Emotions Are Driving The Social Justice Bus - An Example

Emotional Testimony Versus Scriptural Exegesis

So last week I said something on Twitter that got a lot of pushback now I don't have a huge Twitter following and people aren't hanging on my every word or anything like that. But every now and then I'll put up a video or put up a tweet that gets a you know for me a lot of Retweets and a lot of engagement this one got 33 week retweets 190 likes and A lot of pushback and a lot of people were saying this is the worst take I've ever seen.

You're an idiot you know things like that and you know when when you get a lot of pushback on something that you say online that can Only mean one of two things. Either one, you know, I'm really kind of hitting a nerve and I'm close to the truth or two.

What I said was really stupid in this case. I think that actually I'm very close to hitting a nerve here. I don't think what I'm saying is very stupid. Surprise surprise, obviously but let me read to you the the tweet thread that got so much pushback and We'll talk a little bit about this and I'm actually gonna provide a little bit of evidence in support of what I was saying.

Obviously, I can't you know, give you every single person's viewpoint on this, but I think I can give you a little bit. So let's um, let's check it out here for a second. Here's what my tweet said it says have you ever noticed that almost every single story of an evangelical leaders?

Journey to the social justice movement sounds exactly like like Christians who change their opinion on LGBT issues. It's never driven by exit Jesus or change of views and what the scripture teaches never about the law of God and taking it more.

Seriously, it's always emotion driven often involves meeting someone on the other side often talks of the love the squishy kind. Not the scriptural kind. Being a Christian involves mastering your emotions not hiding them.

But mastering them you should be able to read a historical account on slavery weep about it. But still keep your head and insist on biblical standards and teaching. You can't let your emotions drive you to quick good-sounding solutions that don't derive from scripture.

That's what pagans do because they're ruled by their emotions and they just want a quick fix that only ever makes things worse. They don't have the law of God, but we do now. That's what I that's what I said.

And a lot of people agreed with this. They felt they understood exactly what I was saying. But a lot of people push back and I got a lot of tweets is like, oh I didn't. I came through it to social justice through a Detailed study of the scripture.

Some people even showed me a video pictures of all the books that they studied. I thought that was a really funny reaction. But but anyway. So so people are saying that you know, whenever you say something like this, that means that you know.

First the first thing is that people ignored how I said almost every single story. They took it to mean that I was saying every single story. So you gotta read carefully I said almost now now I understand that there's a large burden of proof on me.

And I don't intend to do any research to tell to show you that you know more people. Have an emotion driven journey to social justice rather than a scriptural driven journey. I don't have the resources for that.

I don't even know how to go about it. I don't have the methodology to do it so I'm not going to do that but I'm gonna provide you an example of what I'm talking about because this is. The internet is full of examples just like this and I wanted to use this one in particular because well I'll tell you why in a little bit but but this is an example of what I am talking about here is an article that I found on Patheos and It's about.

An Example From an LGBTQIA+ Testimony

Here, here's what all I'll just go to the top here how I repented from my LGBTQI plus stance. Hey, he forgot the a there that's bigoted. Hey, you better change this article. Matthew DiStefano. Anyway, you gotta you gotta understand you gotta you gotta the asexuals need to be represented as well.

But anyway, this is talking about how he changed his views, right? And so this is this is the kind of Article that I'm talking about and so he talks about how he grew up as a fundamentalist. Ooh, that's that fundamentalist word that's being used in the social justice conversation very very much.

But anyway, he goes so here's what he says about what changed for him ready? Listen carefully to this. This is this is what changed for him. I want you to hear this is it is it he studied the scripture and he realized that he was wrong.

Is it exegesis? Is it any of these things? Let's let's listen. This is from the author's mouth. What changed for him that made him support? LGBTQIA see I'm not a bigot. I use the word a anyway. He says so what changed for me in brief?

