Is Race A Gospel Issue?

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the

Apostle Paul said, �But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.�

In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn�t for you.

By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we�re called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her

King. Here�s our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry.

I was thinking about a new intro, but Pastor Steve is here and he doesn�t like new novel or anything like that.

He likes the old, old story. I really do. In fact, I saw a new Twitter handle and I was a little bit concerned about it.

You may have seen it. It�s called Some Compromise Radio. Did you see that one? Well, someone on social media a while ago blasted me and said

I host Compromise Radio. And I thought, well, actually, I was thinking about April 1st and, you know, what kind of little prank do you play?

And so I thought, well, no content radio. So I posted that for a little while on Twitter, so I changed my handle to no content.

And then I changed it to just Compromise Radio for a while, and then I changed it to Some Compromise Radio.

And then I switched it back, and then in the morning I saw that it�s still around. Some Compromise Radio was posting things that I didn�t know if I liked or not.

I thought, did I say that? Ben knows well enough to let me handle Twitter, right? Sometimes, I mean, the only thing he posts in Spencer would be like the new shows or there�s a new video or something.

Ben Mercedes and Spencer Canard, for those of you in real Linda. Anyway, I couldn�t believe it that there was somebody posting things on there.

Anyway, come to find out that the Saul Washer account has been changed to Some Compromise Radio.

That�s clever, isn�t it? Well, you know, it�s like I like Joel, not Joel, you know?

Well, I mean, that�s a classic one. And now that I know who the perpetrator is, then it�s even better.

Yeah, I sort of wonder if he�s the guy behind Some Compromise too, you know? He could be. On Twitter today,

I saw somebody else tweeted it because I don�t follow him, Rod Dreher, D -R -E -H -E -R.

He wrote the Benedict option that several evangelicals are gaga over, sadly.

Today, the Benedict option is out in paperback. The updated version has a study guide to facilitate group reading.

Nice. With the appropriate references of the Catholic Catechism, or?

Oh, I�m sure that�s on there. The best part about the Benedict option, in my opinion, is the cover.

The cover does say, �A Strategy for Christians in a Post -Christian Nation.�

But the cover has a monastery in France that you can only access when it�s low tide.

If it�s really high tide, you can�t get in. It�s like a little island. And so I�ve been there. I took my kids there almost one year ago today.

So that�s the best part about the book is the picture. Didn�t they write out there one year on the Tour de France? I want to say, seriously,

I want to say that they did. Oh, maybe just like a little loop or something at low tide? Yeah. I think they did.

Well, when I went there with my family, I said, �We need to make sure we plan it when it�s low tide, because what if we get there and it�s high tide and we�re just standing there looking at it ?�

And then they tell you, you know, �If you want to get off the little monastery island ,� whatever it�s called, �you need to do it in the next two hours because the tide�s going to come up and you�re going to be spending the night.�

The hotel prices go up. Do they really? Yeah. I�m sure. And the snack bar prices go through the roof.

Uh -huh. Now, here�s something fascinating, Steve. You tell me all of a sudden. Sponsored products related to this item.

Uh -oh. This demonstrative pronoun relating to nearest antecedent, Benedict Option.

Have anything to do with breakfast foods? I used to have instant breakfast every day for breakfast when

I was growing up. I�m just thinking, you know, like, Eggs Benedict Option, and then there would be related... There�s something about Eggs Benedict that�s, you know, that�s attractive to me.

Okay. No, I like that. Oh, do you? I like soft -boiled eggs. I like eggs sunny -side up.

Mm -hmm. I like a... You like everything raw. Uh -huh. Like a raw egg on a raw hamburger. I�m not going to be surprised to find out, you know, that you�ve moved to Montana and you�re living off the land, you know.

Steve, what do you have for Easter breakfast, Easter, like, lunch or something? What do you guys do? I don�t really want to talk about it.

You don�t? Well, because we had a special event. Oh, but I know this is what makes interesting radio, though.

You really? You can�t... We had Domino�s Pizza. Oh, you had Domino�s Pizza. Okay. This is getting better.

