Josh Mc Dowell's Cancellation Proves Critical Race Theory's Incompatibility With The Gospel

 Josh Mc Dowell the nation's leading Christian apologist was recently forced to step down from his  ministry because of comments he made about race in the greater context of comments about Critical Race Theory.  According to Religious News Service in a speech to a group of Christian counselors Mc Dowell said: 

that CRT “negates all the biblical teaching” about racism — because it focuses on systems rather than the sins of the human heart and said today’s definition of “social justice” is not biblical. “There’s no comparison to what is known today as social justice with what the Bible speaks of as justice,” he said. “With CRT they speak structurally. The Bible speaks individually. Make sure you get that. That’s a big difference.

He then made a comment about his opinion on the state of race in America that caused him to be cancelled by his parent organization Cru;

“I do not believe Blacks, African Americans, and many other minorities have equal opportunity. Why? Most of them grew up in families where there is not a big emphasis on education, security — you can do anything you want. You can change the world. If you work hard, you will make it. So many African Americans don’t have those privileges like I was brought up with.” 

While the statement could have been stated more clearly Mc Dowell was arguing that the lack of opportunities many black Americans face today is  partially a result of the culture that derives from poverty and from choices they have mad, rather than from opportunity denied them by white oppressors or an inherently racist system. After an outcry from some black American Christians Josh Mc Dowell, who had defended racial reconciliation and justice for generations asked for forgiveness with out qualification or reservation. He expressed remorse and regret for what he had said. Mc Dowell was told to step down and to spend time reflection on his racism.  Even if what Mc Dowell had said had been reflective of "racism." The reaction by CRU was equally dangerous and unbiblical. When a person repents they are to be forgiven and restored:

[5] Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. [6] For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, [7] so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. [8] So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. [9] For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything. [10] Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, [11] so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs. (2 Corinthians 2:5–11ESV)

This is the danger of the modern social justice and CRT movement. It denies grace and disregards biblical teaching on reconciliation and restoration (Galatians 6: 1 & 2).  That is the way CRT works. If you make a statement its advocates deem racist, you are not given an opportunity to explain, and if you do clarify or repent you will still be punished. I do not know Mc Dowell's heart. I cannot tell you what his motive was, but he has no record of racist statements or activity. He was offered no opportunity for clarification, and when he did give an apology there was no attempt at restoration. Only punishment. Are we to destroy the ministry and reputation of someone who has been faithful to the gospel for 50 years, because of a single statement? Is that grace?  Did the ministry team at CRU seek to reconcile Mc Dowel with those he offended and to him to faithful service (as we are required to do -Gal 6: 1 &2) or to reprimand and punish?

In this 4th, and the last, of my series on how socialism and social justice are incompatible with the gospel and destructive to the church I look at CRT, for it is the most dangerous of the modern social justice philosophies. We will look first at what CRT is, recently pastor Tim Keller author of Generous Justice, one of the defining works of modern Social Justice movement said:

"A friend of mine recently, who is a pastor, was talking to a Norwegian man who had just moved into his community and went to his church. And at one point he heard the pastor talking about the fact that we’re all complicit in creating this narrative that ‘black people are dangerous’ and etcetera, and so we’re implicit in this. Afterward the white, the Norwegian came up and said “no no no, I’m Norwegian. No, I had nothing to do with it,” and my pastor friend said “studies have shown, that have pretty much proven that if you have white skin it’s worth a million dollars over a lifetime, over somebody who doesn’t have white skin. And that’s because of historical forces that have come about, and at this point you can go at it several ways. One, as I’ve mentioned, if you have that asset of white skin, right now, historical asset, then you actually have to say ‘I didn’t deserve this’ and also to some degree, ‘I’m the product of…I’m standing on the shoulders of other people who got that through injustice." So the Bible actually says ‘yes you do…you are involved in injustice’, and even if you didn’t actually do it, therefore you have a responsibility. Not just to say “well, maybe if I get around to it, maybe we can do something about the poor people out there.’ No- you’re part of the problem."

There is little in this statement that is based on any factual research, or worse on any biblical principle.  This is simply false teaching. Notice that Keller offers no Biblical defense for his friend's accusation that a white Norwegian man is a "participant" in oppressive injustice toward the poor. He also asserts that we are all complicit in creating the narrative that all black people are dangerous, with no explanation. That is because there is none. There is little historical or sociological support for the statement and the Bible does not teach that. Let's be clear I am not denying that racism exist or even that it may be more commonly affect blacks than I am aware. Nor am I arguing there are not disadvantages some racial groups may have that others do not. And yes, the Bible as we have already stated demands that Christian engage with support and defend those who are unjustly treated.

