By now, many of you may have heard of the harsh comment that the Rev. John MacArthur, an extremely conservative evangelical pastor, made about Beth Moore, possibly the most famous woman in Southern Baptist life today.
MacArthur, who is very old school even among evangelicals, has led Grace Community Church north of Los Angeles for 50 years. To say he dislikes women preachers would be an understatement.
There are a lot of people out there protesting his unkind comments, including Relevant magazine, which produced an article listing several leaders across the theological spectrum critical of MacArthur.
MacArthur, by the way, has been even more scathing about charismatics over the years, so the Beth Moore crowd may be getting an idea of what the Pentecostal/charismatic crowd has been putting up with for a number of years.
First, according to Religion News Service, here’s what MacArthur said.
During the “Truth Matters Conference,” held Oct. 16-18 at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, where he is pastor, MacArthur and other panelists were asked to give their gut reactions to one- or two-word phrases.
Asked to respond to the phrase “Beth Moore,” the name of a well-known Southern Baptist Bible teacher, MacArthur replied, “Go home.”
Sounds of laughter and applause could be heard in response during a recording of the session, which was posted online.
MacArthur — a leading proponent of Reformed theology and of complementarianism, the idea that women and men have different roles to play in the church and in society — was apparently responding to a controversy this past summer when Moore noted on Twitter that she spoke at a megachurch on a Sunday morning.
Her tweet led to accusations that Moore was undermining Southern Baptist teaching, which bars women from holding the office of pastor in churches.
Btw, this MacArthur stuff is not just SBC inside baseball. It has real-world political implications. Because even when the conversation is about “biblical authority,” you can’t tell me this misogynistic nonsense doesn’t affect how their followers think about women in politics.
— Amy Sullivan (@sullivanamy) October 21, 2019
One voice that has been absent on this latest flare-up has been the Rev. Russell Moore (no relation to Beth) who is the head of Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the public policy arm of the Southern Baptist Convention. The last interview with him that I saw occurred in August when Newsweek’s Nina Burleigh called him the “rebel evangelical.”
It was a very weak, even clueless, interview. The questions were vapid and Moore, who is no fool, slid past them with little difficulty. Most of the questions were about racism and sex abuse within the SBC, but they weren’t tough questions by any chance.
Meanwhile, is Russell Moore really a “rebel evangelical?” For that matter, so is Beth Moore? Are we talking about doctrine here or politics?
Actually, Russell Moore tweeted recently that President Donald Trump’s pullout of troops from northeastern Syria was “a disgrace,” so he’s not hiding under a rock somewhere.
So this post really isn’t about Beth Moore, it’s about Russell Moore. I’ve been asking folks, recently, what questions they would ask if they had the chance to interview him.
The first question of course would be his reaction to MacArthur’s insult of Beth Moore and whether he, as the most visible spokesman for the SBC plans say — or at least tweet — a reaction. Does he plan on taking MacArthur on?
To be fair, last June he did say that “A Southern Baptist Convention that doesn’t have a place for Beth Moore doesn’t have a place for a lot of us,” so maybe he feels he’s said enough. Still, you do have some churches leaving the denomination over the Beth Moore issue.
Second question: Has Trump era destroyed any chance of evangelicals being able to speak prophetically to American culture?
Third (directed to Moore): You once wrote a book on adoption that suggests that singles should be married in order to adopt. Please explain this viewpoint. Additionally, how would you define “family?” Is it solely a heterosexual couple with kids?
Fourth: In 2017, you blasted televangelist Paula White as “a charlatan … recognized as a heretic by every orthodox Christian, of whatever tribe.” Have you changed your mind? Is there more to your remark than “prosperity Gospel” issues?
Fifth: (Hat tip to Bruce Barron on this one) Has the SBC’s inability to discipline individual congregations who hire pastors with abuse records caused you to reconsider whether Baptists’ decentralized denominational polity — it’s free-church doctrine of the church — may not be a good idea?
Since Newsweek didn’t deliver with its Moore interview, I hope some other reporter somehow, somewhere can ask him questions that really matter.
After all, Moore is writing a book on courage. Why not give him a chance to demonstrate it?
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