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Alright, well, happy Monday. We are back. I hope you had a good Lord's Day. Unfortunately, me and my family were kind of fighting off a cold. We've been this way for like the last two weeks. It's really annoying, so we could not go to our worship service yesterday, but we still had a good day.
I do want to finish the Atlantic article. I don't know if I'll be able to get through the whole thing, and the next section is the one I really wanted to talk about, so I'm not sure if I'll finish it on the channel, but we will definitely talk about this next section about pastors and, you know, that whole thing.
But I did want to, before I get into that, I had a dream last night where I was listening to the radio, which I never do, and I was listening to somebody talk, who's not a radio host. He was just talking through the radio.
I don't know why. But he was despairing, and this was the kind of guy that you would not expect to despair. He was lamenting the situation that we find ourselves in, and it's so opposite this man's character.
He's actually totally against despair, but I was hearing it, and then I woke up. This was early in the morning, and when I woke up, the first thought I had was the idea of building, right? Building. I don't know why, but that's just what came into my head, and I started thinking about Joe Biden and the Great Resets, you know, Build Back Better.
That's their propaganda. That propaganda is everywhere. Build Back Better. And, you know, most of us who listen to this channel, and I'm not going to go into all of it, we understand that the Build Back Better propaganda is Orwellian.
In other words, really what they're doing is destroying. They're continuing to destroy. They're inflating our money supply so it's completely worthless. I think they're trying to break money, by the way.
It's like, Build Back Better, but we're going to shut down all of our gas drilling and stuff like that, then we're going to beg OPEC to give us more gas, all while the price of gas is going through the roof.
They're destroying a lot of what has been built, but the propaganda itself is interesting, because I think they're tapping in on, even as they're continuing to destroy, they're tapping in on this idea that I think a lot of people are waking up to.
This idea that, you know, a lot of what we hold dear in this country has already been destroyed. And I was listening to this video, this guy, his name is Daniel Concanon. He's a little crazy, this guy, but what he says is often quite true.
And he's very awake to the fact that there's a lot of anti-white sentiment that's just completely tolerated in our culture. He's 100 right. That's what I've been saying for the last three years. But this guy, he's in New Hampshire.
I've never met him, but I want you to listen to this, because he breaks this down in two minutes, the abject insanity that has gone on. Just listen to this. Hold on. Hold your horses. I always forget to do this.
I've got to put it in my ear. Give me one second. I'm going to make it full screen so you can see this guy. He's a little crazy looking.
...other era. And look at the pride that humanity had in itself. And ask yourself, how did that go away so rapidly? It's like there were poverty stricken coal miners 150 years ago that looked more dapper than like a guy in his business office in 2021.
Yeah, it's so true. But these people, none of it has been organic. None of it has been by accident. There's been an intentional decline. And the moment in time that we find ourselves at, it's like they did this slow burn, generation over generation.
They wormed their way into the institutions, they gained institutional power, and then they started introducing this cultural revolution from the top down. It's gone all the way to the bottom, but we've gotten all the way to the edge of the cliff.
And now their foot's on the gas, and they can't get it off. And we're kind of entering the free fall phase at this point where you can hate white people openly. The sex you're born with is meaningless.
Elementary school children are being indoctrinated into the world of gender clowns and encouraged to mutilate themselves, being fed hormone blockers. Like when you look at it in its totality, it's like the media normalizes it.
They do such, they're in constant overdrive to normalize it. So even good people, even normal people, even well-adjusted people, lose sight of how far gone we really are. But when you step back and realize, like, I don't know, what more should it take than me holding up a picture of Rachel Levine to someone's face and going, that's who's in charge.
Like what? I shouldn't have to explain the rest!
He's right. I'm going to stop him there, but it's basically over anyway. Yeah, there it is. That person is in charge of anything. That should be enough to explain how far we've fallen. I mean, so much has been destroyed already.
And so that's why the Biden administration, the Great Reset, you know, powers that be, that's why they're using the Orwellian term build back better, because they're tapping into this sense that regular people, Daniel Kunkan is a regular guy, right?
I mean, I think he was a teacher and he quit because of all the critical race theory stuff, whatever. You know, he's aware that things have fallen. Things have fallen. And I think that that's a true statement.
Things have fallen a great deal. And so there is some building that needs to get done, right? Build back better is only going to destroy things more. We understand that. But there is some building that needs to get done.
