Todd Pruitt's Niceguy Routine (Viewer Discretion Advised)

Hello there, this is A .D. Robles, and you're listening to A .D. on the Fight, Laugh, Feast Network. Alright, well today's episode I missed last week, as you might have noticed. I also haven't uploaded a video in about a week, and that's probably the longest time I haven't uploaded a video, I don't know, maybe ever.

I don't remember the early days, but it's possible that this is the longest time it's gone without a video. So, sorry about that, but I took a little time off. Actually, I took a little more time off than I was initially planning.

But it was really good, really relaxing, I got a chance to spend a lot of time with family, my entire family, and that was really excellent. The kids have, man, it's just so crazy, just looking at how my kids interact with their cousins now.

It's just, they're growing up, they're definitely growing up. My oldest son lost his first tooth two days ago, and it's just hard to believe that I've got kids old enough to lose teeth. Anyway, I wanted to get into this today because there's so much to catch up on.

I mean, the news cycle, I was listening to an episode of John Harris' show, Worldview Conversations, or Conversations That Matter, whatever it's called. And he was talking about how when he decides on something to record on, he checks Twitter before he records, and there's like three other things he should comment on.

So imagine taking a week off. I mean, there's just so much that I could comment on right now. But I actually, what I decided to do was talk about something that I saw from Pastor Todd Pruitt, who is somebody that I like.

I've said this before, I do like Todd Pruitt very much. There are definitely criticizable things with Todd Pruitt. I don't think that he's as effective as he could be. And that's true of everybody, obviously.

It's kind of one of those truisms. It's like, well, what are you really saying there, Adam? But I think that Todd Pruitt needs to find his balls a little bit more. And that's a weird thing to say because I've actually, I've talked about how I find him courageous, and I do find him courageous in some ways.

Out of all the people that have something to lose when it comes to Big Eva endorsements and people promoting you and people platforming you and stuff like that, I can't think of somebody who has more to lose than Todd Pruitt taking some of the positions that he takes, and that's definitely commendable.

He's not a social justice warrior. He's vocal about some of the things with Black Lives Matter and things like that. And given his position in the evangelical machine, I don't consider him necessarily a part of Big Eva, but he is in the system.

You know what I mean? He is, you know, maybe he's in his probationary period for the guild. I don't really know how it works, but he's in the system in some way. And so the stances that he often takes on social media and with things that are controversial in the time, they do take a little bit of courage.

There's no question about it. And so I commend Todd Pruitt for that kind of thing, and I want him to be my ally. I do. However, he needs to find his balls. I mean, it really is just that simple. He needs to find his testicles as a man, as a Christian man, as a pastor.

And this Facebook post I think is a really good example of exactly what I mean. And let me just read it, and we'll talk a little bit about it because there's a few things I want to comment on. You'll see in just a moment.

And when I read this, you might think, well, that sounds reasonable, AD. What problem could you have with this? And I'll explain in just a moment. But here's what Todd Pruitt's tweet says. It's not a tweet.

It's a Facebook post. I don't even know if he does tweet. Does he tweet? Who knows? Anyway, he says this, quote, We'll get through this by God's grace. In the meantime, let's keep loving and serving one another.

Incidentally, I hate the masks, but I'd rather look back and conclude that we were too cautious than regret the consequences of being too cavalier. That's the Facebook post. And it has this sort of air of wisdom to it, right?

It has this sort of air of, you know, this is like a good middle ground. This is like, you know, I'm not saying that the government's always right, which is good. I'm glad he's not saying that. He's not saying that he likes the masks or that the masks are completely necessary.

He's leaving a lot of room for debate there, right? He's leaving a lot of room for the debate there. So what problem could all AD have on a tweet like this or a Facebook post like this? And there's a few things.

There's a few things. Because this is one of those areas where I just wish he would say what he wanted to say. You know what I mean? This is one of those areas where you need to find your balls. You need to take a side.

You need to stop sitting on that fence. Because a careful reader understands exactly what Todd Pruitt is saying. But a reader who's a little bit more, you know, I'm just going to be passive about this and stuff like that.

Might miss this. And I'm not saying that you're stupid or anything like that. But I want you to understand, you know, really the nature of what is being said. Because this is the position that a lot of pastors take, right?

And I'm of the mind that, you know, if your pastor is taking this position and is making masks a requirement right now, you've got a decision to make. I don't think that anyone would say that, you know, this kind of decision means that you're a tool of the deep state.

That's a straw man. And that's, you know, one of the problems I have with this post is a big straw man. But there's a legitimate decision to make here. Because here is the reality. The biggest problem with this Facebook post is that it actually misses the point entirely.