 Helping the poor and uplifting the oppressed is a personal responsibility of every individual believer and part of the great commission mandate. A biblical vision for the lost seeks to help the sick, hurting and disenfranchised. Engagement in the Commission demands active work to help the least fortunate of our society. If Jesus is the head of the church, we are called to work for justice and prosperity. Jesus said that if we harvest the gospel, we will liberate the destitute and oppressed peoples around us:

[35] And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. [36] When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. [37] Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; [38] therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:35–38ESV)

One of the greatest failures of the modern church is that we have left liberation and justice to the purview of civil government. Doing justice is the natural outcome of the Great Commandment.  

While I agree with many of the objectives of social justice advocates like Keller. I believe they have confused the role of New Covenant believers in a secular world, with the distinctives that exist between government and church under the New Covenant as compared to the Old. I have been concerned about the direction of some of the church's teaching on race since the early 90's. I first became aware of the well-intended but wrongly directed racial reconciliation movements in the Promise Keepers movement popular in the 90's. The Promise Keepers movement was a para church men's ministry designed to strengthen male leadership in the churches, unite the church across denomination, and racial lines. It was one of the most helpful and productive movements of church history. However, I argued during that time that some of what Promise Keepers taught about racial reconciliation came from a mishandling of biblical doctrine, and similar teaching is also present in Keller and other social justice advocates. 

Social Justice Christians and advocates of CRT teach that racism is a result of the attempt for one racial group (white people) to design their economy and government to consolidate power racially. The idea is the system must be changed to reconcile the races. Like Promise Keepers they point to several principles from the economic system of the ancient Jewish theocracy and to several Old Testament sacred assemblies where national sin was confessed as establishing a principle that we are individually responsible for corporate generational or national sin. In the mind of Keller and other woke evangelicals I and millions of white Christians like me despite our words or actions are unrepentant white supremist, complicit in slavery and unjust treatment of black Americans, not because of anything I have done or said, but because of my ancestors whose sins I bear corporately. In their mind I am just as culpable for the unjust shooting of George Floyd, as Derek Chauvin, who held his knee on the man's neck until he died, or his partners who stood and did nothing, simply because I am white. I even bear more culpability than most white people because my ancestry is from the south. 

My earliest known ancestor was known to be living in South Carolina in 1756. My family has deep roots in the South and in government and politics of the South. My great great grandfather John Griffis was a Confederate officer, his wife Sarah was a descendant of John Henry Lee, a Revolutionary War General and signatory of the Declaration Independence and father of Robert E. Lee the Commander of The Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War. John Griffis was a slave owner. I am a distant Cousin of Robert E. Lee four generations away from an ancestor who was a slave owner.  While I am not proud of this heritage and believe slavery was a horrible evil and that my family's participation in it was ignominious and barbaric, the bible is clear I bear neither personal shame nor moral culpability for my ancestor's sin:

The teaching portions of the Old Testament make it clear that individuals are not culpable for sins of other generations.

Ancestors bear no responsibility for their progeny:

[10] “If he fathers a son who is violent, a shedder of blood, who does any of these things [11] (though he himself did none of these things), who even eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, [12] oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination, [13] lends at interest, and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself. (Ezekiel 18:10–13) 

 Contemporary generations bear no responsibility for their ancestors:

[14] “Now suppose this man fathers a son who sees all the sins that his father has done; he sees, and does not do likewise: [15] he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, [16] does not oppress anyone, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, [17] withholds his hand from iniquity, takes no interest or profit, obeys my rules, and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for his father’s iniquity; he shall surely live. (Ezekiel 18:14–17ESV) 

The teaching that present generations are culpable and should be punished, should repent and and make restitution for sin of either past or future generations is in direct contradiction to what scripture teaches:

[20] The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. (Ezekiel 18:20 ESV)

Each of these passages speak directly to the issue of oppression justice and poverty (18:12, 15 & 16). Ezekiel even goes on to say that if a person who has acted unjustly turns from their sins and repents, they are to be forgiven and restored:

[21] “But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. [22] None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live....[26] When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. [27] Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life. [28] Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.  (Ezekiel 18:21–22; 26-28ESV)

Josh Mc Dowell is owed an apology. People like Keller and others who would teach that one generation is involved in the injustice their ancestors or descendants perpetrate are committing serious doctrinal error. This is the very essence of the gospel:

[30] “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. [31] Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezekiel 18:30–31ESV) 

While I do bear Adam's sin federally (Rom 5:17), I stand condemned before God because of my own sin (Rom 3:23). I bear no personal culpability for Adam's sin. When Keller and other social justice advocates and evangelicals, support Critical Race theory and social justice, claim that I am complicit in the injustices and oppression my progenitors, they are teaching false doctrine, that seriously undermines Christ atonement. 

