Russell Moore Interviewed on NPR and the Growing Evangelical Rejection of Scripture

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/05/1192374014/russell-moore-on-altar-call-for-evangelical-america

I've written repeatedly about Russell Moore over the years and while he's considered in some quarters to be a quasi-'woke' liberal today, at one time he was as right-wing as anyone. I can't say that I've ever been a fan though I do appreciate his stand against Trump – though perhaps for different reasons than his. I will say he appeared the Christian when contrasted with the likes of Franklin Graham, the master and inheritor of a corrupt legacy and 'ministry' machine.

This interview was noteworthy – once again, I don't agree with all that he said. But there were some rather interesting points.

I think his story of being forced out of the SBC remains compelling though I cannot endorse his subsequent moves – let alone his affiliation with Christianity Today.

People need to understand that the Church is in a state of crisis and this is clearly demonstrated by his story concerning the Sermon on the Mount. We have reached a point wherein the Scriptures are being openly rejected within the confines of ostensibly conservative congregations. This doesn't surprise me because for years that's my number one 'takeaway' from my interactions with Trumpites and other Right-wing fanatics in the Church – they don't know Scripture. And as I've been relating for years when confronted with Scripture, the response I get is 'Yeah, but'. It was refreshing (and maybe depressing at the same time) to hear Moore echo this. I'm glad someone else is noticing.

The Church needs to understand that there are wolves in the midst.

Here's what I want to know. In these situations he described where the pastors were challenged and the Scriptures effectively rejected – what happened? What was the follow-up?

There's a problem when you have someone like that in the congregation. You can't just let that go. They are a potential cancer that will sow discord and destruction. They need to be challenged and pinned down. That may result in their leaving if they don't repent of their wrong-headed thinking. On the one hand that's too bad. On the other hand, that's good. Let them go to some other false church where they can have their ears tickled. If they won't submit to God's Word they cannot be allowed to continue. If they leave – good riddance. If they refuse, those pastors need to challenge them and it may result in church discipline.

I know that because of the present climate there are so many people who have confused their supposed 'rights' with Christian obligation and God-given imperatives. They don't have the 'right' to resist the Word of God and promote error within the Church. They do have the 'right' to leave and/or be excommunicated. But because of the aforementioned cultural and political climate there are pastors reticent to do this because it will result in them being removed. They need to embrace it and give glory to God.

They need to be asked - What was it all about? A safe income? A retirement plan? Are you afraid because you're still paying off thousands in student loans?

There are problems all down the line and the deep flaws in most ecclesiastical models come to the fore in time of crisis. And too often pastors are quick to cave. For that matter the very notion of a congregational 'pastor' is but another one of these problems, which in turn generates more problems.

And so what happened when the man in the church claimed that the Scriptures don't work anymore. He needs to find out that they do – and the Church still wields the power of discipline.

What doesn't work anymore is this kind of cleric-denominational system in which the local church is run like a business and can't afford to lose people because its already inflated (and often obscene) budget will collapse.

I think Moore is somewhat blind as to what Evangelicalism is – by this I refer to what was once called Neo-Evangelicalism, the movement which arose after World War II. It has always been given over to cultural engagement, social standing, and has defined its success in worldly terms. The fact that it has followed the hyper-polarity of the political climate and its evil alliance with Right-wing ideology has gone off the rails – shouldn't be all the surprising.

Trump may be viewed as an anomaly but in truth he's simply the logical result of trends that have been extant for decades. I don't remember Russell Moore being upset about George Bush and his wicked policies – but he should have been. Christians should have opposed that evil man, but instead they championed him.

And in truth it goes much further back to not just Reagan but the Evangelical movement's interaction with and responses to questions such as civil rights and the Vietnam War. The fact that the movement was still divided along post-bellum lines and was not able to unify until Lyndon Johnson provoked multi-generational conservative Democrats into crossing over into the GOP, is to miss the point.

The fact that Moore is still lauding Billy Graham is troubling to me and indicative of the fact that he has not only misunderstood that man's destructive and compromised legacy, but that he still fails to understand what the Evangelical movement is and always has been.

But maybe he's just provoking Franklin Graham by implying that he is not the legitimate heir to his father's legacy – even though in many respects he is. Franklin's Trumpism is simply an expression of the Christian Right gone to seed.

Moore also falls into the pronoun confusion so typical of Evangelicals. One of the reasons you have people challenging the ethics and imperatives of the New Testament and claiming they don't work anymore is due to the fact that Church leaders (like Moore) have not properly taught the identity of the Church and what that means vis-à-vis the world. When speaking of Christians living in the United States, 'we' should not be used to reference both the Church and the American populace, nation, or state. As Christians we're not part of that 'we'. We are the Church. Our nationality is secondary, incidental, and in the grand scheme of things unimportant. For those who disagree with what I just said – they need to check their priorities and their loyalties.

That's what has happened. Those that are rejecting the New Testament because 'it doesn't work' have confused tribal, social, and political identity with that of being a Christian. They have conflated them or in many cases (if we're honest) the Christian identity is subordinated to nationalist concerns.

Nationalism and patriotism are incompatible with New Testament Christianity and when combined with it are heresies. I don't see Moore helping much on this point. He may be better than a lot of what's out there but that isn't saying much, is it?

The end result was both encouraging and disappointing but because of his unique place in the Evangelical scene I will continue to observe Moore. We can learn something from his experience.