It started by actually listening to those around me who weren't heterosexual novel concept. Isn't it instead of listening to what my straight pastors or straight parents or straight Bible study leaders had to stay?

I started listening to what gay folks had to say. I started listening to what by folks had to say and what queer and transgender Transgender and those who aren't classified by any of the labels had to say.

I started to actually hear them and wouldn't you know it? I actually started to show some empathy. Then one day it just sort of dawned on me. How could I call something sin in another's life that wasn't sin in my own?

How could I tell two loving gay friends of mine that what they were doing was sinful when I was doing the same thing with? My non gay girlfriend who's now my wife. I couldn't. Okay, so so here's this is this is the rub, right?

So he's giving us a window into his own thinking on this and so he himself is saying look. Here's how I changed my mind. This is an article about how I changed my mind and He's decided that I mean, this is not my look.

I'm not making this up. He's telling us what changed. He started listening. Does that sound familiar sort of listening to his? Gay. Where's the transgender queer? Bisexual brothers and sisters in Christ.

He started he met he met some of them and he started to get some empathy. So this is what I'm talking about. This is an emotion driven thing. It's not driven through logic. It's not driven through rational discussion.

It's not driven through exegesis. It's driven through emotions. He's being very clear about that. Okay, so this is what I'm talking about now. You could go online and you could probably find I mean There's probably endless amounts of stories that sound just like this most Christians in this conversation would agree with that that often times.

When people are talking about their transition from believing that homosexuality is a sin to believing that it's not a sin. It sounds just like this. Okay, so here's an article by Paul Tripp and This article is a long article called my confession toward a more balanced gospel.

Paul Tripp, Social Justice, and the Limits of Experience

And I chose this article for a very important reason because I there's a couple reasons why number one I like Paul Tripp. Yeah so so I chose this because I want to give you an example from someone I respect someone who I think has a lot to Offer the church someone who I like and so that's one reason I picked this article.

But there's another reason I picked this article too because I actually talked about this article before and when it came out I knew what he was saying. He was basically saying I got woke and he was coming out for social justice, but actually I When when the article came out I talked about how encouraged I was by it because I believe Paul Tripp that that he had a hole in how he understood the scriptures and.

That he needs to fill that hole with something, you know. Yes. He has to actually have a full gospel that has implications for justice and things like that. I actually like that. And so I'm glad that he he has has figured out that he had a deficiency in how he understood the scriptures.

I like that the problem is the context of it means that he's filling that hole with some kind of nonsense some kind of unbiblical nonsense and so. You know, I don't disagree with this article in its entirety.

I think it's actually a helpful article but because of the context of his specific situation. He's going to go off into left field somewhere where he should actually just stick with the scripture. But I want you to listen to this though everything else about this article aside.

I'm not gonna read the whole thing and I'm not gonna talk about the things about this article with which I agree with. Not none of that. I'm just gonna talk. I want you to hear his journey. So we just read the LGBT guys journey.

About how he decided that homosexuality and and queer and and bisexuality is not sinful. I want you to compare what you heard there to what you're hearing here from Paul Tripp again. I like Paul Tripp.

I'm not trying to throw any shade his way. Here's what he says. Let me give you a little context about how God has opened my eyes and convicted my heart about five years ago Luella and I began attending Epiphany Fellowship Church in Philadelphia.

Epiphany is a multicultural but largely african-american congregation. We have been blessed to sit under the ministry of dr Eric Mason and the young black man. He has discipled every Sunday. We get the gospel of Jesus Christ up one side and down the other but there is something else for which we are grateful for.

As we have gotten to know and love our black and brown brothers and sisters in Christ. I'm sorry. I added brown. I'm just so used to saying that as we've gotten to love our black brothers and sisters.

We have had our eyes open and our hearts broken by the things that they regularly have to deal with. That we will never have to deal with just because of the color of our skin. I have had a dear young brother confess that he was afraid of me because he had grown up afraid of all older white men.