It misses the point entirely. You see at the end here, he says, well, there's a choice. You can be too cautious or too cavalier. And so he's decided to err on the side of caution, which sounds really fair, right?

It sounds really fair. But we cannot forget what is being discussed here. What is being discussed here is not whether or not to wear the mask. You see what I'm saying? Like that's kind of the thought he wants to put in your mind.

Like you've got a decision whether or not to wear a mask. And on the one hand, you can be too cautious. On the other hand, you can be too cavalier. And that's your choice. Are you cavalier or cautious?

Which we'll get to that in just a moment. But that's actually not what is being talked about here. You see this is a wizard spell. This is a distraction. This is rhetoric. Because what's actually being talked about here is requiring a mask in order to worship the Lord with your congregation.

It's not the decision whether or not to wear a mask. It's rather does the pastor have the authority to require a piece of clothing? I guess it's a piece of clothing. A piece of protective gear, whatever you want to call it, in order to allow you to worship God on a Sunday, on the Lord's Day, with your congregation, with your brethren.

That's what's being discussed here. So don't be distracted by this idea. Well, like, you know, if you love your neighbor, you can wear the mask. It's actually not about your decision to wear a mask. It's adding something to the worship of God that God did not command.

It's an extreme position. So it doesn't matter if you consider yourself a cautious person. It doesn't matter if you consider yourself a bold person. It doesn't matter any of these things. It doesn't matter any of these things.

The question that pastors ought to be asking is does the Scripture allow me to require a certain piece of personal protective gear in order to have somebody come to that table and come to the gathering of the saints and worship and sing unto the Lord and pray unto the Lord and do what God requires of that person to do on the Lord's Day?

Does God give me the authority to require them to wear a piece of personal protective gear? And it sounds so obvious when I say it that way. Is there anything in the Bible that you would think would allow something like that?

And the answer is no. The answer is no. The Bible doesn't allow that. And so this whole idea of being too cautious or too cavalier, it misses the boat because what Todd is telling you is saying God actually does give me the authority to add requirements to his worship.

And in this case and in this time and in this season, one of those requirements that I've decided or my session has decided to add is the wearing of a mask. And that is inappropriate. That is pharisaical.

And this is the reality about pharisaical things and people that are adding requirements to God's worship and stuff like that. They often have this air of reasonableness to them. They often have this air of niceness to them.

Todd Pruitt strikes me as a super nice guy. You know what I mean? I've never met him. I've never talked to him. I've heard him on Mortification of Spin and stuff like that. He strikes me as a lovely man.

Probably someone you could have a beer with. I don't know if he drinks, but I'd have a beer with him. He seems like a nice guy. But this nice guy is adding something to the requirements for you to worship God.

And not only is it something, it's something that's highly controversial and possibly even harmful. He admits it in the beginning of this tweet. Can you imagine doing this? It's like, look, the experts are divided on how helpful this is and people are inconsistent and it could actually be harmful.

But what I've decided to do is to make it a requirement. I'm not saying he's saying this. He's saying the hypothetical church that does decide this. It's a requirement. I'm adding a requirement to the church.

And you see, here's the reality. Here's the reality. This is a much more extreme position than the opposite of this. The opposite position is not masks are not allowed here. Rather, the opposite position of this is everyone decides for themselves what to do.

That is the opposite of this position. And Todd Pruitt's saying, no, actually, God gave me the authority to decide for you. And isn't this what always happens with those who are going with the zeitgeist, going with the flow on Christian liberty?

It's not really that they think it's a matter of Christian liberty. It's that they think it's a matter of liberty for them to decide for you. Isn't that the ironic thing? It's a matter of Christian liberty, but I'm going to decide for you.

It's pretty unbelievable. It's pretty unbelievable. Here's the other thing, the way Todd Pruitt kind of frames this debate. And oftentimes, the way you frame a debate is the deciding factor on who wins this debate.

Look at how he's done this. Look at the words cautious and cavalier. I don't want to regret being too cavalier, so I'd rather regret being too cautious. Look at these words. These are carefully selected words.

I happen to look up the definitions of these words, right, because, you know, I just wanted to make sure maybe I'm just not maybe I'm just, you know, reading these words incorrectly. Maybe they don't really mean what I think they mean.

Listen to this. Cautious, adjective, careful to avoid potential problems or dangers. That sounds pretty good. We should all be cautious. We don't want to have any problems or dangers or things like that.

So he's like, well, I'd rather regret being too careful, too cautious, too willing to avoid potential problems or dangers. And then he compares that to cavalier, which the adjective cavalier means showing a lack of proper concern.

