Pastor Thabiti's Tweet Rant Defending TGC Segregated Fellowship - RANT Incoming

Well, alright, I'm a little bit fired up this morning, so let's just jump right into it. I got to my computer this morning and I saw a flurry of tweets from Pastor Thabiti.

I don't know how to pronounce his last name, so I'm not going to even try. I've heard it pronounced so many different ways, but let's just jump right into this.

He's talking about the pushback from the Gospel Coalition's Women of Color segregation event, and he's very upset about the pushback there.

In fact, you will see some of the absolutely outrageous conspiracy -level stuff that he goes into.

So here we go. He says this. He says, In a day when there... Hold on. Let's start from the beginning here.

I think I might have missed the beginning. Okay. See, this goes pretty far. Okay. Here we go.

He starts off, Do not think it is gospel or Christian unity that you defend when your defense lacks compassionate heart, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with others, forgiveness when you have a complaint, and love.

Now that is very ironic when you see how the rest of this thread goes. So he says, Seek Colossians 2 and apply it to the

Women of Color event. He says, Some of the responses from critics claiming to love and defend the gospel fail to exhibit the gospel they claim to love.

The integrity and gospel commitment of Christian sisters is being questioned outright simply because they wish to meet together at the invitation of Gospel Coalition.

That is incorrect, Pastor Phoebe. That is a lie. That is an absolute lie. There is no concern that women want to meet together at the

Gospel Coalition. There is concern that they are separating themselves, segregating themselves, and saying,

White women, I know that we're connected in the gospel. I know that we have a shared unity in Jesus Christ, but you are not welcome with us at our fellowship event.

That's the concern because it's out of step with the gospel. It is the exact thing that Peter was doing that Paul called him out on.

When certain people came around, he drew back and only interacted with people that he was interested in interacting with.

He didn't interact with the Gentiles. He interacted with the Jews. And so Paul called him out on that and said that was out of step with the gospel.

So Thabiti, you are incorrect here. That is a lie. Nobody is saying it's wrong for people to want to get together.

Nobody's even saying it's wrong for women of color to want to get together with other women of color. What we are saying is that it's wrong to segregate fellowship.

To say, Whites, don't even bother coming. You're not invited. That is the problem.

That is out of step with the gospel. So that's the first thing he gets wrong. He says, nevermind the fact that any women who attend will do so after already plunking down their money and leaving their families to demonstrate gospel unity by attending the conference itself.

So I guess segregation is okay as long as you, you know, kind of tip your hat to, uh, to, uh, gospel unity.

Hold on a second here. I've got a call coming in. We will put that on hold. Yeah, segregation isn't okay even if you tip your hat to gospel unity in the beginning.

So you can't just say, Peter could not have defended his actions to Paul and say, look, Paul, I was hanging out with the

Gentiles before the Jews came and then when it was my time to have my event, then I just drew back. Paul wouldn't have bought that.

It would have still been out of step with the gospel. So that is also incorrect. He says, nevermind the fact that they will commit themselves to two and a half days of conference programming and supposed unity.

Just consider one solitary hour together to care for one another, a threat to the gospel unity.

You see, this is the thing. I guess segregation is okay as long as it's just an hour. So if you, if you dedicate most of your life to non -segregation, it's okay to segregate for just an hour.

You see, here's the thing. He's making it seem this is, this is a exercise in how to be the victim. This whole thread is how to be the victim in the best way possible.

Here's the thing. You, nobody's complaining that, that people of color want to get together. Nobody's complaining, especially not me because I love hanging out with other people of color as well.

There's nothing wrong with that. What we're complaining about is taking Christian fellowship and saying, whites don't come to this event.

We're not interested in what you have to say. We don't want you to be here. This is for us. And that's against the gospel.

That's out of step with the gospel. Peter couldn't have said, well, Paul, I just, I, you know, I spend most of my time with the

Gentiles. I just, you know, sometimes I like to have fellowship with just Jews and Gentiles aren't allowed. That is against the gospel.

He says, nevermind the fact that many of these women spend their congregational lives in multi -ethnic and predominantly, um, predominantly white churches, giving up preferences and serving faithfully for the sake of the unity of the body and the beauty of the gospel.

Again, if that's fine, if they, if they're doing that all day long, that's great. They should do it at the conference too, though.

They should do it at their fellowship events as well. You don't get to take a few hours off of the gospel unity. You don't get to take a few hours off of other fellow believers who are in Jesus Christ.

You don't get to do it. I don't understand why you would think that that would be okay, but you know what you don't get to do, you don't get to take a couple hours off the gospel, man.

