Dr. Russell Moore's Clinic on How NOT to do it. (Part 3)

Russell Moore’s Claim That Oppression Must Be Defined by Scripture

All right, we ended the last video on a bit of a down note. We saw Dr. Russell Moore misusing James chapter 5, pretending like as if it claimed some kind of thing about adequate pay or something like that, and it just really doesn't at all.

But anyway, let's continue with this monstrosity. Let's start at minute 1545 and see where this one takes us.

And God is paying attention to it. So much so that in the case of Nabal, one, one small farmer brings down an entire dynasty. The question is, who is my neighbor? That's why Jesus comes in and intentionally.

Right. So he's talking about the field that was taken by eminent domain and stuff like that. And the reality is that's true. That's a real justice issue because the Bible in no place does it give the government the right to steal your land or even to force you to sell your land to them.

And our government does that all the time. And that's evil. That's wicked. That's oppression. So the thing is, you know, people from our side aren't saying that oppression doesn't exist, but what they are saying is you have to define oppression by the scripture.

And so if the government came to you and said, we want to buy your house because we want to put a roadway here and you say, no, thank you. I'm not trying to sell my house. I like my house. And then they force you by the court of law to sell it.

That is an example of injustice. That's a real injustice. That's oppression. That's an example of that. And so the reality is oppression can happen to rich or poor. You could be rich and own lots of land.

The government could force you to sell it to them and that's, you're being oppressed at that point. And so his example here is a good example of oppression. But the reality is then he wants you to make it seem like everything he says about oppression is true.

And that's not the case. Income inequality is not oppression. Wealth inequality is not oppression. Um, some, one of my viewers said that this is the Motten Bailey fallacy and it definitely is. I've actually, I've talked about Russell Moore using the Motten Bailey fallacy probably longer than I've ever talked about any person individually in on YouTube.

It was one of my first videos that where I said he uses the bait and switch Motten Bailey fallacy. He pretends he's defending something very easy to defend, like, uh, stealing land is wrong. That's very easy to defend, but really he's trying to make an argument for something that's impossible to defend.

Like income inequality is a justice issue, turns this around, he gets up and he preaches good news, Luke chapter four for the poor and for the blind and for the oppressed. He announces the favorable year of the Lord and the people who are there in his hometown synagogue are commending him and they're rejoicing.

And what does Jesus say? Jesus says, wait a minute, you don't understand what I'm talking about. He points back to Elijah and to Elisha about the fact that God did not send Elijah to the people of Israel, sent him outside of the tribe to the widow of Zarephath, sent Elisha outside of the tribe to Naaman the Syrian who is my neighbor is consistently the question.

And so when we're thinking about our responsibilities as Christians to say it is a distraction is to ignore what the new Testament says to us, which is to say, if we say to one in need, go and be warmed and filled.

We are not obeying the word of the Lord, right?

Charity, Welfare, and the Limits of Civil Justice

But, but this is the big, this is the big butt in the conversation. We, everybody agrees with what you just said. Absolutely. If we don't give to the poor, if we don't help people out when they ask for help, we're disobeying the law of God.

God, God says that we should give to people who ask for us, uh, from us. Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Charity is a great thing. It's, it's, it's an absolutely, it's absolutely requirement for Christians.

It's not optional for a Christian to be charitable, uh, with your money, with your stuff, all that stuff. No question about that. But what you can't do is then say, what we actually have to do is vote for systems that force people to be charitable.

So in other words, I'm going to be charitable with your money. You know what I mean? That's not what we can't, we can't follow God's law by breaking God's law. And that's the problem. Nobody, nobody thinks that, um, that Christ was telling us to be not charitable to the poor.

That's not what we're thinking. What we're saying is that there are certain ways to be charitable. And actually the Bible is very specific about the kinds of things that it says we should do. Right. Uh, and it's also very specific about who should get our charity and things like that.

