Have Nothing To Do With James Cone

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You know, we all have verses that we ought to pay more attention to. I mean, every single one of us,

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I think that if we're honest with ourselves and we understand the nature of sin and our own depravity, we know that there are probably blind spots that we have, there are probably areas that we should focus on more in our own sanctification, our own souls, our own sin.

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There's areas that we should probably try to put to death more than we're currently doing right now. And so I pray for myself all the time and for others that God would reveal those things to us.

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But here's one that I think the church in general really needs to embrace, and I include myself in this, because I have not always been consistent in this kind of a thing.

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Because it's uncomfortable. It's awkward. It makes you feel like a jerk, you know what I mean? This is something that we have to do, but oftentimes we really don't do it very seriously.

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And I'm going to talk about this in the context of the social justice movement in particular. This is

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Titus 3. Paul talks about this in a lot of his letters, this kind of an idea, and it's sort of like this idea of shunning or excommunicating people or things like that.

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But look at this. This is Titus 3, verse 10. Here's what Paul says.

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As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful, he is self -condemned.

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So a divisive person, you warn him, don't be divisive anymore. You warn him again, don't be divisive anymore.

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Then Paul says that if he doesn't listen at that point, this is a warped person. This is a sinful person.

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This is a self -condemned person. So you don't have anything to do with him.

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You don't eat with him. You don't offer him hospitality. You don't let him stay over at your house. You don't let him preach at your church.

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Definitely not. We're talking about unbelievers here. This is not something that, well, if someone doesn't like the same baseball team as you, don't eat with them.

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They're causing division in your household. No, this is talking about heretics, people who are heretical, people who are causing problems with their heresy.

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You see what I'm saying? This is the problem. We've got entire swaths of people that are using critical theory as an important tool.

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This is an anti -Christ doctrine, an anti -Christ idea. It comes from the pits of hell.

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The foundations of critical theory are anti -Christ. They're anti -Christ. You don't use that in your interpretation of a problem in society.

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You use the scripture. You know what I mean? So you don't do that. We've got people that are teaching the ideas of James Cone, a heretic.

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Look, whatever Paul's talking about here regarding the divisive person have nothing more to do with him.

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Whatever that means, have nothing more to do with him. It certainly doesn't mean quote him in your sermons.

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It certainly doesn't mean teach his ideas on the down low. It doesn't mean that.

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This is another screenshot from the Pass the Mic group that I remember we did the social justice unredacted thing.

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I told you I had a lot more screenshots to share. Here's another one. Listen to what this person says. She says,

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Black Joy Sunday is coming to church and hearing a message on race and faith. Black Joy Sunday is not being afraid to use

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James Cone references. Black Joy Sunday is the worship leader singing Strange Fruit. So grateful for a faith community that believes in Jesus and justice.

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Black Joy Sunday is using a heretic's quote in your worship service. That's what this person is saying.

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That's Black Joy. Using a heretic's quote. The kind of person that Paul says have nothing to do with, this person saying, well, it's joyful.

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It's Black Joy Sunday when we quote him from the pulpit. I mean, like James White would say, what color is the sky in your world?

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This is Black Joy Sunday. And then what I love about this is the quote that they're using. You could say, well,

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James Cone might have a few good insights. Even though he's a heretic, we might still be able to glean something from his heresy, his rank heresy.

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And so I don't agree, first of all, because if Paul says have nothing more to do with him, nothing is certainly inclusive of quoting him in your sermons.

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But let's just say we went with that for a second. Okay, maybe James Cone had some good things to say so we could quote it in our worship service when we're worshiping the

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Lord of Glory, the truth, the way, the truth, the life. We're worshiping that guy. It's okay to maybe quote a heretic.

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You know, Paul wasn't talking about that. When he said have nothing more to do with him, he didn't mean that you couldn't quote him, right? But look at the quote is used.

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I mean, there's nothing redeemable about this, about this, this Facebook post. Look at the quote.

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This is the James Cone quote. The cross can heal and hurt. It can be empowering and liberating, but also enslaving and oppressive.

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There is no one way which the cross can be interpreted. Now, is

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James talking about how the gospel of God is a stench of death to some, but life to others?

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Is the gospel of God is good for those who are being saved, but it's horrible for people who are being, who are being passed over, in other words, is that what he's talking about?

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No, no, that's, that's not what he's talking about because James Cone was a liberal heretic. He didn't believe you could interpret the gospel in one way.

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He didn't believe it was authoritative. He didn't believe it was from God. So, no, no, that's not what he's talking about here. Let me read to you a little more

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James Cone. You know, we were doing a little Bible, not Bible roulette. Man, that's, that's blasphemy. We're doing a little

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James Cone roulette the other day. Black theology roulette. This is black joy, right?