That gospel is very, that gospel is very tiring. I just get so tired being in a majority white context.

I just need to have a space where whites aren't allowed. It's absolutely outrageous. This is just insane.

Nevermind the fact that they support the ministries of many of the men criticizing them. The education institutions we love, the parachurch and conference efforts we esteem and the gospel causes we lay.

Nevermind that. Just harangue and harass them. That's completely ridiculous. Nobody's haranguing or harassing anybody.

We're engaging with the idea that it's okay to have a space where whites aren't allowed in a Christian setting.

It isn't okay. I can't believe that you think it is. He says, when they think this, when they leave this conference and this one hour meeting, they will return to their homes and churches often more diverse than anything many of their critics ever engaged.

They will be the bridge builders, not many of the critics. I don't see how you could possibly know this, but you know what?

You have no idea what you're talking about because the reality is many of the critics are absolutely committed to diversity, just not the forced diversity, just not the segregation that we're seeing here.

He says, nevermind the fact that there are women of color still engaging with evangelicalism, not the members of the quiet exodus who have given up on you.

Just verbally shoot them and accuse them of racism and otherwise make it harder for them to remain. Well, here's the thing. If you don't want to be accused of segregating, don't have a no whites allowed event at a church setting where you're talking about fellowship.

Christian fellowship is an essential part of our unity in Christ, and so you can't say even for one hour, even for two minutes, whites not allowed.

Just like you know in your heart, Pastor Thabiti, that you would lose your mind if for 10 minutes they said no black people allowed in this event, in this fellowship event, whites only.

You'd lose your ever loving mind. So let's not pretend like you don't understand this. He says, this one just boggled my mind.

I learned the FBI informed the gospel coalition of concern for disruption and safety.

The FBI. So now thanks to Christian online anger and fear over a one hour informal fellowship, your sisters in Christ have to think about their safety when they want to gather.

I have no idea what he's talking about. Let's just assume for a second that this is a credible threat, okay?

That has nothing to do with anyone's offense at this disunity event, this segregation event.

These are two separate incidents. These are two absolutely separate ideas. I am saying that the disunity that is apparent in an event like this, let me calm down.

The disunity that's apparent in an event like this, it's obvious. It's there for everyone to see. It's proudly being displayed.

It's proven beyond a reasonable doubt. You are not allowed at this fellowship, Christian fellowship event that has nothing to do with any credible threat the

FBI has against this situation. That's a different issue. To pretend like the people that are criticizing you are at fault for this,

Pastor Thabiti, that is called slander. That is called absolute slander. You have to repent of that.

That is absolutely outrageous. I can't believe this is, this is a conspiracy. Oh, because a few people have some issues with the exact thing that Paul had issues with Peter.

Therefore, the FBI has a credible threat that they're responsible for. Shame on you.

Absolutely shame on you. He says, meanwhile, in groups of various sizes from churches, almost entirely or entirely white, women will gather for hundreds of meals and discussions that will be entirely white.

You won't complain. You won't see it as a failure to pursue gospel unity. You won't call it segregation. That's correct, Pastor Thabiti, because I won't call it segregation unless it is.

Unless these white women groups are saying no blacks allowed. Unless these white women, women groups are showing partiality and saying, let's do things that we know black people don't want to do.

Brown people don't want to do because we don't want them there. If they're saying that, then that's segregation pointed out. Show me the evidence and I'll stand with you to call it out.

I'll stand with you. But the thing is, every single time I say, show me the evidence, there is no evidence. It's just the fact that these groups exist.

My church is predominantly white. I'm the only nonwhite at my church. Does that mean that we're racist?

This thread just really reveals what the point is. This is all about revenge. You guys are doing something we want to do it.

It doesn't make any sense, man. It makes no sense. We want to have our own group because you have all these groups with all white women.

Meanwhile, there is no evidence that they're saying no blacks allowed. Look, if blacks and browns want to get together and have fun with each other, there's nothing wrong with that.

Nobody would bat an eye. What people are batting an eye about is this is a Christian fellowship event that is specifically saying if you don't have the right skin color, get on out of here.

Get to stepping. That's how to step with the gospel. And you know it. He says this.

He says, there's going to be genuine unity in the body. It won't come through maintenance of informal segregation while decrying what you think is public segregation.

It won't come as as some maintain all white social orbits while criticizing people who spend a bulk of their life in mixed groups.

Nobody's criticizing anyone that because they're spending the bulk of their lives in life in mixed groups. That's a lie.