And so the way Todd has set this up, it's like it's so obvious. This is propaganda the way he's done this. See, cautious is a good thing. You should not just, you know, go headlong into danger, right?

But then he contrasts that with cavalier where you are not having proper concern. So it's actually proper concern. So it's either cavalier or cautious. Like there's no middle ground for Todd Pruitt, right?

And the reality is that people who have been against requiring masks for worship, they're not cavalier people. They all, to the man, because I know these guys. To the man, they've looked at the data and said something ain't right there.

Something ain't right there. So it's like it's not cavalier. It's like we looked at the data and we're like this doesn't make any sense at all. Like yesterday when during flu season we weren't wearing masks and today this looks very similar.

Why are we wearing masks? Just because the TV told me so essentially is really the only difference. The TV never told you to wear a mask during flu, but they did tell you to wear a mask during Rona. And so we got to do it to love our neighbor, right?

And so there's no cavalier attitude there. It's just like I'm not just doing something that the guy on the TV person told me to do. That's not cavalier. That's completely reasonable. But yet Todd Pruitt wants to compare the two.

Too cautious versus too cavalier. You see the reality is that ordinary Christians living ordinary lives with an ordinary level of intelligence can look at that data and remember, look, I remember what it was like seven months ago during flu season when everything was just fine.

And people were dying of flu, but everything was just fine. We all know what to do. When you're sick, you don't show up to church. If you're not sick, you show up to church. It's pretty easy. But we all lost our collective minds.

But see ordinary Christians understand what God requires and their ordinary requirements. It's like meet for church. You know what I mean? It's not really that complicated. Meet for church. Don't add requirements to someone coming to church and stuff like that.

They don't have to wear a tie. They also don't have to wear PPE. You know what I mean? Personal protective equipment. That's what I've heard that it stands for. And Todd knows this. This is the thing about this kind of a tweet.

This is why I say he needs to find his balls, right? He knows this. He knows that it's not just caution versus cavalier. He knows that it's not just caution versus cavalier because he added to this Facebook post later.

Here's what he says after a few more comments. He says, quote, I will add this. At some point, pastors and elders are going to have to weigh the theological implications and the impact on public worship and the fellowship of mandatory masking against what we are learning about the actual risks.

It seems clear to me that apart for some great increase in infection rates, insisting on masks will need to be phased out before too much longer. Your pastors and elders need your prayers for wisdom in doing this widely.

Todd Pruitt knows the answer here. He knows that the mask requirement has theological implications to it. And it certainly does. See, Todd Pruitt is no stupid man. He's a smart guy. He's a nice guy. And that's the problem.

He knows what needs to be said here because the churches who looked at the data from day one and determined that, yeah, the data doesn't match what we're being told by the TV person guy. They were not being cavalier.

They were applying their biblical training, what God allows them to do as pastors and as sessions, and what God doesn't allow them to do as pastors and sessions, and saying, I've got a book, right? I've got to go with the book.

And that's an ordinary level of obedience, right? That's not extraordinary. That's what an ordinary pastor should do. We don't have to be like superheroes, right? We don't have to be like living this radical life.

We're not supposed to live this normal life like Francis Chan was talking about, right? This is ordinary obedience. Look at the book. Does it allow me to require PPE in order to worship God, right? Does it allow me to require certain equipment in order to come to worship?

No, it doesn't, so I can't. And so I might recommend, hey, if you're coming to church, don't come if you're sick. And I'll recommend that, and I'll come to your house and lay hands on you. And if you're coming to church and you want to wear protective gear, I'm recommending it.

I'm not so sure about this, but you don't have to. That's what the Bible allows. It's ordinary obedience. But you see, to people who don't have their balls, they haven't found them, or to people that are just sold out to the zeitgeist.

I'm not saying Todd Pruitt is sold out to the zeitgeist, but he needs to find his balls because he has the answer here. He has the answer here, but he just can't come out and say it. See, to those people, ordinary obedience looks like rebellion because it is.

Ordinary obedience. You don't have to go change the world. You just have to refuse consent to the world. You see, the worse this nation gets, the more upside down it gets, the more pedos get exposed by people, the more pedophiles are celebrated by the zeitgeist and the institutions and stuff like that.

The more that that happens, all it's going to take for you to get branded a rebel, to get branded a scofflaw is just to say, I'm not consenting to this. I don't believe TV person man. You look like a lunatic.

See, the problem is Todd Pruitt and people like him, they're not willing to be looked at as a lunatic. They want to be seen as reasonable. And so because of that, they don't say what needs to be said.