Was there a special, like, rabbit topping for Easter or something? You know, how did that work?

What did you get? Let�s see. We had a cheese pizza. Do you have grandkids over?

Is that why? Yes, yes, yeah. So cheese pizza, that�s big for grandkids. And then we had bacon and sausage, which is my own personal favorite.

Okay. Is that why you couldn�t sleep at night? That was Monday, though. Oh. So I did, yeah, I had some leftovers on Monday, and that was...

I can tell. That was bad. You know, you think you�re the detective. It was a bad move. And then we had some kind of white sauce with chicken and bacon, so...

Okay. Do you put anything extra on that, you know, they don�t put on, but you put on, I don�t know, some type of...

Chocolate chips. Chocolate chips. No, we didn�t. No, we didn�t. All right.

Well, for those people that don�t think the Benedict option is really pro -Catholic or anything, this might be an anecdotal way to prove that, in fact, it is.

Sponsor products. You�re on Amazon. Amazon .com. Amazon, uh -huh. Bored Again Catholic, that�s the first book.

Bored Again? Yeah. B -O -R -E -D. Yeah. Praying the Rosary Like Never Before, that�s the second book.

But it�s not Catholic. I know. Why the Rosary? Why Now? That�s the third book.

No. Not Catholic at all. St. Faustina Prayer Book. Yeah. Not Catholic.

This is not Lou, is it? And not

Amy either. Uh -huh. The Cost of Our Silence, Liturgy of the Ordinary, Jesus the

Story, and it�s got a bunch of other ones. But it�s kind of fascinating, don�t you think?

What�s that one? So You Want to Be the Pope. Oh, okay. Oh. That�d be a good book. Uh -huh.

What�s this? The Fisherman�s Tomb, the True Story of the Vatican�s Secret Search. Ooh. Yes.

But absolutely not Catholic -related. No. Not at all. So Protestants, enjoy the paperback. Yeah.

Good. Yeah. All right. There was an article out that I want to talk about today, Steve, and it was called

Concerns About the Rhetoric, X is a

Gospel Issue. So our friend, R. Scott Clark. Why do you call him

Scotty all the time? Why would that be? Because I want to make believe that he�s an engineer, you know?

Scotty be me. And did you know William Shatner is in Worcester this week?

They�re going to play Wrath of Khan, and he�s going to talk about it afterwards. Yeah. I almost thought about going, but, you know. Haley was going to buy me tickets, just something nice for her dad, but I think she was busy or I was busy or something like that.

You know what, somebody, before you even started on this, what somebody actually said was the other day on Facebook, �Racial reconciliation is a gospel issue.�

I saw that, and I was like, �That�s a gospel issue.� In other words, I can�t present the gospel unless I talk about racial reconciliation.

That's what Clark is talking about here, heidelblog .net, why X is a gospel issue argument fails.

I think somehow that�s on the URL there, but if you just type in concerns about rhetoric, X is a gospel issue,

R. Scott Clark, you�ll get there. Well, he�s talking about exactly that, and so what do people do now in mainstream media in evangelicalism?

There�s some big social issue, a race issue, I don�t know, abortion issue, gay marriage issue, something like that, and it immediately turns into a gospel issue.

And the reason why they do it is because if it�s a gospel issue, well, then... You can�t escape it, and you have to talk about it, and you have to agree with me.

Uh -huh. Right. Exactly right. First, what Clark does is he talks about what the good news is about Jesus Christ, and He�s the eternal

Son, and how He is the representative and substitute and resurrected

Savior. I don�t know what he exactly says, �Suffered for them, was crucified dead, and buried for them, was raised for their justification, and is coming again.�

He�s talking about good news about who Jesus is and what He�s done, in contrast to the law, �Do this and live.�

So he�s got his... What did you say? Clark knows anything about law -gospel distinctions. Yeah, I think he�s pretty good about it.

I mean, you know, I put him somewhere, on a scale of 1 to 100, he�s somewhere in the 70s.

Uh -huh. Okay. So if Beza is on one end... I�m kidding. Dr. Clark. Theodore Beza is on one end, and David Platt�s on the other end, there would probably be a distinction here.

