catholic mission now simply known as The Alamo. Over the next 13 days, the small contingent of Texans and Tejanos would be overwhelmed by the Mexican troops and eventually defeated.
Determined to strike terror into Texans, Santa Anna ordered the execution of the remaining troops at The Alamo, but he spared the women, children, and slaves. These survivors were sent to let other Texas settlers know what happened at The Alamo and to warn them to join with the Mexicans in pursuit of peace.
Rather than discourage Texans from pursuing independence, The Alamo became a battle cry--"Remember The Alamo!" Regrouped under Gen. Sam Houston, the Texans attacked the Mexican Army at San Jacinto, and on April 21, 1836, defeated Santa Anna and the Mexican Army.
An Opportunity to Unify
Many Southern Baptists see the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting in Nashville this week as The Alamo for the Southern Baptist Convention.
Set to be the largest gathering of Southern Baptists in a generation, the stakes could not be higher, or more divisive.
The battle lines are drawn and include the issues of ordaining women as pastors, anti-racism and Critical Race Theory, the sexual abuse of children and the mistreatment of sexual abuse survivors, and a redefinition of the Southern Baptist Convention leaning more towards central authority and away from its historic belief in local autonomy.
The hope and prayer is that when people gather together in the same room, there is a graciousness, love, and unity that is not found on social media and in the blogosphere. It is much easier to call someone “woke” or “racist” in a tweet rather when you are in the same room and you see this person as a brother or sister in Christ.
One issue Southern Baptists cannot ignore is its treatment of sexual abuse survivors or communicate an unwillingness to protect the most vulnerable among us.
While the other issues are important, we must be better at articulating what we are for rather than what we are against.
Is the 2021 Annual Meeting the "SBC Alamo?" Only time will tell. In the years ahead, it is my prayer that when we look back at 2021 we see a convention of churches that unified around a common doctrine and a common mission, but not at the expense of one over the other.
The SBC is fundamentally conservative in its historic interpretation of Scripture. I believe this is expressed in the Baptist Faith and Message. At the same time, I do not ignore the fact that there are agents within the SBC who are determined to pull the convention to the left (what they perceive as the middle). This downgrade will spell the end of the SBC as we know it if it is allowed to progress.
Random Thoughts: January 9, 2021
What happened at the US Capital on January 6 was planned. By whom? We don’t know, but it is clearly another step in a grand agenda that was rolled out at the beginning of 2020.
Does it sound like a conspiracy theory to suggest this is all part of an agenda? Perhaps in a different world, but in today’s world, the Globalists are very open about their plans. According to the World Economic Forum, “The Covid-19 crisis, and the political, economic and social disruptions it has caused, is fundamentally changing the traditional context for decision-making. … As we enter a unique window of opportunity to shape the recovery, this initiative will offer insights to help inform all those determining the future state of global relations, the direction of national economies, the priorities of societies, the nature of business models and the management of a global commons. Drawing from the vision and vast expertise of the leaders engaged across the Forum’s communities, the Great Reset initiative has a set of dimensions to build a new social contract that honours the dignity of every human being.”
Speaking of conspiracy theories, many cheered when Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Apple removed Alex Jones from their platforms. Alex Jones is crazy…everyone agreed. Still, there were many who feared that was an ominous sign for freedom of speech in America. Since then, we have witnessed these same platforms use their power to silence political opponents of Joe Biden, sway electors in key states by pushing narratives that favored the Democrats while shadow banning narratives that were negative to Democrats or favorable to Trump. Big Tech banned Alex Jones in one weekend in August 2018; that was only a little more than two years ago. Look at how far things have gone in that short window of time.
Many on the ground at the US Capital on January 6 who had been at the Capital many times previously were immediately surprised at the clear lack of security. Given the nature of the events happening within the Capital (full session of Congress with the Vice President in attendance) and the announced intentions of the pro-Trump rally to march to the Capital, there was a noticeable lack of security. Barricades that have become common place over the last 20 years were not in place. Police that are typically heavily armed guarding the Capital were not to be seen, and in their place were police officers who were lightly armed or not even armed. In the words of one observer, if this wasn’t a setup, then it was the most egregious lack of security in American history.
The immediate response from the media and many elected officials was over-the-top. They called the events of January 6 the most heinous crime against America since September 11. They accused Trump of sedition and inciting riots. They immediately used Cancel Culture to start going after their political enemies.
Clearly, the Left is using January 6 to increase tension and division. If the Left believed January 6 was compelling the US in a direction they did not want to go, they would seek to de-escalate tensions and lower emotions. Instead, they are pouring fuel on the fire.
According to The New York Times, Speaker Nancy Pelosi pressured Military leaders to ignore any orders from President Trump. As the Times article points out, “Mr. Trump, they noted, is still the commander in chief; unless he is removed, the military is bound to follow his lawful orders. While military officials can refuse to carry out orders they view as illegal — or slow the process by sending those orders for careful legal review — they cannot remove the president from the chain of command. That would amount to a military coup, the officials said.”
The whole event on January 6 rings of the infamous Reichstag Fire in Berlin, Germany on February 27, 1933. Less than a month after Adolf Hitler became chancellor, a fire broke out in the middle of the night at the Reichstag, the German parliament building and the equivalent of our US Capital. The government immediately announced the capture of a Dutch communist as the arsonist. The very next day, President Paul von Hindenburg issued a degree “for the Protection of People and State.” The decree removed many of the civil liberties and protections for German citizens thus permitting the police to arrest and imprison without cause. Not surprisingly, those arrested happened to be the political opponents and enemies of the Nazi officials. Here’s the point: revolutionaries use events like January 6 to manipulate public opinion and then harness the power of emotion to quickly move against their enemies.
I believe we are witnessing a revolution.
