White evangelicals are tone deaf

It’s more than being tone deaf, but it’s something I’ve mentioned for years and it’s now being exposed in deeper ways for a simple reason: white evangelicals are refusing to listen to what is going on around them.

This week two significant African American pastors who took risks in partnering with the Southern Baptist Convention in the first place announced they are pulling out of the SBC. The issue is over what is called Critical Race Theory, but it is deeper than than.

Critical Race Theory is controversial in and of itself, but it’s the SBC choosing to be deaf to the voices of their own African American pastors that is the deeper issue.

I can go into a bit of depth on Critical Race Theory and the issues surrounding it, but I would invite you to take a bit more time than reading one blog post.

THIS ARTICLE is about Charlie Dates announcing his exit from the SBC.

THIS ARTICLE is about Ralph West announcing his exit from the SBC.

THIS PODCAST gets into the deeper conversation of Critical Race Theory. If you haven’t listened to the Holy Post podcast before, realize the first half is a bit goofier. They have a lot of fun while tackling some serious issues. The second half of this podcast is an interview with David Fitch on justice and Critical Race Theory. Fitch and Skye Jethani get into a deep, meaningful discussion on the uses of CRT. It’s worth the listen.

Beyond Critical Race Theory, white evangelicals are simply digging in harder on culture wars and some deep-seated view of the world where they are “hated” in ways that are, quite frankly, made up.

I know. I was part of that almost my entire life.

There are things to be upset about, to be sure. But the shadow enemies we make as white evangelicals gets embarrassing. We’re simply tone deaf. It is time to listen to others and engage in conversation rather than hearing something and dismissing it because we think it’s Marxist.

David French once again hits this issue square.

French is an attorney and has been in the trenches on tough issues of freedom of religion. This, he says, is not that. We’ve made shadow enemies and it’s divided us in deep ways that aren’t theological. It’s just shown us to be horribly tone deaf to others around us.

But there’s also a less comforting—and also quite true—answer to the question, “Why do they hate us?” There is a growing cultural divide between white Evangelical America and much of the rest of the nation that has nothing to do with Christian faithfulness.

No, I’m not talking primarily about Donald Trump. Support for the president is a symptom, not the disease. Instead, I’m talking about race, immigration, history, and the vast and growing gulf between white Evangelicals and the rest of the United States on issues that dominate so many American hearts.

French gets into the bigger picture of research to demonstrate what he is talking about.

Read his work HERE.

Again, one blog post isn’t going to do justice on this matter. Five years of blog posts haven’t done much, either, as it turns out.

What is being exposed is white evangelicals are still not listening. We are digging in on Christian Nationalism and culturalized Christianity and it is beyond embarrassing.

It is my prayer that one day we, as white American Christians, wake up to the serious damage we are inflicting on people around us by our warped view of theology and the Kingdom of God. We are not there yet. So, I will keep praying and keep reflecting.