And so, um, to just say, well, yeah, you know, the widow, you know, and then the sojourner and the orphan. Yeah, that's all true. But if there's an able bodied orphan and he's 18 years old and he can, and he can work, but he just doesn't want to work.

The fact that God says that we should care for the orphan does not say that we should also give him money because the scripture also says, if you don't work, you don't eat. You see what I'm saying? So we have to have a time, a way to, to combine those together.

It's just your, your, your, your, your, your status as an orphan. Isn't just completely, uh, uh, um, it's not, it's not the ultimate situation here. You know, there's also other things to consider and the scripture is very clear about these kinds of things.

Um, and the scripture never condones stealing for charity as this is not the case. And so, um, yeah, this is all true. It is all required and everybody preaches this, but what a lot of us don't preach is supporting welfare, supporting social engineering, supporting anything that allows the government to take from you and give to others.

Because what you're doing in that case, it's not that you're giving yourself. It's not that you're being generous with your own money by voting for tax increases or social welfare programs. No, you're being generous with other people's money.

Do you see what I'm saying? If you want to be generous, give out of your own pocket. You see what I'm saying? That's the thing. That's what, that's what the scripture commands. It does not command you to Robin Hood people.

So part of our responsibility as people who are the, uh, the people of God is to say, who matters in God's economy?

Is there any person that signed that social justice statement or any person on my side of the issue that thinks that the people that you're talking about don't matter? Like if there's an able-bodied person who's not working and is living off the government and stuff like that.

And we say, Hey, no, no, you should be kicked off the welfare rolls. In fact, the welfare role shouldn't even exist. Are we saying he doesn't matter? When Paul said, if you don't work, you don't eat. Is he saying that person doesn't matter?

Matters in God's economy are all of those that have been created in his image, whether or not the herd that we're.

The Image of God, Capital Punishment, and the Scope of Human Worth

Yeah. Even those who are condemned to death because of what they do. So in other words, there are murderers that are made in God's image and God says, yeah, he should be executed and he should face me instantly.

That's the reality. I want to judge him now. That's what God says when we find a murderer and we try them for, for murder. Uh, and so is he not made in the image of God? Absolutely. He's made in the image of God, but yet somehow there's a category for people that God says don't get the benefits yet.

They're made in the image of God writing with thinks that they're valuable or not.

That means the getting, getting angry today.

The unborn matter. That means orphans matter. That means women who are being sexually abused matter.

This is all, this is all ridiculous rhetoric, right? Like, I mean, who, who, who in this debate says that women are, that are being abused don't matter. This is all rhetoric, empty rhetoric, empty. This riles up his base, but it actually has no value whatsoever because there's no one that says, oh, you know what people, a Christian, I'm saying, you know what women who are being abused, they don't matter.

They don't even have the image of God. Like, are you serious?

They matter before God. And what's happening in the Naboth passage and happens repeatedly elsewhere in the scripture is that you have a system that is being used unjustly. Naboth uses power to try to take away this man's vineyard and ultimately to take away his life.

Now, here's why this is a justice issue. This is not just a morality issue, although it is that it's a, it's a justice issue as well, because there's a mechanism whereby a ruler can take property. He does.

There's a mechanism. Right. And there's also a mechanism whereby the ruler can say it's okay for two dudes to get married. Right. And, um, if I remember correctly, you said that the woman who said that they do two dudes shouldn't be able to get married, should step down and let the mechanism, the system systematic mechanism take its course.

I mean, am I remembering that correctly, Dr. Russell Moore? I mean, here's the thing. You're inconsistent and you're hypocritical and you're wrong on most issues. Do you see what I'm saying? Like there's a, there's a systematic injustice going on when the government says that two dudes should be able to get married.

And then there was a woman, a courageous woman. Um, I, I heard that she was a heretic, so I'm not going to say she's a Christian woman, but a courageous woman said, you know what? I'm not going to do that in my jurisdiction.

I'm going to stand truth to power and say, no, two dudes can't get married because God says so. And I remember you said she should resign. Have I got that right? Because you don't know exactly what you're saying here.

