4 Things You Cannot Afford to Miss in Jonathan Leeman/9Marks' Article Responding to MacArthur

The Purpose of Jonathan Leeman’s Article and the Three Ways to Watch the Full Response

Alright, well I just produced and edited a 50-minute video responding to each point that Jonathan Lehman makes in his article responding to Grace Community Church's elders, specifically responding to John MacArthur's statement on Christ being the head of the church instead of Caesar.

The approach that Jonathan Lehman takes in that article is a scattergun approach. He brings everything but the kitchen stink as far as an argument to discourage you from taking John MacArthur's lead and going to church on Sunday.

That was the point of the article. I don't want you to miss that. We'll talk about that in a minute. But he brings in all kinds of different arguments. Some of the arguments even kind of contradict each other.

It's a big mess, and so it took me 50 minutes to kind of unravel a lot of that mess. If you want to see that video, for now I'm only going to make it available in one of three ways. The first way is I'm going to upload it as a podcast, audio only, on the Fight Laugh Feast Network's app.

So if you have the Fight Laugh Feast app, you'll be able to get access to the audio version of my 50-minute response to Jonathan Lehman. The second way is if you're a patron of mine, I'll give you access to the video right away as soon as I upload it.

And the third way is to sign up for the 80 Robles newsletter. It's a free newsletter. It comes out twice a week, and I think it's very helpful. What I'm going to do is I'm going to send a link to the video for everyone on my newsletter this week.

So those are the three ways you'll be able to get the 50-minute response. But for now, on my main channel, I want to do just kind of a couple things that I want to make sure you do not miss as you read this article.

Because some of this stuff is a little bit meta, and I want to make sure that you're not missing some of the, I think, most important parts of this article regarding the timing of it and the purpose for writing it and all that kind of stuff.

The Article Is Meant to Discourage Church Gathering on Sunday

So the first thing I already alluded to is that this article, unbelievably, is an article that they decided, you know, when I say they, I mean Nine Marks, but Big Eva in general. They decided to come out strong to discourage you from going to church on Sunday.

If you can imagine a Christian doing that, that's what this article is doing. There are a few reasons why I know this, but the most important one is because it says so. So John MacArthur, you know, emboldened many men.

If you were like me, you saw on social media people saying they were so grateful for John MacArthur's leadership, and they were emboldened, encouraged to go to church on Sunday, to follow John MacArthur's lead, to disobey the civil governing authorities' illegal order to not go to church.

People were feeling really good. And so Jonathan Lehman quickly responds with an article intended to discourage you from going to church. I know this because he says so. The first sentence says this, quote, Before your church follows John MacArthur's Grace Community Church and begins to gather in defiance of governmental orders this Sunday, hold on.

Stop and think with me for a moment. Hold on, he says with an exclamation point. He doesn't want you to get too excited about going to church on Sunday. He wants you to wait and listen to his 20 reasons why that might not be a good idea.

Somebody told me that it was slander for me to say that this article is intended to discourage you from going to church on Sunday. And to me, it's like, well, the very first sentence tells you that. He says, before you do this, before you go to church on Sunday, hold on and listen to my reasons why you probably shouldn't.

That is a pretty ridiculous thing. There's two other reasons why I know this, because this article is actually pretty uncharacteristic of Big Eva. They don't typically write articles like this for two reasons.

One, they don't typically write articles very quickly responding to dangers in the church. Like if you remember the Revoice scandal, right? Like with the Revoice conference, LGBT taking over the PCA and LGBT agenda being pushed in Christian churches.

So often you hear this, whoa, whoa, whoa, let's just wait. Let's just wait. We don't know what they're going to say yet. We got to be patient. We got to be humble. And usually Big Eva takes forever to respond to danger within the church if they ever respond.

Social justice, the same thing. People are taking, but we just got to wait. We got to wait and see. These are men of God. They've done the right thing. Let's just wait. Usually that's how it goes. They take forever to respond if they respond at all.

But if you notice, this article comes with the quickness. He had to get it out Saturday because if you listen to John McCarthy, you might go to church on Sunday. So he had to get this out Saturday so you'd reconsider going to church on Sunday.

That was the point of this article. And I know that because he said so but also because of how quickly he put out this article. And number three, I also know this because he called John MacArthur out by name.

Now, I don't have a problem with that, but Big Eva does. They don't typically do that. And so the whole point of him writing this article and he says it, and there's nothing wrong with this. This is not nefarious.

It's a direct refutation of what John MacArthur said. He wants to discourage you from following John MacArthur, and he wants to give you a myriad of reasons why it's probably a bad idea to disobey the government the way John MacArthur is disobeying the government.