Truth be told, the Democrats will lose a lot of the public sympathy and support once Orange Man Bad is gone. For another two weeks they can use Trump as a foil and blame him for anything that happens. Once Trump is out-of-office, they will lose the power a common enemy like Trump has given them. This is why the next couple of weeks could be very tumultuous.
If one of our foreign enemies wants to hit America, now is the time.
Forgive me for the comparisons to Germany in 1933, but the rise and fall of Nazi Germany has been an intense point of study and research for me since middle school. I have always been intrigued by the fact that a nation like Germany, which played such an important role in the formation of Western Civilization from 1500 forward could openly support and fight for a regime as evil as the Nazi Party. Keep in mind we are talking about the country that gave us Luther, Beethoven, Schiller, Goethe, Einstein, and many more notables.
Adolf Hitler could not have come to power if not for the reputation and credibility of one man: Paul von Hindenburg. Hindenburg was the 85-year old president who named Hitler Chancellor of Germany in an effort to restore unity to a deeply divided Germany. Old and senile, Hindenburg gave Hitler the credibility and tacit approval of the older generation, many of whom were wary of the young politician and radical. When Hindenburg died at the age of 86 in August 1934, Hitler moved quickly to merge the office of President and Chancellor thus making himself the sole leader of Germany. History doesn’t repeat, but if often rhymes.
What does Joe Biden bring to the table at this time in American history? He brings credibility and the appearance of normalcy to a deeply divided nation. Joe Biden was electable at a time many of the younger, more radical leaders in the Democrat party are not. This is why I do not believe Joe Biden will finish his term as president. He will have served his purpose by carrying the party across the finish line, and they will soon work to replace him. The Congress has already dusted off the 25th Amendment and cleared the path to carry out their plan.
Pastors need to prepare for more division within their congregations. It is impossible to think a country could be as deeply divided as the US and not have it impact the church. We have already witnessed the division a relatively harmless issue like face masks can bring into the church. There are now many issues on the horizon that promise equal, if not more division. At the top of the list? Vaccines. Should Christians get the COVID vaccine or not? There are those out there who are warning the COVID vaccine is the mark of the beast (I don’t believe this), while there is strong suggestion that corporate America is going to prohibit people from buying, selling, or flying without the vaccine.
If you haven’t read the article by Jason Whitlock published on The Blaze, you need to read it.
It is time to move away from social media and Legacy Media. One thing both the Left and the Right agree on is that Big Tech is the enemy of the people. I include Legacy Mass Media in this category, too. What does this mean? You cannot trust Facebook, Google/YouTube, Twitter, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, NPR, MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, NY Times, Washington Post, or any other media organization that is owned and operated by Corporate America. (Did you know that six corporations own almost all of the media outlets in the United States?) Look for reliable sources in the new media that are not dependent upon Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube to get their message out.
This is also a warning to pastors and churches: one of the unintended consequences of the 2020 pandemic is that it forced most churches to greatly increase their digital footprint. This is good, but churches need to be wise and not build their digital platforms on Facebook or YouTube, both of whom have proven to be unfriendly towards contrarian messages (like many of your biblical stands on issues today). As the old song says it so well, “don’t build your house on the sandy land…”
Yes, I recognize the irony of posting this warning on Facebook. I, too, am looking for alternative ways to stay connected with people. Clearly, based on Google’s decision to ban Parler from its App Store requires that any replacement form of communication must not depend on an app to be viable. Bottom line: own the platform where you publish.
The Democrats Declared War: Do You Believe Them?
Sometimes, one of the most difficult hurdles for a people to cross is to begrudgingly embrace reality. Few people want to acknowledge when they are at war until they are forced to accept the fact.
This often happens in traumatic, life-altering events like Pearl Harbor or September 11. Events like this jolt us into reality.
At other times, it is a slow revelation. It requires context that only time permits. Hitler marched into the Rheinland in 1936 in violation of the Treaty of Versaille. He annexed Austria in March 1938 and in October, German troops marched into Sudenland portion of Czechoslovakia. On November 9, 1938, a night that would become known as Kristallnacht, Nazis burned and destroyed Jewish business and synagogues throughout the Reich hundreds were murdered and more than 25,000 arrested. Yet, it was not until September 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland that the world finally, regretfully, begrudgingly accepted that they were at war with Nazi Germany.
This is what is happening in America right now. The Democrats declared war days after Donald Trump became president in 2017. They have openly and aggressively prosecuted their war against Trump and his “basket of deplorable” ever since. They have attempted an open coup d'état using the FBI, Department of Justice, and US Intelligence services. The House of Representatives has continuously carried out their open coup in front of our eyes. The Leftwing American Media have conducted an open war of information, disinformation, and outright propaganda.
Still, for most of us, we refuse to acknowledge we are at war. We’re waiting for a Pearl Harbor kind of event or a September 11.
When we look back, we will see the atrocities line up and understand what was happening within the context of this war. The Brett Kavanaugh hearings. The phony impeachment, Russiagate, the Riots, coronavirus. Economic lockdowns. Each one by themselves didn’t make sense, but in the context of the war, they all make perfect sense.
What I don’t know, today, is whether the election is another in a string of what appears to be unrelated events or if this will be the Pearl Harbor event that will jolt Americans into the reality that we are in fact at war.
Right now, America is like a ship sailing through rough seas to a destination unknown. There are storm clouds on the horizon, but we don’t know what lies beyond the horizon. It is too late to turn around. We cannot outrun the storm or avoid the storm, we must go through it.
For the Christian, we take comfort that our Lord Jesus Christ is the captain of the ship and while He can calm the waves, it is often not His will to turn His church away from the storm, but instead be with His church as it goes through the storm.
"Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the LORD your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you." - Deuteronomy 31:6.