Sure. Right? Full stop, new paragraph, �Law, we�re done.� Ours would be, say,

New England, and the law, and then, �We�re not combining them together.� You don�t live the gospel, in other words, right?

Yeah. All right. No, you don�t. Well... How�s that working out for you? Yeah. If you have to live...

Well, and whenever I... It�s funny to me, because people like to correct me when I say, �You can�t live the gospel.�

They don�t like that, you know? I know. So is that why you�ve got so many fans on Facebook?

I don�t know. How many... Do you have a lot of friends? No, not really. Only 1 ,000 or so.

Okay. What�s NoCo up to? I think once I hit 100 ,000, it�s giving...

35 on Facebook. Oh, yeah. That�s good. I don�t know. We had, like, 43 or something join the other day.

I think that�s called... I think that�s the �Some Compromise� site. Okay. Whoever made the parody account, by the way, they have the

NoCo logo, and over the end, they kind of spray -painted with graffiti, an

S over it. SoCo. SoCo. SoCo. I like that. That kind of rhymes, though. SoCo?

Yeah. I�m loco for SoCo. It feels like SoCal, you know? Mm -hmm. Clark says, �The only proper gospel issue is the gospel itself.

When the Judaizers said that resting or trusting in Christ alone was insufficient for salvation, that was a gospel issue.�

Then he says something that makes it so pointedly obvious for everyone if they would just pay attention.

�Paul addressed a number of sins in the various congregations. When he confronted Euodia and Syntyche in Philippians 4 -2, he did not make it a, quote, �gospel issue ,� end quote.

He did make a gospel issue, however, out of the lies of the Judaizers in Philippians 3, calling them dogs and warned against their corruption.�

It�s a gospel issue, man. No, it�s not a gospel issue, man. I don�t know what to tell you, man.

It�s not a gospel issue. �Clark, for all the sins of the Corinthian congregation, factions, clear class distinctions, even gross sexual immorality, he did not go nuclear.

He confronted racism, a fruit of Judaizing, among the Galatians and the Colossians.

But in those instances, he did not speak as he had about the Judaizing corruption of the gospel.

These sins he addressed under the heading of sanctification, which flows from new life, true faith, and union with Christ.

These are sins that must be put to death daily, and relative to which we must, by grace alone, through faith alone, be made alive daily, as we are renewed in the image of Christ.�

So every time you see a sin in the church, or perceive sin, you can�t go jump to the nuclear option.

Yeah, I was just remembering, it was actually Kofi, a cup of Kofi there, that he posted several things, and I thought, �This is exactly right.

People want to make race a matter of the gospel, and it�s just not.

You can�t even get there.� Steve, do you think large organizations like the Gospel Coalition have probably contributed to some of this confusion?

That was not a laugh cough. That was a real cough. That was a real cough. Well, yes, I do. When they, you know, spend a whole conference honoring the life and legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

Now, to be fair, is that a TGC conference, or is that a lot of their speakers going there? I don�t know.

Isn�t that one of their conference things? I think they�ve talked a lot about it on their website, but I don�t know if it�s an actual conference, you know, one of their real conferences.

Well, I�m going to have to look it up then, because I think maybe it is. We�ll see. All right. While I�m Googling here, you know,

John? Okay, while you�re Googling, I�ll talk about this article a little bit more. Something really important. �Clark, to enlarge the category of gospel -denying sins is to put all of us back under the law and under condemnation.

That will not produce the desired fruit of sanctification. Further, the rhetoric �X is a gospel issue� is vague.

When the expression �gospel issue�� When the expression �gospel issue��

Oh, when the expression �gospel issue.� I do not know, but it is not a traditional Reformed way of speaking.

It seems like a shorthand expression that is probably too compact to be very useful. Sin is grievous.

It offends God. Sin is death -dealing. The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life.

When we do not refrain from sin or die to sin, because if we do not, we shall lose favor with God, to say that is to deny the gospel.

We fight against sin. We die to it by grace alone, because Christ has saved us and is freely sanctifying us.