I have had numerous stories of bias and education in the workplace along with heart-rending stories of excessive abuse. Abusive and demeaning encounters with the police. Okay. Now this is exactly what I'm talking about.

Paul Tripp is giving us a window into his transformation into what he believes now and and look I didn't write this. Okay, so I this is not my problem. This is this is his problem. He's decided to say well it was through meeting black people and talking to black people and listening to black people.

That is exactly the same thing that this guy says about the LGBT issue. Exactly the same thing Exegesis did not drive this conversion. He's admitting that this is how God he's saying. This is how God has opened his eyes and convicted his heart.

It's not through reading the scripture. It's not through understanding the scripture better than he used to. No, it's through meeting these people and talking to them and getting to know them and listening to them.

Okay, now it's not the same thing obviously because being black isn't a sin. Obviously, but but the reality is that this is the same thing that's driving. It's is very emotional sort of the all the feels that he got and now he believes social justice and my goodness Dr. Eric Mason.

Whoo. I feel bad for Paul Tripp for sitting under. Dr. Eric Mason because dr Eric Mason has some of the most preposterous views on justice that I could possibly imagine now. You might say to me. Hey Adam, look you only read a piece of this article.

He talks about the scriptures in the rest of this article and he sort of does that's true. But the reality is that so does so does the LGBT guy. You know what? I mean, so does he taught he mentioned Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus Road and listen to this look look he quotes scripture here.

Well, let me read this to you. He says quote our theology needs to bring to light and life brings light and life to others. It needs to bring love joy peace and all the other fruits of the Spirit. I hope that more and more people come to see this as the truth at the end of the day.

What matters most especially for Those who profess trust in Jesus Christ is how we love Jesus summed up the whole of the law and prophets by telling his followers to love God and love their neighbor to that end if We are going to love our LGBT neighbors We ought to start by accepting how God made them not being so quick to judge and always being Welcoming them in the great banquet table that the Lord has set before so he's quoting scripture, too.

Right, but it's easy for us to see with the LGBT thing. Well, yeah. But loving your neighbor if that's the sum of the law then that summarizes the law of the Old Testament. Which also says other things about homosexuality?

Bisexuality cross-dressing things like that. So it's very easy for us to see that and likewise I think it should be easy for us to see when Paul Tripp starts talking about Doing justice and let justice roll down like waters and loving your neighbor.

In fact, they talk about the very same verses. We have to say okay, let's let's let's talk about this for a second so you're telling me that that social justice is about loving your neighbor than why does so many of the the insistences that social justice advocates make for us go against the law of God if If love your neighbor is a summary of the law of God, then you can't possibly be loving your neighbor when you show partiality.

When it comes to hiring someone for your for your church or whatever it is I mean if you're showing partiality based on skin color, whether it's to the blacks or to the whites, it's sinful, right? I Mean we're talking about loving our neighbor here, right?

And so that's what I mean. I mean, I'm not saying that that Paul Tripp doesn't think he look this is this is the point. This is the point. What happens is Paul Tripp is telling me he got his eyes open by talking to blacks and getting to know black people great.

I'm glad that you did now. Here's the problem though. We can't then go into the scripture and say let justice roll down like waters. Okay, I guess welfare I guess affirmative action look like no amount of getting to know black people or no amount of getting to know Latinos is ever going to make the hands-up.

Don't shoot narrative true. It's just not gonna happen. No amount of getting to know black people is ever going to make every white person Responsible to repent of the sin of murdering. Dr. Martin Luther King.

It just doesn't work that way you can get to know black people all you want. But it's never going to change the fact that the the accusations of systemic and institutional racism are unfounded. You understand what I'm saying?

So like yeah get to know people great. That's fine. But that doesn't mean that everything that they say is automatically true. Like that's not how it works. You actually have to have scriptural warrant for what you believe just like the LGBTQ a Plus person can't say oh, I've met homosexuals.