What you're saying here is we need to go to God's law and say, here's what injustice is. Here's what justice is. And go by that because Nabof, that whole situation was unjust according to God's law. It's not unjust just because we think it's unjust.

He was using his power in an unjust, unjust way according to the scriptures. Now, the reality is what we need to do is say, how are these income inequalities, these wealth inequalities similar to that?

What scripture do you go to to say, oh yeah, if Puerto Rican families make less than white families, well, I guess that's an injustice and I'm being oppressed. That's the reality. You can't do that. You've never done that because it's not possible to do that according to the scriptures.

Some whereby the government can put someone to death and what Jezebel does.

And if you're going to go to the scripture to show what the government can and cannot do as far as putting people to death, you're going to end up being on the Southern Poverty Law Center hate mob list.

But you won't do that. You'll never do that. You see what I'm saying? You're never going to advocate that people who abort babies should be executed and they should. You're never going to advocate for people that commit kidnapping to be executed and they should because that's what God's law says.

When we apply the general equity of God's law, we have no choice but to obey God in that area. Right.

Russell Moore is she brings witnesses forward. They are worthless people, the scripture says, in order to testify wrongly against Naboth and to put him to death. This is an act that is social.

It's the social, by the way, wrongful witnesses. If you say something happened and then it actually didn't happen. For example, like the the woman in that Duke rape case, wrongful witnesses, according to the law of God, if you apply the general equity of the law of God, whatever would have been done to them should be done to the wrongful witness.

And so as long as we're talking about wrongful witnesses, let's let's talk about it. The woman who accused the men of rape and it actually she made it all up. She should be executed. Do you see it? This is God's law here.

And we're talking about God's justice. Are we not, Dr. Moore? I'm pretty sure you would not agree with that.

I'm wondering why. All structure working together and it's an act of injustice and it's an act of injustice that the Bible speaks to repeatedly.

Scripture, Justice, and the Difference Between Morality and Civil Law

Yeah, the Bible does speak about these things repeatedly. But you've already said you hate theonomy. So if you're not going to God's law to talk about what this social injustice is, where are you going?

If you're not applying the general equity of God's law, what law are you applying? These are serious questions, and I seriously don't think that you have a good answer for.

Them. Think of the Proverbs. Sometimes people think that the Proverbs are just sort of self-help nuggets for people to get by in in life. The Proverbs are are telling us about things in our personal lives and our personal integrity.

Also, in terms of how we act in whatever our public responsibilities are. So the one who the scripture says justifies the wicked in a court system to say you're guilty, but you're free or the one who convicts the righteous.

You're innocent, but we're going to convict you are alike an abomination in the eyes of.

God. And what is the standard? Who is righteous and who is guilty? That's the question. What is the standard? That's always the question, by the way. Lots of people have have this this meme basically.

And it's basically by what standard? Right. And they put that on the back of their walls and they have shirts that say it. And that's always the question. By what standard, Dr. Russell Moore? I think you're going to say scripture.

But if then I take you to the scripture where it says all this other stuff that you don't like, I don't think you're going to go with me there. And that's the problem. You're inconsistent. And I think you're inconsistent for politically expedient reasons.

It is an act of injustice. Now, one of the problems is that sometimes you will have Christians who want to come in and to somehow put this division between morality defined as personal morality only from justice defined as public justice only.

And so you'll have some Christians.

Moral Responsibility, Welfare, and Sexual Ethics Under God's Law

Yeah, there is actually division there because here's the reality, too. And I was talking to the Native Speaks guys. This came up because not every sin is a crime. I mean, that should be very obvious, right?

Like in the Old Testament, right? Like God commanded, for example, God commanded the people of Israel to not harvest all of their fields. So the edges of their field would be left. And so the poor, if they were hungry, they could go into the field and they could eat the food.

That was God's welfare. So if you were an Israelite and you owned a field, you were a rich Israelite. You couldn't harvest everything. And you had to save some of it for the poor. That was God's standard.