So now is not the time to despair what has been lost. There is a time for that. And you can spend some time, you know, despairing and lamenting what has been lost, because what has been lost, it's a sad thing.
There's a lot of traditional type of ways of life that we're all used to. And, you know, we have fond memories of it and stuff like that. Okay, fine, fine. But let's not make the mistake of saying, and basically there's nothing we can do about it.
And basically there's no improvements that we can make on our last attempt here. Guys, there is a Reconstruction mindset that I believe that every Christian ought to have. I'm not talking about the Reconstructionism movement as a specific entity, although I like a lot of those guys.
You know that. I'm not talking about the specifics there. But what I am saying is that there is a Reconstruction that needs to happen. And we need to build this culture and this society in a way that directly and objectively and overtly honors Christ as Lord in every single area.
Christ as Lord, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, and it has to be overt. It can't just be kind of like, oh, we'll tip our hat at Christ, you know, on the way out of the door, that kind of thing. No, it has to be Christ-centered, but in a way that actually has teeth to it, that has specifics, that actually orders things the way Christ would order them.
The problem is we need to figure out who has authority, how they have authority, and what they have authority over. And there's only one way to figure that out in the civil realm, in the family structures, in the family units, and in the churches.
There's only one way to figure that out, and that is through the teachings, through becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ, because all authority comes from God, and therefore that's the answer to all of our questions.
And so I don't want to talk too much about that, but the idea of building and building back better, I think, is something that we actually need to embrace. Not the propaganda version, but the Christian version of that, Christian reconstruction.
Anyway, let's jump back into this article. The Atlantic. I think this is the—we'll see, we'll see. I think this is the last video I'm going to do on this article. I don't think I'll finish the article in this video, but I did want to talk about this, so here we go.
Ah, just water. Just water today. All right. The article continues. Pastors now find themselves on the front lines of this conflict. Their congregations are splitting into warring camps. I spoke with 15 of them, and what I heard was jarring.
They told me that nothing else they faced approaches what they've experienced in recent years, and that nothing had prepared them for it. Scott Dudley of Bellevue Presbyterian Church said he knows of several pastors who have not just quit their churches, but resigned from ministry, and that many others are actively seeking to switch careers.
They have concluded that their church has become a hostile work environment, where at any moment they may be blasted, slandered, demeaned in disrespectful and angry ways, he said, or have organized groups of people within the church demand that they be fired.
So this is going to get—we're going into the poor me, it's hard to be a pastor routine. This time, the pastors decided not to write an article, a passive-aggressive article on their personal blog, which is what they normally do, or an article, passive-aggressive on gospel.
No, this time what they've decided to do is go to the pagan media to complain about their flock, right? The shepherd has gone to the pagan media to complain that their flock is too hard to manage. The pagan media to complain that their flock is just too hostile, it's toxic.
It's a toxic work environment, and I'm going to quit. This is the shepherd that's decided to run to the pagan media to talk about how awful Christians are, so awful that I've got to quit. I have no sympathy, none, for pastors that behave in this way.
This is disgusting. We're going to talk about hirelings in just a second, it gets worse, but this is obviously a hireling who cares nothing for the sheep, nothing. He cares about his own comfort, his own sensibilities, like it's just too hard.
Look, if you sign up to be a pastor and you're not ready to deal with conflict, constant conflict, because shock, shock of all shocks, there are sinners in the church, right? There are people that are warring against sin in the church, and so sometimes there are sin in the church, like shock, absolutely shocking, I know, I know.
But these people care nothing for the flock. Oh, I'm quitting because it's too hard. Look, if you're not cut out to be a pastor, then there's no shame in quitting. That's one thing. If you weren't called to be a pastor, then fine, that's totally fine.
I used to be a pastor. I'm no longer a pastor. I'm not going to be a pastor again, most likely, unless I'm called, right? Unless I'm called. There's no shame in that. But the reality is that if you're going to do that, what you don't then go and do is go run to the Atlantic to talk about how awful people are.
Look, when I quit, I quit, and I explained exactly why I quit, and you know what I didn't do? I didn't throw my congregation under the bus. I didn't say, oh, so he can't believe it. These people, they're just so stupid.
It's just, how much more evidence do you need? I don't feel sympathy for any of these pastors because how much more evidence that you need that they care nothing for their flocks than the fact that they went to the Atlantic to complain about how hard it is to be a pastor.