So what did you find out there? Well, you might be right, and I'm just kind of, oh, no, you're wrong, which makes me happy.

Okay, here, let me read it. About MLK 50, �Racial unity is a gospel issue.�

Wow. Now, let me just read a little bit more. �Is a gospel issue and all the more urgent 50 years after Martin Luther King Jr.'s

death. Join the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission and the Gospel Coalition at a special event,

MLK 50.� Hmm. You know, I, MLK 50.

It takes place, well, actually, is it taking place now? What is April 3rd? Is that today? I think that actually is today.

Yeah. In Memphis, Tennessee, key speakers include Matt Chandler, Jackie Hill Perry, Eric Mason, Russell Moore, John Piper, Benjamin Watson, and many others.

All right, well, I was wrong, I admit. And you know, when you say things that are not true, that you should have said as true, you've made that a gospel issue.

So I'm sorry the untruth is a gospel issue there, I said the wrong thing. You know,

I was thinking about buying a new bicycle. I'd kind of like to get a cyclocross bike, a bicycle, and, you know,

I was thinking about different frames, a Look frame or Giant or Felt. And I think

I'm going to order the MLK 50. I heard they really are good bicycle frames, carbon fiber.

Why settle for Trek or Specialized or Cannondale? I could get the MLK 50. Racial reconciliation is a gospel issue.

It's a biblical issue in the sense that, you know, if you hate people based on the way they look or their background or their, you know, pigment or lack thereof or something like that,

I mean, I think we're supposed to love people, right? I think we're supposed to want their best. I don't think we're supposed to hate our enemy.

Well, and as fathers, you know, we, I mean, I had the opportunity to screen some young man away from my daughters.

And if I screened them away for racial reasons, that would be wrong and it would show, you know, some sinful inclination in my heart.

But the whole idea that it's a gospel, I can go on for quite a while talking about the

Bible without ever talking about racial reconciliation. Now is it true that we are all equal in Christ?

Yes, Galatians 3 makes that plain. You know, there are other places that would make that very plain. But when people say that I cannot preach the gospel or I cannot go to a church, you know, which racial reconciliation is not featured, you know, in other words, it has to be a major issue at that church.

Well, then I think what you're actually asking for is something other than the gospel. What you're actually asking for is social action, which is, you know, step, you're descending into liberalism at that point.

1923, Eerdmans, Jonathan Gresham, Machen, Christianity and Liberalism, that would be a good book to read in light of this if you are tempted to think along the lines that Steve was just discussing.

And by the way, Steve, our young people, this is the air they breathe. Even those that attend the church we pastor, even those that listen to this radio show, they are so bombarded constantly in secular media.

And then the church that sounds like secular media with all this racial reconciliation stuff, they probably expect that one out of every four sermons should be about social issues.

And then I do want to be plain for just a moment because there have been some scurrilous, a few scurrilous people who have, you know, said things in the past about us or about the church which we minister, you know, that we're racially insensitive.

And I would just say this. We believe what the Bible teaches, which is that all men are equal and they're equal in their sin, right?

There's no difference between black sin, white sin, whatever color, you know, you want to come up with.

And in fact, there's only one race, the human race, all plunged into sin by our father

Adam. You know, was Adam white, black, yellow, whatever? I don't know and I don't care.

You know, here's what I know. I know that he stood in our stead, he fell, and because of him, all of us are born with a sin nature and we can only be redeemed by the second

Adam, by his perfect work, by his perfect life, by his death, burial, and resurrection.

We need to believe those things. And once we do that, then race, so -called race, is a non -issue.

We can't see in terms of color. Steve, Adam, first and last,

Adam's first and last, that to me unlocks everything. When you look at people and you think they're either in Adam or they're in Christ.

That's right. And those are the only two categories that I care about in terms of seeing people generally.

I mean, I will look at someone and say male or female or whatever, but when I... You, you, how can you do that?

I know, I know. But you're thinking about Adam, and that's all

I see. I have many, many reasons why I know I'm born again.