That was an issue of morality. But it wasn't an issue of justice, because here's the reality. If you didn't do it, let's say you were a rich Israelite and you hated poor people or you just hated God. You don't want to listen to him.

Let's just say you're a rich Israelite and you've harvested everything, right? You didn't leave any of the edges of your field. There was no civil penalty for that. The government couldn't then come in and say, you know, you didn't you harvested the whole field.

And so we're going to execute you or or we're going to we're going to take money from you or something like that. That wasn't possible. So there's a difference between justice and morality, because morality is obviously true of every human being.

It's every human being is is beholden to it. And they have to act in a morally upright way. They have to obey God's law. But justice, most people talk about justice as a civil matter. And so it's talking about crimes and criminal justice, things like that.

And so, yes, if you're not giving to the poor, that's unjust in the sense of your personal piety before God. God can judge you for not caring for the poor. But if you don't give to the poor, the government can't do anything to you because that's not how we apply the civil law of God.

Let's see what Russell Moore has to say about that.

Who will say or some professing Christians who will say, don't talk to me about about my sexual behavior, don't talk to me about that. Yeah, that's morality.

And it's also a matter of civil justice because we have in the law of God very specific kinds of sexual immorality that are punishable. For example, if you rape a woman, that's sexual immorality, obviously, and that's punishable by death.

That should be punishable by death, I should say. In the United States, you get a slap on the wrist for raping a woman. That's unacceptable. And according to God's law, if you rape a woman and there's two or more witnesses and all of that, you should be executed.

So, yeah, that's a personal morality issue, but it's also a civil issue. And we have a standard God's law that shows us when to apply that.

That's not what matters. What matters is our responsibility to the poor. And then you have some Christians who will say.

And so that's that's that's a confusion because our responsibility to the poor is to not steal from them, is to not kill them, is to not rape them, is to not kidnap them. Those are civil justice issues.

But as far as giving them money and giving them stuff and taking care of them, those are morality issues. And before God, God can judge you for that. People can't. The government can't say, well, you didn't give to the poor enough today, so we're going to put you in prison.

The government can't do that kind of stuff. But what God can do is say, you've broken my law and I'm going to basically pour out my wrath because of that.

Hey, don't talk to me about racial justice.

This one got this one got heated, man.

Don't talk to me about inequities that are taking place in the in the social sphere that I'm participating in. Talk to me instead only about personal morality. The scripture doesn't do that. Why?

It does, though. It does, though. There's a the scripture does actually make a difference between civil law, justice and personal morality. Now, you hear you catch that last slipperiness. We're going to end here.

You catch that last. Don't talk to me about inequities as if inequities are some kind of a sin. Inequities are not a sin. Inequities are not a sin because Puerto Rican families make less on average than white families.

That's not a sin, but it isn't an equity. Now, there are some inequities that could be a sin, for example, showing partiality. In other words, if you're a Christian, it's perfectly within your legal right to pay.

If I was a Christian, right, I am a Christian. If I was a business owner, right, and I decided to pay people differently just based on random things, like, for example, if I said, you know what, I don't have any hair, I'm bald.

So bald people, I'm going to pay ten thousand dollars more than people that have hair just because they're bald. And I like bald people. That would be a sin before God. But the government would have no right to tell me who to pay and how to pay and how much to pay.

That's not a justice issue. But before God, God could judge me for that. I'm showing partiality to bald people. And so that's the difference. So it's like, yeah, I mean, Christians aren't are being God is not optional for a Christian, but not everything's a matter of justice.

Let's just see who finishes out and then we'll end this thing.

Because they're not two separate things. They're both manifestations of human sin and idolatry, and they're rooted in.

Inequity is not idolatry. Let's end this. We'll start at minute 30. There's only three minutes left in this. I'm sorry. Minute 21. What am I saying? 30. We'll start at 21. There's only about 10 minutes left in this whole video or this whole podcast.

But anyway, I hope this is helpful.

God bless. What's the prop?