It gets worse, though, guys. Let's continue. By the way, the passive-aggressive blog posts and Facebook posts and Gospel Coalition posts, the way they normally do this, that's no better. Well, maybe it's a little better because at least you didn't run to the pagans.
But you shouldn't do that either. This is like the worst-case scenario. Let's continue. Several months ago, I spoke with one such pastor who had not only resigned from his church, a congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America, but had also decided, at least for now, to leave the ministry altogether.
He told me that he felt undermined by people in his congregation, including by some whom he had trusted, but who, it turned out, were less animated by spiritual matters than by political agendas. This former pastor used the word betrayal in our conversation.
He talked about the pain this episode caused him and his wife. In his words, That is most likely all untrue. I don't know, because I don't know who he's talking about. Names aren't being named here. You could just throw any accusation out here.
Nobody knows, because you're not naming any names. But this is most likely untrue. What most likely happened here is that they confronted the pastor for teaching things against the Scripture. Against the Scripture.
And maybe it worked itself out in political things. Maybe he was pro-Biden or something like that, right? And that would be against the Scripture, because Biden is for all manner of evil, with no redeeming qualities.
None. And so they probably confronted him about that, because that's a sinful teaching. And then he said, Oh, they just care too much about politics. No, they probably came out to him with a... Because I know how this happens, guys.
You go to your pastor with biblical cases and arguments, and they are basically, How dare you disagree with me? I'm the anointed! And that's what they say. And listen, I've actually been involved in personal situations where the pastor made it seem like he was being undermined by this evil faction in the church.
And I didn't know any better, so I just believed him. Come to find out later, probably wasn't actually the way the pastor had said it was. And this is why in the Scripture it talks about you have to...
The first person to state his case seems right, and then until you cross-examine him and find out the other pieces of information, it turns out it's not quite right. But we're only ever going to get the one side of the story here in the Atlantic, because number one, the person's not named, so who knows?
And the number two, the Atlantic has an agenda here. It's the people in the congregation. That's the problem. The people in the congre... That's the problem. It's not the leaders. It's the people in the congregation.
Even though the leaders are the ones who taught the people in the congregation on how to be a Christian and things like that, but all of a sudden, no, no, it's not their problem. It's the congregation.
It's the flock. Guys, did J... I ask you, he's trying to Jesus-juke, according... Oh, the gentleness of Jesus was just discarded. Did Jesus ever just throw the flock under the bus? Is that what Jesus did?
Did Jesus say, you know, all you people being led astray, it's your the ones who are at fault here. You're the problem and start ripping the woman at the well, just destroying her. Did he destroy the masses or did he have compassion on the masses, the crowds, the people that were like sheep without a shepherd?
Did he have compassion on those people? You see, this is the Big Eva's big problem, right? Big Eva's big subversion, in my opinion. This is a subversive tactic. Jesus' actual example is compassion on the crowds, sympathy for those who have been led astray, patience, gentleness, all of that, with those who have been led astray.
But with those who are leading them astray, those who are in leadership, the Pharisees, all that, he has harsh words for the Pharisees. And that's where he, you know, he reserves his strong rebukes and his fire in the belly, that kind of thing.
Like when you see the actual example of Christ, and then you see what Big Eva does, where they're constantly ripping regular people, regular Joes in the pews, people that have tithed for decades, and they don't have a lot of money, but they're faithful.
Those are the ones that are those Trump-loving, bigoted, white supremacists, evil, you know, neo-Nazis. And it's like, it's subversive, guys. It's the opposite of what Jesus did. And then they have the audacity, the audacity to be like, whoa, the gentleness of Jesus is utterly regarded.
What probably happened here is that this pastor, who got confronted by his congregation, started going on Facebook saying how, look at this, white supremacist Trump supporters. The bigots, there's racism everywhere.
And that's probably what happened. They're like, well, hold on a second, pastor. Like, hold on. Because I've seen this story play out, guys. I've seen this story play out. It's happened to me. Hold on a second.
Wait, how do you know that that guy was a racist? You know, you said the shooting's racist, but we saw a five-second clip. Like, what are you saying? And then you know what you get? You get, oh, you must be one of them.
You must be one of those whites. I remember one time this happened, and I was very calm about it. My responses and this pastor that I knew called me a white privilege. You have white privilege. And it's like, dude, like, I'm Puerto Rican.
