Remember This Day, PCA

Optimism About the Church and the Cultural Moment

Well, I just wanted to end the week on a positive note. You know, honestly, look, I'm committed at the outset to having an optimistic outlook on the world and in the church in particular. I'm a post-millennial.

I mean, I understand that to some of you that makes me anathema. I get it. I get it. But I'm committed to optimism, and I try to be optimistic in everything that I see. That doesn't mean that we're not headed for hard times.

It doesn't mean that there's not going to be ups and downs, ebbs and flows in history and things like that. It doesn't mean any of those things. I fully admit that things are looking grim in many areas in our culture and in the church in particular.

But I am committed to optimism. But I also want to say that, you know, I think that the tide is turning here. I really do. I think that there are a lot of people, a lot of run-of-the-mill people in the pews that are starting to take notice at what is happening.

A lot of us have been talking about this for a couple of years. A lot of us have been talking about this for many, many years. Let's just give credit where credit is due. There's many organizations that have been way out in front of a lot of us regarding the dangers of leftism, the dangers of a lot of this stuff.

So let's just say all that at the outset. You know, a lot of us have been talking about this a while, but the majority of people are in kind of this situation where they're like, I kind of see that there's a problem, but it's not that big a deal.

You know, we've been through worse. And I think they're starting to wake up to some of the dangers. Now, let me just say this also, you know, my brother is, I've said this many times, he's a ruling elder in the PCA.

The PCA Vote on the Nashville Statement

So he's kind of been keeping me up to date on what's been going on. And he talks to me a little bit about this vote that happened last night where they adopted the Nashville Statement on sexuality. Now, the Nashville Statement is milk toast in many ways.

It's a good statement. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it's bad. I'm not saying it's a negative. I'm not saying it's not faithful. It is. It's all of those things, but it's, it's not as controversial as it could have been.

It doesn't go as far as it could have gone according to biblical parameters. It could have gone further. It could have been more specific and that's okay. If it wasn't the purpose of the Nashville Statement, no gripes for me.

I don't bemoan people who wouldn't go as far as I would go. That's fine. That's totally fine. What I'm saying though, is that it passed and it passed with a lot of opposition and it's really not as, you know, fully orbed as it could have been.

It could have been worse. Maybe he's saying it's milk toast is too much. I shouldn't, maybe I shouldn't say that, but, but it could have been, it could have been more extreme and been totally within biblical parameters while it's been more extreme.

Do you see what I'm saying? So, so it passed. So that's a good thing. No question about it. And I heard that Kevin DeYoung gave a really good response essentially to what Greg Johnson said. These are both elders in the PCA.

And, and I heard that, that Greg Johnson was getting those emotional juices going. And, and he does that because that manipulates people. He manipulates people by saying all these sob stories about how he grew up lonely and shamed and things like that.

And look that, look, I'm sorry that you grew up lonely. I'm sorry that you didn't have a family to put on your pictures on your mantle, stuff like that. I'm sorry, but I'm not sorry that you felt shame.

Shame, Repentance, and the Promises of God

And many people are talking about this. Shame is a grace from God. Shame is a grace from God. If you feel ashamed for things that are shameful, that is a good thing. That is a good thing. Now, if you're disgraced and you're drug, drug through the mud and you're persecuted for being a Christian, that is something that you shouldn't have shame for.

Look, if you're a Christian and people persecute you because you have certain beliefs that Christians should have, you shouldn't feel shame for that. But if you have shameful feelings inside, shameful past, things in your past that are shameful, I've got some of that.

I've got some of that. Things that I'm ashamed of that I did, that I participated in, that I encouraged others to participate in. There's lots of stuff in my past that I feel shame over and I should, and it's good.

And so anyway, so, so, so good on Kevin DeYoung because I heard he had, he gave a great response. I did not listen to it. I heard he gave a great response that, that on the one hand says it's very pastoral.

It says, yes, we should talk to people who feel this shame. But at the other, on the other hand, we shouldn't sacrifice biblical truth because here's what should happen. We shouldn't try to make you not feel shame for things that are shameful.

What we should do instead is point you to the promises of God. And see, if you've done these things in the past and you've turned to Christ and you're repenting and you're seeking to live, honoring him, rejecting those things in the past, then you have promises to hold onto.

And that is something that you cannot get taken. No one can take it away from you. No matter how shameful the things you've done in the past are, God's promises are that much better. That's the gospel, man.

That's the gospel. We shouldn't try to alleviate shame when shame is appropriate, but we should point people to Christ and we should point people to the promises of the covenant of God. So, so, so good on Kevin DeYoung.

I'm so grateful for him. I would never be in the position that Kevin DeYoung was in last night. I would never be in there because look, I'm a bit of a fire brand. You know, I'm not in the PCA, although you know, I, I, I care.

I love, I love the PCA in so many ways. What matters, what happens in the PCA matters to me. You know what I mean? So, so I would, but the thing is Kevin DeYoung is, is, is, is in a perfect position right now because I believe he's on the right side of these issues.