Pastor Thabiti. Repent of that. That's insane. What we're saying is that a group of all white people is not necessarily segregation unless they're saying no blacks allowed, unless they're doing things to show partiality, point it out.

Give me the evidence. I'm open to it. I'll stand. I'll stand with you. Pastor Thabiti against that kind of stuff. But what we do have is blatant open evidence of this group saying no whites allowed.

If you do not have the right skin color, get out of here. We're not interested in fellowship with you during this hour.

That's out of step with the gospel. It doesn't matter if other people are doing it to that. If they're doing it too, then that's also out of step with the gospel.

Just show me the evidence and I'll stand with you. He says the women interested to attend the women of color gathering need no justification beyond using

Christian freedom to do so. Christ has set them free. They should not allow themselves to be enslaved again to the legalism of others, period.

Could Peter have gotten away with that one? I don't think so. Thabiti. Peter could not have gotten away with that. Look, this is just my freedom to do this.

I just want to associate with just Jews and this is Paul would have called them out. Out of step with the gospel. Paul did call him out and this needs to be called out as well.

He says that some Christian leaders have not championed but opposed this freedom. One solitary hour in the midst of two and a half days.

What is it? What does it have to do with anything that it's just one hour? You know full well,

Pastor Thabiti, you would lose your ever loving mind if for one hour they said no blacks allowed.

You would lose your mind and rightfully so because that would be segregation. That would be evil. That would be out of step with the gospel just like this is evil and out of step with the gospel.

He says this group is not motivated by anything remotely resembling racial animus, racial superiority or racial motivated power as in the actual practice of segregation in this country.

Calling it such is a horrible slander against your supposed sisters in Christ. It doesn't matter what it's motivated by,

Pastor Thabiti. If you're if you're segregating fellowship and saying in this fellowship, no whites allowed.

It doesn't matter what your motivations are. That is evil and that is wrong and that needs to be called out. It doesn't matter what

Peter's motivation was when he drew back and only ate with the Jews. That didn't matter. What mattered was he was out of step with the gospel.

That's what mattered. In a day when there is so much to protest and oppose when it comes to race, racism, etc.

boggles the mind and some Christian leaders vociferously oppose this little meeting but remain tone deaf, silent, even complicit when real racism is present.

Prove it. Show me the receipts on that one because every single time I ask for real evidence of real racism,

I get statistical disparities. In the end, every woman who attends that meeting already committed to the wider conference itself demonstrates a stronger gospel coalition than those in the cheap seats, heckling with no real bona fides in the church church's reconciliation.

Sisters keep going. You have no idea what you're talking about. You have no idea how the people who are criticizing this have bona fides in the church's reconciliation.

This is slander. This threat is full of projection and this does fire me up because this is simply lying about people.

You have no idea what you're talking about, Pastor Thabiti, in this issue. To say that people are responsible for FBI threats, people don't care about racial reconciliation, the church's reconciliation, people that oppose this are just opposing the freedom that they have.

No. You're missing the point. You have not listened. What we're opposing is the fact that fellowship,

Christian fellowship, can be divided according to skin color and that's okay. Paul would not have bought that.

Peter would not have bought this. And I tell you right now, if I feel, if you look like, if you think that I'm appearing angry or zealous right now,

I am because this is ridiculous. I cannot imagine a time when this kind of evil segregation would be okay even for 10 minutes.

Never mind an hour or more of fellowship. Christian fellowship is never to be divided.

It was evil when they did it back in Jim Crow. It was evil when they did it in the South and it's evil when it happens today with white people segregate against blacks and things like that.

But it's just as evil when blacks segregate against whites. It's just as evil. And so to say that it isn't for some reason, oh, just because it's just an hour or just because, well, they just want to get together.

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what their motivations are, things like that. If you are saying your skin color is not welcome here, you are in sin and you must repent.

And the fact that you're encouraging these sisters in this, I would not want to answer to God for that one.

Encouraging them and showing partiality, keep it up sisters. No whites allowed for an hour, no problem.

Shame on you that you are abandoning your duty to call them out for something like this. I think what, what, what, what could a black or brown person do that would be a racially prejudiced, that would be segregation?

I honestly want to know if this isn't, what would they have to do? What would it take for you to call them out and say, look, your heart is not right before God.

Your heart is not right before God. If you are saying whites, not, not allow white girls. We're not interested. I know you want to come white girls, but you can't come because this is for us.

This is not for you, even for an hour. I just can't believe,

I just cannot believe that there are so many who do not see this for what it is. This is evil.