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Heresy. This is what this woman's saying. Quoting a heretic, that's black joy. Whatever the heck that's supposed to mean.

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Let's read this. This is from one of James Cone's books, The God of the Oppressed. Ready? When whites undergo the true, excuse me, when whites undergo the true experience of conversion, wherein they die to whiteness and are reborn anew in order to struggle against white oppression and for the liberation of the oppressed, there is a place for them in the black struggle of freedom.

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Here, reconciliation becomes God, God's gift of blackness through the oppressed of the land.

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But it must be made absolutely clear that it is the black community that decides both the authenticity of white conversion and also the part these converts will play in the black struggle of freedom.

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Do you hear this? It's not God who decides. It's not

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God. It's black people who decide. The converts can have nothing to say about the validity of their conversion experience or what is best for the community or their place in it, except as permitted by the oppressed community itself.

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As is true of every member of the black community, accountability remains an essential ingredient of all who share in the struggle of freedom.

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But white converts, if there are any to be found, must be made to realize that they are like babies who have barely learned how to walk and talk.

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Thus, they must be told when to speak and what to say. Otherwise, they will be excluded from our struggle. What is always ruled out is white converts using their experience in our community as evidence against blacks claiming that reconciliations with whites is possible.

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Whites must be made to realize that they are not only accountable to Roy Wilkins, but also to Imamu Baraka.

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And if the latter says that reconciliation is out of the question, then nothing the former says can change that reality, for both are equally members of the black struggle of freedom.

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Unless whites can get every single black person to agree that reconciliation is realized, there is no place whatsoever for white rhetoric about reconciling love of blacks and whites.

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For if whites are truly converted to our struggle, they know that reconciliation is a gift that excludes boasting.

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It is God's gift of blackness made possible through the presence of the divine in the social context of black existence.

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With the gift comes radical change in lifestyle, wherein one's value system is now defined by the oppressed engaged in the liberation struggle.

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Black people must be aware of the extreme dangers of speaking too lightly of reconciliation with whites. Just because we work with them and sometimes worship alongside them should be no reason to claim that they are truly

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Christian and thus part of our struggle. Every mistake we make regarding white integrity will lead to further entrenchment of our oppression by white people.

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This problem is quite obvious to Roberta's treatment of reconciliation. He seems to think that merely through proper theological analysis, according to white rulers...

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I'm going to stop right there because I can't read anymore. I can't read anymore. This is the kind of person that Paul was talking about when he talked about divisive people.

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James Cone is a heretic in the most true sense of the word. James Cone is not a

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Christian. I should say was not a Christian because he has since passed away. James Cone was the most obvious kind of heretic, the most obvious kind of divisive person.

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Paul says have nothing more to do with him, but this person in the Pass the Mic group says, Black Joy is quoting this heretic from your pulpit.

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He might have some good insights, but the woke movement says, Walter Strickland, this is an

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SBC pastor. This is the guy that's on the resolutions committee. This is a professor. This guy is teaching to your kids the ideas of James Cone heretics in complete rejection of Paul saying have nothing to do with him.

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The apostle Paul, the scripture, the Holy Spirit says to you, have nothing to do with James Cone, and you're not only teaching him, but you're doing it secretly so that nobody knows you're teaching the ideas of a heretic, somebody that Paul said had nothing more to do with.

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And no, he's not teaching it so that you can refute it. He's teaching it because he thinks he's got pretty good insights into race relations.

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Did you hear that garbage that I just read about race relations? I'm getting a little animated here because this is ridiculous.

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This is, look, look, this is not Black Joy. This is not Black Joy. People who are unconverted might find joy in quoting heretics from the pulpit, but Black people aren't held accountable for this because there are many

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Black brothers and sisters in Christ who would never consider quoting James Cone from your pulpit in a positive light, in a light that says, well, he might have some good ideas.

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No, no. You see, I know many Black people who love the Lord of glory, who love the truth, who love when

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Paul says here, any person who stirs up division, warn him once, warn him twice, and then have nothing more to do with him, and they seek to honor

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God in that. There are plenty of Black people, plenty of Puerto Ricans who do it, plenty of white people who do it, and I commend all of you who take this seriously.

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But if you're one of those that think, well, you know, let's teach James Cone. Yeah, he might have some pretty good ideas. I urge you to reconsider.

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Paul says have nothing to do with it. I'm pretty sure that doesn't mean teach him to other people and talk about how great his ideas are in race relations.

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I hope this was helpful. God bless. .