What do you mean white privilege? You know, I am privileged. I totally understand that. I mean, God has privileged me in many ways. Granted. Granted. But you see, his mind was so twisted by this race narrative and just going with the pagans to do what they are going to do, the pagan belief, that he just can't think in other terms.
It takes over how he thinks. He doesn't think like a Christian anymore. Now he thinks like a critical race theorist. That's what probably happened here. But he's, oh, they just undermined me. They undermined.
Yeah, because I criticized your Facebook post. That's your undermining? I've got stories, man. And the thing is like, some of them are not my stories to tell. You know what I mean? Some of them are. And I do tell them and I'll probably tell more in the future.
But like, I know that this is not what happened. I don't know, but I'm pretty sure this is not what happened. Let's continue. They don't care about the relational collateral damage, he said. In a similar vein, I recently had a conversation with a senior pastor who was planning to leave his position soon.
He's not sure where he'll land or even whether he'll stay in the ministry. He has simply been worn down by the divisions within the church. He has not been the target of outward hostility, but he can feel the ground shifting beneath his feet.
He feels that he is growing apart from the people in the congregation. There's no longer the same sense of common purpose. He is watching the collapse of an evangelical movement to which he has devoted much of his life.
At one point, as we talked about what is unfolding within the American Christianity, his eyes welled with tears. Poor baby. This is the thing. Oh my goodness. He's weeping. The poor dear. But this guy, he's not even facing any criticism.
He's just like, well, they're just not doing what I say anymore. They're not believing what I say anymore. And he's weeping over this. And how much you want to bet that there's been no direct confrontation?
I don't know this, but it doesn't seem like there has been because he says there's no outward hostility. So this guy is not even facing any hostility. And he's like, I'm going to quit because my congregation doesn't just blindly listen to everything I say.
It's like, man, grow a pair, dude. I mean, I'm not sad that he's leaving the ministry. He probably should. He probably should because he's not equipped for it. But the reality is that this is... And then you run to the Atlantic to talk about how evil all those people are.
Those people, the common people, the very people that Jesus would have compassion over, those people over there are the problem. So I'm going to leave the minute. I'm going to take my ball and go home.
I have no sympathy for this. It's just... Let me calm down. Let me calm down. Hold on a second. I'm going to take a sip of water. I've seen this story play out so many times. I've seen this story play out so many times.
But now they're running to the Atlantic to tell it. And it's like, it was bad when they did it in Gospel Coalition. It was bad when they did their passive-aggressive Facebook post. That's bad enough.
But then to go to the Atlantic to talk about how all the common Christians, I'm not like those guys. I'm different. And I'm going to leave the ministry because I'm different. I'm a different kind of Christian.
It's so gross, guys. But that's not even the worst part. Let's continue. Bob Freilein, the former publisher of InterVarsity Press and the vice president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Evangelical Campus Ministry, has been part of a weekly gathering of more than 150 individuals representing about 40 churches.
He's heard of conflicts in almost every church and reports that pastors are exhausted. Earlier this year, the Christian polling firm Barna Group has found that 29 of pastors said they had given real serious consideration to quitting being in full-time ministry within the last year.
David Kinemenem, president of Barna, described the past year as a crucible for pastors and churches as churches fragmented. The key church issues in these conflicts are not doctrinal, Freilein told me, but political.
They include the passions. Politics is doctrinal. This is the thing, guys. You can pretend all day that whether or not you should punish someone who murders a child has nothing to do with theology. You can pretend all day that that has nothing to do with theology, but everybody knows that it does.
Even the pagans know that it does. This is a core tenet of their secular, evil religion. And they know that if they lose this, then their religion's on the down club. That's why they fight to the death.
They fight tooth and nail to keep this core, fundamental sacrifice that they love. They love the human sacrifice of abortion. They love it. They need it. They want it. They know it's doctrinal. So you can say this all day.
It doesn't make it true. Let's continue. They include passions stirred up by the Trump presidency, the legitimacy of the 2020 election, and the January 6th insurrection. Wow, the insurrection? The murder of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter, all of these are doctrinal issues.
All of them. The Black Lives Movement, the critical race theory, and matters related to the pandemic, such as masking, vaccinations, restrictions on in-person worship. And I know of at least one large church in eastern Washington State, where I grew up, that has split over the refusal of some of its members to wear masks.