I believe he understands the issues and he understands what's at stake, but he has decided to position himself in a way where he has the opportunity to speak the way he spoke last night. I would never be given it because I'm, you know, I'm a rebel and that's fine.

I get it. I'm, I'm one of those contras. I'm one of those people that are personas non grata and people like me, you know, they would never get to speak in that situation. I get it. So good on Kevin DeYoung.

Greg Johnson’s Playbook and the Long Game in the PCA

I'm so grateful for him and his faithfulness, but I want you to see this. This is a tweet that a lot of people are talking about today and people are talking about it in different ways, but I think this is a good tweet.

I think this is a really good tweet. This is from Greg Johnson. He is essentially the celebrity of the progressive side of the PCA. This is, this is a homosexual. He's come out as gay. He's a pastor in the PCA.

He, I'm celibate, I suppose. I assume he's celibate. You know, I don't really know too much about him, but I assume he's celibate. I assume he, he, he understands he can't have sex with men. He can't have a relationship with a man.

I get that, but this is, this guy supports revoice. He supports a lot of the excesses of revoice, celebrating gay culture and things like that. Listen to what he says. He says last night, the Nashville statement won the battle, but they will lose the war.

Number one, we had a seat at the table. That's new. Number two, notice the average age of the proponents and opponents. Big shift. Number three, about 40 of PCA leaders rejected the Nashville statement.

Number four, we got a study committee whose report will supersede the Nashville statement in the PCA. This is the strategy that they are employing against you and make no mistake. This is a war and Greg Johnson understands it.

Do you? Faithful minister in the PCA, I'm talking about the faithful ministers who would have wanted to adopt the Nashville statement, people who understand the issues, who are on the right side of this.

Do you understand you're in a war right now? Seriously, this is an important question because Greg gets it. And here's the reality. If somebody understands that they're in a war, if one side of a battle understands they're in a war and the other side does not understand the war, guess who wins that war?

I saw some people bemoaning the fact that this is like, this is, I can't believe this, this, this rhetoric is declaring war on brothers. Dude, this, he's not saying anything new. This has been a war for a long time.

He just is admitting it. And so here's the thing. We are in a war and we need to think strategically. This guy's got a long game in mind. He says, look, yeah, you know, the Nashville statement, we, you know, we, we don't like that, but look, look at all of these advances we have made and we are going to wear you down over time.

And this is the leftist agenda. They just wear you down. They don't need to give you, they don't need to bring you all the way to their insanity. They just need to bring you one step closer to their insanity.

And so here's what I say. There's a great scene in the movie 300, where the 300 are standing against the hordes of Xerxes or whoever the bad guy in that was. And the leader of the 300 says, give them nothing, but take from them everything.

It's a great scene. I love that movie. Well, let me rephrase that. I did love that movie before I was a Christian, but there's some gratuitous sex in it and things like that. But look, don't watch the movie if you're a Christian now.

But the point is that this is the reality. We are in a battle. We are in a war and we need to understand that. And that doesn't mean we need to, we need to, we need to act dirty. We doesn't mean we didn't, we need to pull out all the stops, no matter how unbiblical they are.

No, but we need to stand firm. And you know what? We need to take away their seat at the table. People like this, people like Greg Johnson, who are seeking to subvert Christian, basic Christian ethics, they don't get a seat at the table.

We do not form study committees to supersede things that you know, they're going to stack the deck. Come on, man. We need to think strategically. We need to be shrewd and we need to understand that we're in a battle.

Winning the Battle Without Losing the War

Number one, that's the first step. We are in a war and we can't just be happy with winning battles. We need to win the whole thing. And so we need to think long-term and we need to think long, three steps ahead, because that's how the liberals act.

They're good at strategy. They really are. Maybe they are. Maybe they are though. Maybe they just are actually thinking strategically. They're thinking about the long game. Are we? I'm not in the PCA.

So this is not my, this is not my fight. But at the end of the day, again, like I said, what happens in the PCA matters to me. And so I urge you, if you are a faithful minister in the PCA, look at this tweet, study what he is saying in this tweet.

He is revealing his playbook to you and then deny him each point, point by point, say no, take his seat away at the table. Understand that 40 of people rejected a very basic statement on sexual ethics and take away his study committee.

Do we need to study the fact that there is no queer culture to take into the new Jerusalem? Do we need to really study that kind of thing? Anyway, I don't want this to be negative. This is a positive thing.

We won a battle, but we need to win the war as well. And Greg Johnson fully understands that the battle means nothing if the war is won eventually. And so we need to take this battle right on the back of Kevin DeYoung's speech.

Understand that the shame that people want to avoid and want to downplay and want to get rid of for people who identify as gay, that's actually a blessing from God. If you only repent and use that to repent of your sins.

And so look, let's just be grateful that we won this battle. We also need to consider the long game. We need to consider the war. And there are some strategic things that we can do right now that will help us in that battle.

And so what I have to say to you men, gird your loins, it's time to go to work. Anyway, I hope this is helpful. God bless.