That's amazing to me. That's amazing to me. Don't ever tell me that Big Eva can't get out of bed quickly and come with the quickness and break their own rules and call people out by name. Don't ever tell me that there's some kind of biblical reason why we can't call people out by name.

Don't ever tell me that because when they're motivated, they can do it. Big Eva, when they're motivated, they can do it. And for some God-only-knows reason, what motivates them to respond with the quickness and with fierceness is the horror.

Too many people would go to church on Sunday. I don't know why that's what gets them out of bed. I don't know why they're so motivated to do that, but that's what this article is for. It's to get you to not go to church.

He wrote a quick article. He responded quickly. He responded by naming names. He responded with every argument but the kitchen sink. Some of those arguments even contradict. All for the purpose of discouraging you from following John MacArthur's lead and going to church on Sunday.

Let that sink in for a moment. I don't want you to miss that. That's the purpose of this Nine Marks article. The second thing I want to make sure you don't miss is how much this opens up their playbook to us.

Big Eva has a playbook that they use. There are guidelines that they use. They have an agenda, and sometimes it's hard to decipher what that is, but this article gives us a window into that playbook. Let me read to you a passage and tell you what I mean.

Here's what John Lehman says. He says, The politics of LGBT tells me our churches may have more occasions to defy government requirements in years to come. Do we want to spend down our capital on pandemics?

Do you hear the argument here? The argument here is Jonathan Lehman thinks that it's costly. We're going to lose credibility if we take a stand and obey Christ in the midst of a pandemic, and we're going to need that credibility.

We're going to need that capital to fight the LGBT battle later. To him, there's capital that we can spend. It's almost like a finite amount of capital, and it's almost like playing a political, pragmatic game.

We want to maintain our credibility with the world when it comes to pandemics so that we can fight the world when it comes to LGBT. That's not how it works. John Lehman is playing a political game here, a pragmatic and political game here.

He thinks that we ought to play that game too, but I say no. Do you see what I'm saying here? It's a very pragmatic approach to this. It's a very political approach. It's not a biblical approach because here's the thing.

There isn't this finite amount of capital. We spend a little here. We save a little here so we have more to spend later. That's not what it is. What I'm doing and what many people are doing, and call us fundamentalists if you want, but we're just trying to obey Christ every day in every area.

We don't have this thing where it's like, oh, yeah, but people might not like me if I oppose the government shutdown during the pandemic, and then they won't listen to me about LGBT. Look, I don't expect the world to listen to me ever.

I'm just trying to obey Christ. I'm just trying to obey Christ. And so there's this weird obsession. It's weird. It's an obsession with maintaining our witness with the world, and it's like I'm not really worried about that.

All I want to do is obey Christ because I understand that pagans gon' peg. You know what I'm saying? Pagans gon' peg. And people that are perishing are going to hate me no matter what I do, no matter how reasonable I am, no matter how rational I am, no matter how good I am.

People that are perishing, they hate God, so they'll hate me. And so I'm not worried about maintaining my witness there. I'm trying to maintain my integrity, yes, before God, but I'm not worried about pleasing them.

It's not like I have to please them over here with the pandemic, but then over here. So that way later with the LGBT, they'll believe me. No, they're not going to believe you. They're not going to remember what you did in the pandemic.

They're not. They're not going to care. And the reality is that the witness that I'm trying to maintain is a gospel witness, is a witness to the truth, right? Like I don't expect people to believe me when I'm witnessing to the truth, but I'm worried about pleasing God.

I'm not playing these political games. I'm not sure why Jonathan Lehman thinks everyone is playing this game. Maybe you are. There's no maybe about it. You definitely are. This whole idea of capital and stuff like that's not biblical.

That certainly seems to me to be playing a little fast and loose with God's commands. You see, here's the thing. Like I expect people to disbelieve and be mad at me for everything I do for the Lord. Everything I do for the Lord, I expect people are going to be pissed at me for because that's how they treated Jesus.

Why would they treat me any better? It doesn't make sense that they would treat me any better. So I'm not trying to play footsie with the world over here to gain credibility so the world will listen to me over here.

You see the political game that John Lehman has revealed here. Don't miss that. Don't miss that. This whole idea about spending capital and saving capital, that's their game plan. They're trying to please the world in some areas so that they have credibility for other areas.

You see, we have a word in the Lord about this. We have a word from the Lord about this. Because the Bible says that when you obey Christ and you obey his laws and his commands, the world is going to look at that and they're going to marvel.

And they're going to say, wow, they've got a God that's so near to them. Their law is so righteous. That's what the Bible says is going to happen. And so just because the pagan is going to peg and they're going to hate that, that doesn't mean that God's people are going to think that way.