Yes, this is a doctrinal issue as well. Do you need to have a certain piece of clothing on in order to be clean enough for worship? That's a doctrinal issue. That's a doctrinal issue. Do you worship the patron saint of George Floyd or not?
That's a doctrinal issue. Is it okay for a Christian to hate white people? That's a doctrinal issue. These are all doctrinal issues. And so, like, the truth is that the whole article has done this. They're trying to make a very sharp line between religion and politics.
And that's, of course, it's untenable. It's untenable. And so you shouldn't even try to make that distinction. Your religion drives your politics. Your politics should be completely controlled and owned and driven by what Christ has to say.
The authority of authorities, the Lord of lords, the king of kings, this is the one who tells us what we can and can't do in the civil realm, in the family realm, in every realm. Christ is lord over your politics.
And not in the squishy way where it's like, oh, I'm supposed to give to the poor, therefore we're going to have this welfare socialist system. No, no, no. Not in the squishy way, in the way that actually considers all of Christ's words, including the ones about what the government is for and what you're supposed to do.
It's very simple. Christ wants you to give to the poor. If you have money, share it with someone who doesn't. If you have clothes, food, whatever, share it with someone who doesn't. He doesn't say to set up a welfare system.
That's not what the government's for because he's also spoken on that. Christ has spoken on all these areas. And so we need to honor Christ in a specific way that has teeth. You don't want to do that?
I'm glad you're quitting. Can I just say that? I'm glad you're leaving the ministry because you're not doing any good. How about that? Because here's the thing, we ought to convert people and we want people's souls to be saved for the future, but also for the present because we need to be making disciples of Christ.
What's a disciple? Disciple is a student of Christ, obeying everything that Christ has said. And Christ has said many things. And so we need to be teaching those many things in every area of life. So if you're willing to attempt to save souls, but you're not willing to disciple in everything that Christ has said, not just the things that sound nice, but everything that Christ has said, if you're not willing to do that, then you're not willing to be a pastor.
And I'm glad you're stepping down because you're a hireling, as we will see in just a moment, who cares nothing for the sheep, but rather cares about that he's getting compensated enough for it. Let's continue.
There have always been mean people who cloak their unrighteous kindness in religious devotion, one minister in a conservative denomination told me. This is a three-year-old, man. This is the kind of sentence you would expect from a three-year-old.
Oh, this is a big mean person. Grow up, dude. The New Testament itself is pretty clear about that. But he added, the conflicts have grown more widespread and more intense. Without a doubt, you'll see, you already are, a ton of pastors quitting.
He said, most pastors actually hate conflict. So if you're going to pay me one quarter of what I could make on the market, why put up with this? Guys, this is, there's so much here. Oh my goodness. Okay.
A couple things here. A couple things here. This is describing a hireling. And it's supposed to make you feel sorry for the hireling. Who doesn't? He became a pastor, but he didn't want to deal with conflict.
I hate conflict. I can't put up with this. I don't even get paid enough for this. And the truth is, a lot of local pastors, they don't get paid enough, in my opinion. A lot of local pastors and independent churches, they just don't have the budget for it.
And so this is true. But a lot of pastors of these major denominations, they get paid way more than they could earn on the open market. Because the reality is, a lot of these guys don't have other skills.
Right? I'm not trying to demean all pastors, because there's a lot of pastors out there that do. But a lot of pastors have a pretty cushy situation financially, and they're still complaining about their money, because I don't want conflict.
It's like, are you crazy? Elders who rule well are worthy of double honor. But if you're one of these elders that's like, I hate, I don't want conflict, you're probably not ruling that well. You're not worthy of double honor.
So let's just get that out of your head. But look, maybe you can make more on the open market. I mean, inflation has inflated salaries as well. Maybe you can make more. So go. Go make your money. Go make your silver.
Go make your gold. I'm not against that. I go out there and spend 90 of my time during the week making money. That's what I do. Nothing wrong with making money. Go do it, because you're a hireling. You care nothing for the flock.
Things get tough. You're like, oh, I don't get paid enough for this. Hireling, the definition of a hireling. What else could you say? What else could you say? And the thing is, guys, I'm not anti-pastor.
There's so many good pastors out there. Man, God bless you guys. God bless you guys who this thought is just like, man, maybe you've had a fleeting thought like this in the past. I'm not condemning you if you have, because, look, we all have internal demons that we struggle against and stuff like that.