They're really nice people now. Oh the fruit of the spirit. Yeah, of course is pro-homosexual. That's not how it works. It's a that's what I'm saying. It's it's emotions are driving the bus here not scripture.

Paul trip admitted it lots of other people admit it. So why is it so hard to understand? Why are you pushing back on my on my on my Twitter thread if it's so obviously the case that people are telling us?

This is what drives them and then they go to the scripture and see what to see if they can find something that fits. See, here's what I say. I say you do have to love your black and brown brothers and sisters in Christ if you have Biases and prejudices you probably should get to know some black and brown brothers and sisters in Christ, but No matter how many friendships you have no matter how much you come to love your black and brown brothers and sisters in Christ.

You need to be doing careful exegesis because if you come to me and you tell me well I met some black people. I met some Latinos and now I believe in affirmative action. I need you to show me from the scripture where it says well if somebody was oppressed then it's okay to show partiality to them.

If you can do that, I will repent and become an ally. But I know you cannot do that because the scripture is very very clear. That no matter if it's a rich person or a poor person no matter if it's in the ruling class or the underclass no matter If it's black or white you dare not show partiality to them.

It's very simple. You don't have to be a scholar to understand this. And so if you're telling me that affirmative action or reparations is the way to go. I need you to show me in the Bible. I don't care how many black people you've come to know how much you care about them and all these things because I care about Them too, and that's why I dare not support reparations.

I dare not. Because the scripture says that wealth gained through dishonest means will dwindle. So if you really want to ruin blacks and Latinos lives give them a bunch of stuff for free. Give them reparations you will ruin their lives.

It's just that simple. It's just that simple. Anyway, I hope this was helpful. God bless. Look, I want to make sure this is really really clear and you know. Look, I'm not. I'm not an expert orator. I'm gonna make mistakes and things like that.

But look, I'm not saying that emotions should not be part of the equation. Like look, honestly, the the part of the story that's actually good is yes. If you have a problem with you know How you understand the world getting to know someone who understands it differently might actually be very helpful.

So, you know nothing wrong with listening to homosexuals or bisexuals and hearing their experiences. There's nothing wrong with listening to Latinos or black people to hear about their experiences but what you have to do is to be very very careful that you don't let that shade how you're Understanding the scripture because what we have to do is understand the scripture in context and apply it to our modern context.

And so so here's the point though, like like look could it be possible that people that are in? You know like the the underclasses or minority classes have an understanding of the scripture better than you do.

Yeah, that is certainly possible that is certainly possible, but the but you can't just assume that they do and then come to me with with very High like high level scriptures and saying it must mean these things like when you come to me in quote Let justice roll down like waters and you say see justice as part of the Christian message.

I'm like, yeah, I know I've been saying that for a lot longer than you have. I mean, honestly, I've been saying that these exact things a lot longer than Paul Tripp has but the reality is that yes. That's fine but you have to look at the context of what Amos was talking about Amos when he said let justice roll down like waters was Talking about justice defined by the scripture.

It's defined by God. I mean if you look at the rest of the passage, it's very clear. He's talking about the law of God. So, okay, great. Let justice roll down like water. Let's look to the moral law of God to see what justice is and I can guarantee you when you do that.

You won't come out with reparations where I end up having to pay for the sins of other people's ancestors. Do you see what I'm saying? Like like you're not gonna come up with that. You're not gonna come up with affirmative action.

You're not gonna come up with partiality. You're not gonna come up with that kind of stuff because it's just not it's not justice. It's not it's not moral. And so look emotions are okay. But like I said in my original tweet, which I stand by I got a lot of pushback for I stand by it.

Emotions are okay, but you need to master those emotions. You need to interpret the scripture. You know and and do it in such a way that it actually makes sense rationally logically and Doesn't require you to have some kind of a modern context in order to understand its full meaning because it actually meant something back when it Was written back before we had all of this modern context.

So we need to find out what it meant then To understand how to apply it today.