They don't do what needs to be done. They want to soften it. They want to soft pedal it. And that's, that's the wrong approach. You see this whole idea, quote, I'd rather look back and conclude that we were too cautious than regret the consequences of being too cavalier.

This is one of the primary weaknesses of so many churches in evangelicalism. This is their, this is their prime directive. I'd rather be too cautious than too cavalier. And it causes them to soft pedal all kinds of things that they should not soft pedal.

It causes them to not say the things that need to be said to not do the things that need to be done. And the reality is that I don't think this is a good prime directive at all. We can be cautious yet zealous.

We can be cautious yet bold because the things that we need to be bold on are simple things. Like for example, saying there's only two genders. And no, there's no dragon kin. You know what I mean? Saying simple stuff like that.

Saying like two plus two equals actually four, right? Those are, these are simple things. We're not talking about cavalier beliefs, right? Here's the reality. Sodomites go to hell, right? Simple things.

You can't be gay and Christian. Simple things. That's not cavalier, right? Abortion is murder and people who procure abortions should be given the death penalty. This is not cavalier attitudes. These are simple truths from the Bible that need to be stated in clear and simple ways.

We don't need a freaking 30-chapter book nuancing the LGBT issue to death. We just don't need it. We don't need it. We don't need books that soft-pedal feminism to the church, right? We don't need books that soft-pedal feminism to the church.

And then when it gets exposed that it's clearly feminism, we don't need people to be silently removed from your podcast. We need them to be removed from your podcast in such a way that we know you don't stand with her.

Simple obedience. Simple obedience. That's it. It's not cavalier or caution. That's not how it works. That's how it looks to the world. To the world, it looks like if you meet to worship the Lord on the Lord's Day, you're cavalier.

But from God's perspective, it's just simple obedience. It's just simple obedience. The reality is Christians everywhere need to be comfortable with the idea that the world is going to call you cavalier for simple things.

For simple obedience. We don't have to be radical. We don't have to have these profound experiences. We don't have to be the one with the huge platform that changes everything. All we have to do is be the one that says no to the TV person man on TV, but yes to the scripture.

And that's enough for someone to look back and say, you're too cavalier. You're just too much of a zealot. You're a fundamentalist. Well, get ready. Because if you're a Bible-believing Christian, every one of those Bible beliefs will make you look like a lunatic.

And the thing is, we need to find our balls because I'm willing to be seen as a lunatic by people who are rebelling against God. I'm willing. Okay? And you need to be too. You see, Todd Pruitt's a good guy.

He's a nice guy. He's a guy that doesn't really want to shake the boat, but he does have a measure of courage. And so I want to encourage people like Todd Pruitt because there's legions of pastors out there just like him.

And I want to commend the courage that you have. You have not bowed the knee. You have not bowed the knee. I want to encourage you that especially when you know that there are theological implications to what you are doing, especially when you know the actual dangers at hand, would you stop shooting people in the back that are maybe a little bit ahead of you on this one, that are on the front lines a little more?

I'm not saying they're better. They have a different role. There are people on the front lines of this mask issue, and you're in the back, and that's okay. But would you stop shooting us in the back? That would be nice.

That would be nice. Stop shooting us in the back. We're not cavalier. We're just obeying in an ordinary way, and we have a different role than you. So if you're not going to join us, Todd, and pastors out there like him, if you're not going to join us, stop shooting us.

We've had enough of the friendly fire. I admit that you are on our side. I like you. I think you're a force for good. I think you need to find your balls because the reality is that the people that have found their balls are up in the front getting shot in the back by you, and we're trying to hold this whole thing together.

I don't want an enemy. I don't want another enemy. So stop shooting us in the back. Anyway, I intended to talk about that Francis Chan video too because it's kind of a similar idea where it's like, oh, we're not supposed to lead this ordinary life.

And it's like, no, we actually are though because the ordinary life of obedience in this pagan culture looks like radical disobedience because it is. We don't believe the TV person man just because he says that the black death is coming.

We don't believe him. We don't stop worshiping because the TV person man says that it's too dangerous to worship. We don't do it. Look, a lot of us got caught with our pants down. We've been through this.

We understand. I'm giving a lot of grace here, right? But here in August, August 20th, we're still not meeting for church so many of us. We're still requiring ridiculous PPE requirements in order to worship God at this point.

And it's like, when are we going to find our balls, gentlemen? When are we going to take that stand? Anyway, I've ranted long enough. I hope you found this podcast helpful. God bless. Don't forget to tune in next week on Thursday for AD on the Fight, Laugh, Feast Network.