Recently, the Houston Chronicle published an article that revealed horrific sexual abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention. Since the publication, there has been appropriate outrage and thousands of articles written in response. SBC entities have been scrambling around trying to get out reports and establish committees to ensure these sorts of abuse don’t continue to happen. Liberal media is loving it and Christians are hanging our heads low. No one wants this stuff to be happening. It is horrific! I am the husband of an amazing wife and the father of two boys. If my family was among the abused I would want the abuser exposed and would want him prosecuted accordingly. But I have been disturbed by the lack of common sense and Biblical clarity from many of the responses. There is, in fact, some root sins that have to lead us to these disgusting fruit sins. No one seems to be interested in the real issues.
I see three problems within the SBC that have lead us down this dark road. The first is a rejection of Biblical authority. How do I know a majority of the SBC rejects Biblical authority? Because of the fact that most of the SBC churches have an unbiblical ecclesiology. Which happens to be the second major problem in the SBC. Bad ecclesiology eventually has bad consequences. A church that does not take qualified male leadership seriously is a church that opens the door for all kinds of abuses. We got here because of the countless churches have male leaders with right titles but wrong character. We don’t have real men who are 1 Tim. 3 and Titus 1 qualified men sacrificial leading churches. As long as the modus operandi is one pastor, figure-head deacons, and “Every member an elder” we will never have the protection of the sheep.
But the real issues will not actually be addressed. We won’t address the real problems because of the third big problem in the SBC. We are embarrassed by our complementarianism. What do I mean by that? For decades on end, we have suffered from a lack of real men in our churches. It’s not just the SBC, it is all of evangelicalism. Real men protect women and children. Real men know how to make women and children feel safe and comfortable in such a way that makes them flourish. But we have suffered from a false complementarianism. False complementarianism produces the same kind of men egalitarianism produces; males not men. But we are embarrassed about what God has to say to men and women in the home and church. We don’t want to talk about it! Oh, to be sure, we will affirm “We are complementarian” but we will not say a word about it. That is not a good thing considering Jesus said, “For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory.” (Luke 9:26)
Much of the talk around the SBC issues that I have heard is that if we could only get more women in leadership then our problems would be fixed. If we would only listen more then we could finally be woke. Yawn! How about we listen to God? Friends toxic egalitarianism produces men and women who have no idea what it means to be men and women. It is demeaning to men and women because it tells them that they are only human. The answer is not more women in leadership. The answer is Christlike men who will humbly fight to protect, serve, and lay their lives down for the families and churches! The answer is calling men to be Biblical men. The answer is calling our churches to believe the Bible and get a Biblical plurality of elders. But, this is all very controversial. And I am obviously misogynistic and toxic man.
All male sexual predators have one thing in common. They are not real men. They’re not Godly men. The solution to their sin and failures is not found by blaming toxic masculinity or asking women to step up and do the job men are called to do. Our answers are not found in toxic egalitarianism. If SBC churches will believe the Bible, get a Biblical ecclesiology, and call men to be real men we can correct course.
If you are a part of a church that does not have qualified male leaders what should you do? Leave. Go find a church that does. At that church, women and children will be found flourishing.
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