I'm not saying that. But the idea that you would run to the Atlantic to say this and expect people to feel sorry for you, nobody feels sorry for you, because you're a hireling. You care nothing for the sheep, and if you did care for the sheep, you wouldn't be talking to the Atlantic about this, and you wouldn't be leaving your church, because you don't get paid enough.
I mean, I think I've driven that point home. I don't really know what else to say. I mean, it's just so pathetic. I have no sympathy for this, and I hope you quit. In his own church, some of the elders are devoted to culture war politics.
These guys can be a special kind of relentless, and I don't think I've had it as bad as many, he said. But when we're stressed out trying to be public health experts without the training to do that, trying to keep our own families from blowing up with COVID stress, getting criticized from both sides at once, and then having folks doing whatever they can to ruin us and run us out of.
Well, we can't trust you as shepherds when you think that your job is to be my doctor, or a health expert, or a public health expert, or a COVID expert. Obviously, I can't trust you to be a shepherd when you're thinking about the latest Drudge Report article about how terrifying the coronavirus is instead of studying the scripture to figure out what your response should be.
Because if you had done that, you would know that you're not supposed to forsake the assembly, that you're supposed to lay hands on the sick, and in order to lay hands on the sick, by the way, you kind of have to be with them.
It doesn't work virtually. You would actually believe the things you say. You believe that the assembly is necessary, that the gathering and the singing of songs, hymns, and spiritual songs to the Lord, and psalms, I should say.
That's my favorite one. That that's necessary for the life of the body, and you can't just cancel that for months at a time. You would know that. And a lot of pastors, God bless them, they did do that, right?
They did do that. They saw all the COVID propaganda coming, and they're like, man, this is complicated, so let me go to the scripture, because that's my job, and figure out what I'm supposed to do. So some of these pastors, they shut down their church, and a lot of them are realizing they shouldn't have done that, but what they did during that time when they shut down their church is they studied their tails off to figure out what the scripture, what the Lord, the authority of authorities, the King of kings, the Lord of lords said to do.
And they came to the conclusion that I have to do what I'm supposed to do, open church, preach the gospel, lay hands on the sick, sing songs unto the Lord, pray, all these kinds of things. And they didn't have to be a public health expert to know that.
Nobody hired you to be a public health expert. Pastor, you're not qualified. I'm not qualified either, but the point is that you don't have to be that, right? Nobody has to be that, because according to the scripture, I'm in charge of my health.
I'm in charge of protecting my family. You are supposed to protect your family. Here, this is the truth, trying to keep your own family from blowing up with COVID stress. Yeah, yeah, that's your job. That's your job.
Your father, excuse me, presumably, that's your job. And then, oh, I'm getting criticized. Like, dude, if you signed up for the pastorate and you didn't expect to be criticized, hireling. I mean, what else can you say?
But then, of course, you run to the Atlantic to complain about the regular people in the pews. I'm ripping this. I'm ripping this apart because you should know better, pastor. You're in charge, man. Your job is to understand the scripture.
You took the job of pastor and you did not expect to deal with conflict? Then I'm glad that you're resigning. I'm glad that you're quitting. Go find that job where you can make bank. Maybe you'll be happy, maybe you won't, but at least you'll get some money coming in and stuff like that, and you won't be bothering the flock of Christ anymore.
I understand what many folks have just said. I'm done. I'm not there yet, but I hardly think I'm above it or guaranteed not to. I just pray to Jesus not to let me throw in the towel. Well, I pray to Jesus that he reveals to you what your actual job is, what your actual job is, and if you truly are called, I pray that Jesus would equip you for this job and would equip you with some cojones to actually accomplish this job and not to complain ever again to the Atlantic about how bad your people are, man.
I mean, my goodness. These people always try to juke you by saying that you don't have the love of Christ, and all while their Facebook feeds and their personal blogs and their gospel coalition trash is just ripping regular people, all the people that have been led astray, their flocks, their own flocks.
You saw Matt Chandler get on stage all proud. He's just a big goofball and ripping his own congregation. They're just fools, his own congregation. That's not what Jesus did. See, that's the thing. Jesus is gentle and loving, and he has kind words and patience for people, but they've got it twisted in their mind who that's for.