I think that people are going to see you risking it all to worship the Lord of glory. That's how important worship is, that you're going to gather regardless of what Caesar says, regardless of the risk of the pandemic.

You're going to gather. You'll be smart about it, but you're going to gather. I think that the people that are perishing are going to hate that just like they'd hate everything that you do. And the people that are being saved are going to look at that and say, wow, that God is so near to them, so near to them.

So this pragmatic game, we're not playing that game. I don't mind. Look, look, it's not fun to be a stick in the mud on every issue. But when the world is pressing in on every issue, that's what's required.

You're going to have to be that stick in the mud. We're not playing these capital games that you're playing. I find that to be amazing. Don't miss that. There's another thing that I don't want you to miss because in many ways, this article is a admission of defeat.

Jonathan Leeman’s Concession and the Shift to Freedom of Conscience

Jonathan Lehman's perspective has been soundly defeated, and we are gaining ground in this conversation. I don't want you to miss that. I want you to be encouraged by that. Let me read the last paragraph of this article.

And I want to explain what I mean in just a second. Jonathan Lehman says this. He says, quote, let's make sure we don't, quote, pass judgment on one another, but instead accept one another. This attitude should characterize the conversation between Christians, between churches, and even between church leaders and members as they come to different conclusions, as challenging as that might become.

See, the big thrust of this article is for this to be whether or not to gather for worship and defy the government authorities. He's making the claim that that is a matter of conscience. That's a matter of Christian freedom, whether or not to obey in a legal governmental order to not meet because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The argument being made here is that is a matter of Christian freedom. I don't agree with that, number one. But number two, I want you to understand that this is a concession speech because for the last four months, Jonathan Lehman and his buddies have been browbeating us again and again.

Think piece after think piece, podcast after podcast, video after video, that closing down your church, wearing the mask, social distancing, the whole nine yards. That's a matter of loving your neighbor as yourself.

How many times have you heard that? Let me just explain something to you about love your neighbor as yourself. If you tell somebody that to do something is required, if you're going to love your neighbor as yourself, what you are telling them is that is a matter of sin.

That is a sin issue. If you don't do what's being described as love your neighbor as yourself, then you are in sin because in the Bible, love your neighbor as yourself is a summary of the law of God. And so therefore, if you're not doing what the law of God requires, loving your neighbor as yourself, you are in sin.

So for four months, we've been told that not listening to the government in this area is a sin issue. It's a sin issue. They deploy Romans 13. They deploy love your neighbor as yourself. They deploy all kinds of things intended to bind your conscience that you have to do this in order to not sin.

Right? Here we're saying, no, it's a matter of freedom of conscience. That is a colossal shift. And all it took for us to get there is one man with gravitas, one man with a platform, one man with tremendous influence to do the right thing, to say, no, government, you do not have authority here.

One man. And that was the finishing blow. Because I'm not saying John MacArthur did this alone because guys like me, little guys like me, people with small platforms have been body blowing these people.

No, this is not something that is a matter of conscience. This is not Romans 13. The government has no authority here. Again and again, podcast after podcast, think piece after think piece, video after video, lots of pastors, smaller congregations, smaller platforms have been delivering those body blows.

We've been pounding away at this for four months. Then John MacArthur steps in after we've softened these people to such a degree that they were ready to be finished, to be destroyed. John MacArthur landed the finishing blow.

And just like that, they're now saying it's a matter of freedom of conscience. Now, I don't agree with that. So we've got more work to do. But don't miss this. This is a concession speech to four months of trying to bind your conscience by saying this is a matter of loving your neighbor as yourself.

We are winning this battle. And we will win the war. And we will win it in every area because they're saying the same stuff regarding the social justice stuff, regarding the Black Lives Matter stuff, regarding all that stuff.

They're saying it's a matter of loving your neighbor as yourself, and it isn't. That's a pharisaical extra law. That's not God's law that they're telling you. And so I'm still beating that drum. I'm still delivering those body blows.

And I can't wait until the first person breaks ranks with Big Eva and says, no, enough of this racist nonsense, enough of this social justice nonsense in the church. All it's going to take is one person with a platform, and that will be the finishing blow.

And we'll get a concession speech just like this about social justice as well. So don't miss that. This is a concession speech by Jonathan Lehman. Good stuff, guys. Keep up the good work. Keep the pressure on.

That's all I'm going to say about that. One more thing I don't want you to miss. One more thing I don't want you to miss. I saw this from Marcus Pittman. Same man, Jonathan Lehman, who's currently telling you that it's too dangerous.

The Inconsistency Between Black Lives Matter Protests and Sunday Worship

It's probably too dangerous to meet for worship. Well, before you follow John MacArthur and go to church on Sunday, well, we can't have that. That's way too risky. Listen to me because there's probably like 20 reasons why you shouldn't gather in a group and worship the Lord.