Keller, in his defense, would point to many sacred assemblies that were called by the nation of Israel to repent of their national sin:

[36] Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. [37] And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress. (Nehemiah 9:36–37ESV)

He is right to point out that they are confessing their national sin. At Promise Keepers events this verse, and others was ofte used to call for corporate confession of the national sin of racism. This shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of Biblical Covenants. The Old Covenant was a covenant with a family, and it established a nation (Gen 12:2; 15:7; 17:4; Ex 19:6; 2 Samuel 7:10), so the entire nation was responsible to keep covenant with God. Often when sacred assemblies were held the Priest would remind the people of the blessings of God on the nation and on the sins of their forefathers. Those who confessed sin were confessing that they were committing the same sins their forefathers had committed, these confessions were not confession of participation in their progenitor sins in surrogacy, but of continuing their progenitors practices in their contemporary setting. This is most clearly stated in Ezra 9

After several years of exile God began leading his people back to Israel in fulfillment of his covenant promise. In one of the waves of exiles that returns to Israel, the Priest Ezra comes back to restore the Law. He is shocked to discover that those who have returned, have again failed to call upon YHWH  and had instead returned to the very practices of their ancestors:

[13] And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great guilt, seeing that you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserved and have given us such a remnant as this, [14] shall we break your commandments again and intermarry with the peoples who practice these abominations? Would you not be angry with us until you consumed us, so that there should be no remnant, nor any to escape? [15] O LORD, the God of Israel, you are just, for we are left a remnant that has escaped, as it is today. Behold, we are before you in our guilt, for none can stand before you because of this.” (Ezra 9:13–15ESV)

Although the sacred assembly he calls reflects upon the sins of the past, repents corporately of sin and call upon God for mercy to them, the confession is for their contemporary sin. They are not confessing culpability for the sins of their fathers. I find no sacred assembly where that is the case. Additionally, these sacred assemblies reflected the nations relationship to God under the Old Covenant. The new covenant is a different reality.

There is no longer a national, political aspect to the Covenant:

[13] For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. [14] But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. [15] For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. [16] And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. (Galatians 6:13–16ESV) 

 We are called "aliens and foreigners to this world." Whereas God's covenant promises to Abraham and David were for a great nation and a great king, those promises pointed forward to a time when the covenant would extend to all people for all times. Both the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants anticipated a greater universal fulfillment (Gen 12:3; 2 Samuel 7:19):

[11] “In that day I will raise up

the booth of David that is fallen

and repair its breaches,

and raise up its ruins

and rebuild it as in the days of old,

[12] that they may possess the remnant of Edom

and all the nations who are called by my name,”

declares the LORD who does this. (Amos 9:11–12 cf. Acts 15: 12- 21 ESV) 

The promise of the Old Covenant was that there would be a time coming when those who were under its tent included "all who are called by his name."

So, when we take the times of national repentance that took place under the Old Covenant system and extrapolate from them that contemporary individuals, or their contemporary governments and culture, are somehow responsible for political, social and systemic injustices of their ancestor we diminish the importance of Christ's death and the New Covenant. This is dangerously false teaching. If I am responsible for the sins of my progenitors, then that in some ways means that Christ's atonement for them is not complete.

So while we appreciate the call to do justice, to serve the oppressed, and to be generous to the poor that our social justice friends advocate, we also remind them that to demand that we somehow must overcome the injustices of the past with our actions today is a denial of the gospel . 

While I can affirm that slavery, white supremacy past or present is ignominious. Critical Race Theory and Social justice call for retribution is something evangelicals must reject.  I bear no shame and no responsibility to compensate or repair what other have done. I am called to forgive injustice done to me and to engage everyone with gracious love of the Holy Spirit. When I used to attend Promise Keepers conferences there would come a point where the worship team would call men to the platform to confess generational sin; there would generally be one session where we all were called upon to acknowledge our responsibility for our nation's racist actions. I never participated, and always discouraged the men in my church from participating in those sessions, because I believed then as I do now, that such teaching and practice dishonored Christ death and diminished the Gospel. Critical Race Theory, and its cousin, social justice, is incompatible with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Rather than standing on the soldiers of my racist ancestors, I stand with them at the foot of the cross. I repent of my sins an seek to extend the love and grace of Christ to everyone I meet, and that is why Critical Race Theory is incompatible with the gospel. CRT looks at everyone through the lens of race and calls all white people privileged. The gospel looks at all people through the cross and calls some redeemed.