That's for the flocks that are being led astray, those that are fleecing the flocks, those that are leading the flocks astray. He ripped those people. He ripped them apart. And sad to say, guys, that's you.
You're ripping your own congregations. You're leading them astray. You're fleecing these people. And then you have the audacity to pretend like you don't have the love of Jesus. That's just, oh, man, I think I have to stop.
First of all, this has gone on for 35 minutes. And second of all, like I just have nothing else to say. You know, I'm not sure if I'm going to go into this. This section is a little bit boring in my opinion.
If you've read this article and you want me to finish it, because there's only like four more paragraphs or something. This is about the scandal of the evangelical mind. I've never read that book. So, you know, whatever.
He goes into a few other things. But if you want me to finish it because you want me to do the whole article, I will. I will. But if you don't care and you think that's a good place to stop, I personally think that's a decent place to stop.
But, guys, like a lot has been lost, right? A lot has been lost. And I think that a lot of the fat is being trimmed right now. A lot of the fat is being trimmed. And it's time to get to work. And it's time to build.
Guys, this is not an anti-church video. This is not an anti-pastor video. I have a fantastic pastor. He is such a good dude. And my church is great. And I know a lot of you guys have a lot of good pastors, a lot of good churches.
There's so many men out there that are just doing this job. And I'm sure it's tough. And I'm sure they've had times when they thought about quitting. But they're doing it with joy, with a smile on their face.
And they're burying people. And they're sitting next to the sick. They're laying hands on the sick. This has been a tough year for them. And they need, of course, our prayers and our support and our financial support and our moral support and our friendship and stuff like that.
God bless these guys. God bless them all. And if you are one of these pastors that talk to this Atlantic guy about how awful your congregations are, it's time to repent. Grow a pair. And all is not lost.
It's not the unforgivable sin. But you need to take a good look in the mirror and figure out if you're in the faith or not. Because this is something that I can't even imagine a pagan doing this. That's not true.
I can. I can. Pagans do this kind of stuff all the time. They eat each other all the time. Anyway, I hope you found this video helpful. God bless. You know, two bonus thoughts here. And I watched this video as I was working out just now just to kind of make sure I didn't say anything too crazy.
But the first thing is when it comes to the pastor's pay and you've got these hirelings that are like, Oh, I don't make enough for the conflict. I don't make enough to do the job. And it's like, when you think about it, who are they actually upset with?
Because who pays pastors? Who gets the pastors the resources that they need in order to survive? And where does that money come from? When people tithe, when people give offerings, who are they giving it to?
They're not giving it to the pastor. They're giving it to God. Right? So when people tithe, they give their offerings, they give their money to God, and then God turns around and pays the pastor. And obviously the church comes together to decide all that kind of stuff.
But when they say, Oh, I don't get paid enough to deal with this conflict, what are they doing? They're shaking their fists at God. They're shaking their fists at the sky and talking about his lack of generosity, his lack of abundance, his lack of provision, and all of that kind of stuff.
I mean, these guys, good riddance. Good riddance. The second thing is about the article in general. You know, the article attempts to say that there's a divide right now between the leadership and then the people in the pews.
There's a divide. And actually, that's something that I agree with in the article. I've noticed this divide as well. A lot of my friends have also. Now, it's not just every pastor. It's not every leader.
It's not every person. But it's a divide that's kind of widening over time. So it's lamenting that. And then it says it's essentially the congregation's fault. It's the sheep's fault, not the shepherd.
And, okay, it might well be, right? Maybe it is, right? Obviously, as a pastor, you still can't throw them under the bus, but maybe it is their fault. But there is no attempt in this article, and never.
There's never an attempt. Gospel Coalition, personal blog posts, Dear Diary, It's Hard to Be a Pastor, Facebook. There's never an attempt to actually make the case of who's in the right and who's in the wrong.
There's never an attempt. Oftentimes, it's just shut you down. Don't touch the Lord's anointed. How dare you? You don't have a degree. I have a degree. Who are you? I'm the great John Piper, whatever it is.
There's no attempt to decide. And, see, that's the thing. We want to talk about this. We come to you with Scripture. We come to you with arguments. We come to you with biblically-based concerns. And you come to us with, oh, you don't have the tone of Jesus.
And it's like, grow up. And we see you. We see what's going on here. And this kind of stuff just doesn't work anymore. I hope you found this helpful. God bless.