And this is only anecdotal, this is only, you know, my own testimony, it doesn't prove anything.

But I know what racism is because I used to be one, and I know God has freed me from that, and that's one of the reasons why

I know I'm a Christian because I just didn't wake up one day and think, you know, I'm gonna start thinking differently about people that don't look like me.

When I counsel my daughters or other people, and we go through the list of this is what we're looking for and praying for, for your spouse, not in the top 25 traits to pray for do

I have anything about color or lack thereof. I mean, it's... So you're saying number 26.

Yeah. I mean, and you know, it's so funny when people might say things online about, you know, what about race and the

Church and all that. Really? Have they ever even been here before? You know, as a testimony to what the gospel is, a gospel issue calls people out of every tribe and tongue and nation, and all of a sudden they show up in West Boylston, Massachusetts, where probably 99 % of the people who live in this town, 95, are white, right,

Caucasian. What's the other code word for that now? Pale?

Paleface? Paleface? Yeah, yeah. I don't know. I was filling out some form the other day, and I thought, I can't believe they're asking me this.

European? Yeah, yeah. It's not WASP, because it's typically Catholic, so it's White Anglo -Saxon

Catholic. WASC. WASC. Isn't that an accrediting agency? I think so, yeah. I know.

And then to see just the different folks here, I'm very happy. It's not a gospel racism isn't a gospel issue.

The gospel will deal with that issue in the sense that it will change my mind and change my life, and I will respond differently, but as Clark says, that's in a category of sanctification, not justification.

Racism is a sin. Let's just be clear about that. You know, what we commonly refer to as racism is a sin.

What about latent racism? Well, I don't know. I've never met him. But I mean, people, if you get into the world of academia, liberal academia, they come up with all kinds of nonsense.

The point is, what does the Bible say? That's why we always say we don't have any authority beyond what the scripture says, but we have the full authority of scripture.

And scripture deals with racism this way. It says there were basically two groups before Jesus, right?

There were the Gentiles and the Jews. They were separated by the law of God. That was what God...God didn't use color, you know, to keep the

Jews apart from the world. He used the law. And then in Christ, he has reconciled these two groups, so now

Gentiles and Jews can both worship God together. And that's the only way that race kind of enters into the picture at all.

Concerns about the rhetoric. X is a gospel issue. When someone is telling you poverty is a gospel issue, the border that, you know, the border wall, that's a gospel issue.

What else? Country music's detrimental effects on the youth of America, is that a gospel issue?

It's pretty close. That's right. Well, although current country music is a detriment to everyone everywhere on the globe and it should be exterminated.

Steve, now, see, I don't know anything about new country music because the only kind of stuff I know, as you know, is kind of the

George Jones stuff. Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash. That's about all I know. Well, George Jones is dead, but he needs to come back and save country music because it's in a world of hurt right now,

I'll tell you what. Who's Alan Jackson? I know I saw him at the... Alan Jackson is not new country.

I mean, he's a neo -classic. Yeah, I love the dude. Yeah, but I mean,

Florida Georgia Line, oh man, I call them the KC and the Sunshine Band of country music.

You know, they are to country music what KC and the Sunshine Band were to rock and roll. You know what

I mean? They're that good. Really? Well, I was thinking as you were talking about KC and the Sunshine Band, I was thinking about Bay City Rollers.

Bay City Rollers are respectable, you know, with regard to rock and roll compared to what some of the country music artists, so -called country music artists are.

So country music, not a gospel issue. No, it's not a gospel issue. Yeah. All right. Let's see what else is not a gospel issue.

Environmental... Not a gospel issue. Climate change. No, we should be stewards of the earth and the creation, but on the other hand, even when we fall short, people can still get saved.

How about vegan kind of a... Well, that is a gospel issue because if you're vegan, there's no hope for you.

Oh, sorry. How about lactose intolerance? Is that a gospel issue? Oh, absolutely. You must preach lactose tolerance.

It makes for a hard potluck at church when you have to have vegan stuff, lactose -free stuff, gluten -free stuff.

Get rid of your legalism. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible -teaching church firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.