Beth Moore defends David Platt by denying Platt is Woke, and then Beth Moore promotes Woke Theology in long Twitter thread.
McLean Bible Church Pastor David Platt has had a rough few weeks. He lied multiple times from the pulpit. His theological pragmatism was exposed in a leaked letter. The intemperate remarks of one of his top co-pastors was highlighted on WMAL’s O’Connor & Company. Even the Southern Baptist Convention contradicted David Platt.
Well, Platt fans take heart.
The Radical author has at least one defender—the Woke lady preacher, err, Bible Teacher Beth Moore.
Moore tweeted, “If Jesus were up for elder at some of these people’s churches, I am convinced they’d vote him down for being too ‘woke.’ Jesus, Jesus, help us, Jesus. We have lost our minds by the time we’re going after the David Platts. And we’ve lost touch with the Jesus of the actual Gospels.”
Putting aside all the theological issues with Beth Moore, what can we make of Moore’s endorsement of David Platt?
Fortunately, Beth Moore put things in perspective in a later Twitter thread explaining why America is systemically racist. Yes, Beth Moore says Critical Race Theory is a witch hunt and is not an issue for biblical Christians and then uses the language of CRT.
Moore tweets, “I am not a proponent of CRT but I will not for one second relent on stating as obvious fact that systemic injustice thrives in America. You have to have a blindfold on not to see it. Believing there is such a thing as systemic injustice does not equal CRT. Brothers & sisters, we are spreading lies and it is harmful & sinful…And there is no lie as binding as the one we’re willing to tell ourselves in order to protect our positions & power structures. When the church is driven by fear & lies rather than by love & truth, it may be some kind of church but it is not Christ’s. I write in lay-person terms.”
Yes, Beth, the belief in systemic injustice or what you are talking about systemic racism is a core tenant of Critical Race Theory.
Also, it is very telling that Beth Moore utilizes language like positions and power structures. It telegraphs how far Woke thinking influences her worldview.
As Dr. Voddie Baucham points out in his book Fault Lines, “The argument goes something like this: Systemic racism is the cause of disparities. If you doubt that, it is because you are a racist who wants to protect your power and keep those disparities in place.”[1]
Dr. Baucham’s book perfectly exposes what Beth Moore’s tweet just did. If you disagree that systemic racism is real—then you have a “blindfold on,” according to Moore.
So, where is this systemic injustice? What removes the blindfold so that everyone can see it?
Does Beth Moore have some sort of Gnostic ability to see what is denied to the rest of us?
Yes, David Platt teaches and promotes Critical Race Theory
Despite what Beth Moore claims, David Platt replaced the Bible and its definition of justice with sociology textbooks and Critical Race Theory.
This was vividly displayed by Platt during the T4G sermon in 2018. Again, we turn to Dr. Baucham’s analysis to highlight how Platt abused the biblical text to promote racial identity politics. Further, Dr. Baucham states clearly that Platt is influenced by key CRT works like Divided by Faith.
Dr. Baucham writes, “David Platt loves Jesus, loves people, and is passionate about reconciliation. I know this because I know and love David Platt. I also know he started reading and being influenced by the woke canon. Consequently, he began to reach beyond the Bible to find God’s truth regarding race.”[2]
And the key point of that book filled Platt’s sermon at T4G, according to Dr. Baucham.
“Platt’s message was dripping with the book’s influence, especially his emphasis on the concept of America’s being “racialized,” which is the book’s main theme,”[3] he wrote.
As Dr. Owen Strachan says in his new book Christianity and Wokeness, “Divided by Faith may seem like a dispassionate study. But as has already emerged, it is a book of thorough advocacy, and it is steeped in woke thinking.”
And Platt’s work at McLean Bible Church infused the ministries with CRT-inspired language.
According to a detailed critique of problems at McLean Bible Church leaders wrote to Platt complaining, “At the congregational meeting on 12/9/20, David strongly disavowed Critical Race Theory. However, the church continues to promote and use secular sociology books that promote CRT. Further, much CRT terminology continues to be used at MBC.”
The same report detailed instances of MBC pastors holding Black Lives Matter signs and promoting the BLM movement—which is a political organization with a radical anti-Capitalist, anti-marriage organization.
David Platt is Woke. There is no other way to describe his rhetoric and actions.
Does the Beth Moore vote of confidence mean anything?
In days past, the vote of confidence among fellow members of Big Evangelicalism (Big Eva for short) would mean something. It would help. It would legitimize the person.
Those days are gone. There is a new and rising tide of theological populism. This is overturning the positions and power systems of Evangelical Elites.
And that is really what Beth Moore and David Platt and all the other Big Eva celebrities fear.
The old Evangelical celebrity culture is, if not dead, clearly dying. People find new sources of information. Sources that tell the truth. Sources that educate and edify instead of condemn with ancestral guilt.
As these Woke leaders reveal themselves, their theology and their Leftist politics, their flocks will flee. What we are witnessing now mirrors the decline of the Mainline denominations in the 1970s—over the issue of the mainline opposition to the Vietnam War.
As I forecast in 2018, Woke theology and Woke politics will spark the collapse of the Southern Baptist Convention and other denominations.
MBC is proof of that.
David Platt’s embrace of CRT combined with his autocratic style, self-righteous inability to listen to constructive criticism, and Leftist politics sent about 40% of church goers running to new churches.
MBC is a lesson.
It is telling you that Wokeness kills churches.
It is telling you that the rank-and-file church members will stand up and fight back.
McLean Bible Church is the beginning of American Christians taking back their churches from Woke fanatics dividing the flock and harming the nation.
[1] P. 155.
[2] P. 123.
[3] Ibid.