It's just way too dangerous to worship God. That same Jonathan Lehman not two months ago was praising and encouraging and being encouraged by people gathering to celebrate Black Lives Matter. Listen to this.

This is a tweet. A couple people have asked me how Faith That Works DC march was. It was super encouraging. Felt like a bunch of Christians marching around the single idea that black people are worthy of honor and respect because they are made in God's image, praying that God would use this and other protests to change the nation's culture, police culture, and even the church's culture, that all would affirm the God-imaging and God-given glory of black lives.

If you're in DC, join us. He's encouraging you in the midst of a pandemic. He's encouraging you to come join his Black Lives Matter protest. You see, to Jonathan Lehman, some worship is worth it to risk, you know, the government coming down on you, getting the coronavirus, all that kind of stuff.

There is some worship that is important enough to risk those things, but it's not the worship of Jesus Christ on the Lord's Day. That worship, you know, maybe find creative ways to worship. Maybe find new ways to worship.

Don't gather. Don't gather, even though the church tells you to gather, the scripture tells you to gather. No, no. Before you do that, because I know that's what John MacArthur was saying, listen to my excuses.

I've got a list of excuses. That same John Lehman was telling you how encouraging gathering for Black Lives Matter protests was, and how if you're in DC, you should join the Black Lives Matter protests and all that kind of stuff.

Nary a word about coronavirus. Nary a word about civil disobedience. No, because to Jonathan Lehman, he's not playing the same game we're playing, guys. It's time to face that. See, many of us are just trying to please our one Lord.

That's it. The Lord is one Lord. We're trying to please him. We're laser focused on that. We're not worried about what the world's going to say about us. We're just one track mind. Jonathan Lehman doesn't have a one track mind here.

He's playing games, political games, where he's trying to keep capital so he can spend it here and maybe save it here or over here. And this is where you can see some of that pragmatism playing here. Because, yeah, he's willing to worship so long as it's the Black Lives Matter worship that the world— he's probably trying to gain some of that capital here by going to the protest, right, and celebrating that Mormon came to join the protest.

What was his name? Mitch—whatever. Mitt Romney. Celebrating that and encouraging you to join the gathering and stuff like that. Worship is worth it because that's where he gained some of that capital that he was talking about, right?

But with the worship of God on Sunday, that doesn't gain you any capital. So all of a sudden that becomes too dangerous for coronavirus, too dangerous to disobey the government and all of that stuff. You see, there's a kind of a weird way that this kind of makes sense in Jonathan Lehman's system.

Jonathan Lehman's system is not godly. He's trying to play these political games. And I think this is an example of him thinking, okay, this worship is okay because it gains me capital that I can spend maybe later with the LGBT stuff.

Which, by the way, if you watch my 50-minute video, that's a joke that he's going to be ferocious and stand up to the LGBT mob. Don't make me laugh, Jonathan Lehman. We're not stupid. We know how this game is played.

It'll never be time to take the stand. It'll always be later. That's the kind of guy you are. That's the kind of guy that is legion in Big Evo. It's always later. Now is not the time for the stand. Later.

Don't make me laugh, man. Don't make me laugh. And don't miss that. Look at this inconsistency on your screen right now. Two months ago, a month and a half ago, praising gathering. Today, a man of God stands up and says, no, we're going to gather on Sunday.

Jonathan Lehman gets out with the quickness, very uncharacteristic. He calls him out by name, very uncharacteristic. And he tells you, no, wait. That's the big danger to Jonathan Lehman. Wait, don't worship?

Not on Sunday. Not this Sunday. You ought to think about this. All while he's praising and promoting and encouraging you to gather in the name of Black Lives Matter. This makes sense in his weird system of capital.

And you can see, this is the playbook, guys. And I don't want you to miss that. And don't miss the amazing victory that we've had here. This article is a concession speech for Big Eva. Don't miss that.

Anyway, once again, if you want to watch my full 50-minute treatment of this article, point by point, refuting Jonathan Lehman and really revealing what's at play here with Jonathan Lehman, three ways.

Sign up for the newsletter, 80robles .com. Download the Fight, Laugh, Feast app. It's a free app. I will be putting the audio there. Or become a patron of mine. That would be great. Because then I can dedicate more time to this kind of content.

I appreciate you for support and all of that kind of stuff. Those are the three ways you'll be able to get the full episode responding to Jonathan Lehman. I hope you found this video helpful. I hope you found it encouraging because we are having a huge impact.

I know it doesn't always look like that, but this article, I think, demonstrates that we're winning this war. Anyway, I hope you found this video helpful. God bless.