Don't Train Church Planters to be Woke

The SBC's SEND Philly training highlights wokeness in SBC entities

Some say the Southern Baptist Convention isn’t woke. They say, “there’s nothing to be alarmed about. Everything is just fine,” they say.

Don’t be so sure.

Just as Paul said, “a little leaven leavens the lump,” the infection of the woke mind-virus can be seen in SEND Philly’s church planter training from a few years ago. This is not simply a useful “analytical tool.” This is a false gospel.

The broader SBC may not be full-blown woke, but the leaven is working its way through the lump. Recently, I a friend shared some of his notes from a SEND Philly training. See for yourself.

Minister to “The Marginalized”

My friend attended a training who’s purpose was “to assist planters, pastors, ministry leaders and lay persons with a heart to serve those within the urban context.” The "urban context" is defined according to progressive priorities using leftist buzzwords.

It describes “marginalized” people as “the other,” who are subject to:

• Systemic racism

• System disparity

• Modern day slavery and

• Environmental oppression

Jesus’ ministry is presented as a social justice crusade to empower “the least of these.”

This is a misuse of that text. The “least of these” in Matthew 25 refers to Christians who are socially ostracized because of their faithfulness to Jesus. It doesn’t teach social activism.

The biblical justification they provide is simply to accept the social justice framing as valid and then quote texts where Jesus ministers to people who fit those categories.

• Poor

• Women

• Disabled

• Strangers

• Prostitutes

• Criminals

Jesus is referred to as the “Marginalized Savior.”

Incarnational Ministry

Incarnational ministry refers to doing ministry the way Jesus did. As Christ was God incarnated in the flesh of those he came to save, ministry leaders should likewise do “incarnational ministry.” Another name for this kind of ministry is “biblical justice,” which focuses on “marginalized” peoples.

The definition of biblical justice is provided by Ron Sider, a well known progressive social justice advocate.

What does “incarnational ministry” look like in practice? It is described with a buffet of progressive, Marxist buzzwords.

• Opposing systemic oppression

• Going to “protest events”

• Recognizing “inequity”

• Going to the “place of power in order to right a wrong”

• Use your power/privilege to be a voice in the face of evil

• Use your privilege to advocate for the oppressed

Preaching the gospel is barely acknowledged.

Conclusion

There are lots of Christian ministries and social services that are far more equipped to care for people in times of need. There’s nothing wrong with those ministries. We can thank God for them and the help they provide.

Nevertheless, the mission of the church is to make disciples. Jesus said,

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20)

The Great Commission involves two main elements: baptism (evangelism, missions, and planting churches) and teaching (discipleship and equipping ministries for Christian service).

A church *may* do community outreach events to meet some pressing need in their communities, but this is by no means a gospel imperative upon every church. The pastor’s #1 task is to preach Christ and him crucified.

Speaking from 15 years experience as an inner city church planter, I can attest that these expectations are not only unbiblical, they will crush an aspiring church planter with unrealistic expectations and metrics of success derived from social justice advocates. They’re taught that Jesus is more of an activist than savior. Trainings like this take a church planter’s zeal and spiritual passion and guilts him into using worldly means to accomplish spiritual ends. They’re trained in a false gospel that cannot save.

I post these things because I love Jesus, I care about the health of the modern church, and I care about pastors and church planters who are over-burdened with unrealistic, unbiblical expectations.

Pastors are not called to run soup kitchens, clothing closets, day care centers, or homeless shelters. If a church has the resources to do these kinds of ministries, fantastic. Do it. But don’t make this the expectation of ordinary church planters who already faces significant challenges.

By the way, according to Linked in, the author of this training material is still employed by NAMB.

How to Help Turn the SBC Around

If you care about the SBC and what you can do to turn things around, here’s a few resources to consider.

First, here’s an article I wrote for the Center for Baptist Leadership (CBL), for whom I’m a contributing scholar. The article is called “The Sin of Women Pastors” regarding the upcoming vote on the Law Amendment.

Second, check out these two episodes of the CBL podcast. It tells the story of how Russell Moore did harm to the SBC due to a personal vendetta. Episode One. Episode Two.

Finally, here’s my interview with the Executive Director of the CBL, William Wolfe, about the state of the SBC and what we can do to turn things around.

King’s Domain Conference: Gendered Virtue

The King’s Domain Conference on Gendered Virtue was fantastic! I’ll send out an update with photos and links to the talks when they’re available. Hopefully that will be very soon!

God’s Good Design Update

If you’ve read my book “God’s Good Design: A Biblical, Theological, and Practical Guide to Human Sexuality,” please consider leaving a review on Amazon and/or Good Reads. Positive reviews helps get the book noticed through the algorithm magic. :)

Here’s a couple more nice reviews that came through recently.