Relatable with Allie Beth Stuckey - Ep 397 | Debunking Heretical Hot Takes on Jesus & Easter

Episode Date: April 5, 2021

Yesterday was Easter, and most of us were spending time with our families, thinking about the ultimate sacrifice made by God and Jesus. However, progressive Christians on Twitter were as active as ever, offering their wrong opinions on how Easter and Jesus' resurrection are actually about being anti-capitalist, or anti-racist, or something. These are aspects of liberation theology, a wholly un-biblical way of looking at the Bible. --- Today's Sponsor: Annie's Kit Clubs means no more trips to the craft store & no searching for materials. Annie's will help you make the most of your "met-time" with a monthly creative retreat! Go to AnniesKitClubs.com/ALLIE & save 50% off your first kit! --- Buy Allie's book, You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love: https://alliebethstuckey.com/book Relatable merchandise: https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey

Hey guys, welcome to Relatable. Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend. Today, we are going to talk a little bit about Easter. We talked on Thursday about what Easter is, what it represents, why it's such good news. We also talked about some good news that's happening around the country in the midst of lots of bad news that is also happening. We tried to focus on the good, on the productive on Thursday, and of course, the best news. news of all, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. As it turns out, there are a lot of confessing, professing Christians who don't seem to understand what the point of Easter is, what resurrection Sunday is, what the resurrection was or represents, and who Jesus actually is. And that's what we're going to talk about today. We're going to look at some of the hottest takes on Twitter and on Instagram about Jesus, about who he is, and about what he supposedly represents, according to these internet users, social media posters. And we're going to break them down. We're going to refute some of the popular progressive dogma about Christians and about the

crucifixion, why he died and all of that. Over the weekends, I really try, not. to be on social media as I've talked to you about before, but you guys send me a lot of posts that you want me to respond to or debunk or whatever. And typically that's kind of how I get what I'm going to talk about on Monday by looking at your Instagram DMs and saying, oh, wow, a lot of people are asking me about this. And a lot of you guys sit in me these posts that you saw your friends sharing or you saw on your Discover page on Instagram or you kind of saw going viral. about Jesus and about his death and resurrection being actually almost like a metaphor for some kind of left-wing social justice, political cause. We're also going to look at what Raphael Warnock,

the Democratic Senator from Georgia said about Easter. We're going to debunk all of that, but we're also going to kind of zoom out, if you will, and talk about what the thinking is behind, this kind of interpretation of Easter and the events that Easter is based on. And before we even get into that, I want to give you kind of a long preface about why it's important to even talk about this stuff. Like, why is it important to look at viral tweets about what people say about Easter or what people think Jesus is? and the reason is because it is representative of a movement.

It's representative of certain kinds of theology that we are going to probably see more and more. And we have to have the wisdom to be able to push back upon that kind of false teaching. Now, there's a lot of other things that I want to talk about too. I want to talk about the MLB Delta American Airlines Coke all going woke over totally inaccurate information about the Georgia voting law and the Texas voting bill and why I actually think it's good that the GOP is pushing back on this. And of course, this is all, this is all total, not just misinformation, but it's also complete hypocrisy. I mean, most of these organizations and businesses are totally fine doing business with China, which is the most

racist, the most repressive regime on the face of the planet. But when it comes to, devoting integrity in the United States. No, no, no, no, that's too much for these companies to tolerate. It's just a reminder, we're not dealing the so-called elites. Like, we're not dealing with good people. We're not dealing with people who have any kind of basic understanding of what a moral compass should look like. And I want to talk about all that. And we're going to talk about that. And I want to talk about vaccine passports. And we're going to talk to an expert about the implications, the ethical, the privacy concerns that we should have in regards to vaccine passports. And so I think we're going to talk about that stuff tomorrow.

We've got a lot to talk about this week. Also, just a reminder, this is my last week of recording these new, like news-based, current events-based episodes starting next week. I will be on maternity leave. And I will still have four podcasts a week, podcast episodes a week. I have amazing interviews coming down the pipeline. I'm talking to Ion, Hersey, I, Ali, for example. I'm talking to Victor Davis Hansen.

I'm talking to a mini Christian apologists. I'm talking to journalists and activists, really from all across the aisle. I'm talking to James Lindsay again. Hopefully I'll be talking to Vody Bakum. You know, he's had a health setback. Please pray for him in regards to his heart. but I have a lot of good episodes coming out on the death penalty, a lot of really good Q&As based on wonderful questions that you guys have sent me.

And so you're going to have so much content for about 12 weeks. I think it plays out to be you're going to have really, really good and informative and in a lot of ways, evergreen content about what's going on in the world and especially what's going on under the surface of the ever-chance. new cycle. And so I'm super excited for the content that we've got coming for you. You know, I'm not going to leave you hanging. I wasn't just going to go on maternity leave and you guys not have anything to listen to and to learn from. We're talking to some of the smartest people, I think, in the country over the next several weeks in those episodes and talking about really

important issues. So maybe if you're kind of tired of the news cycle of like being tied to the exhausting, you know, 24-minute news cycle, then this is going to be a relief for you, but you're still going to get so much out of it. And so I'm excited for that. So after this Thursday, those episodes will start rolling out that we have been working on, guys, since like the beginning of January. We've been, if I can say this, we've been working really hard on these episodes and on this content. And it's because I really do not just, about this show as a product, but I care about you as an audience. Like, I care about giving you something of value as many times as I can throughout the week. And so I'm super excited for you to get to listen

to and watch those. All right. Let's actually get into today's episode. So we're going to juxtapose some false teaching and some true teaching today about Easter and about the gospel. First, let me preface. Like I said, I'm going to have a long, a long preface, but a very, very important preface to set all of this up. I am not the arbiter of what is true and false teaching, but the Bible is. So if I say something that contradicts the Bible, that means that I'm wrong. And you get to tell me as a sister in Christ. and then my obligation as someone who is in submission to Christ is to repent and agree with God.

Now, it could be that you and I just have a difference in opinion on the application of the passage. We could both be rightly looking at the context. We could both be looking at the original text, the original language, and reading a verse in light of the entirety of the biblical canon, all things we're supposed to do when we're reading and interpreting scripture. and we could still come to slightly different conclusions. That does not change the fact that one or both of us is wrong, and the Bible is actually right.

We are not the determinant of what the Bible means. The Bible means what it means. And on most issues that fit that description of us looking at the Bible rightly and systematically and then coming to slightly different conclusions, these are more on secondary and tertiary rather than gospel, centered issues like head coverings, for example, or when the tribulation is, faithful Christians can't agree to disagree on this without denouncing the other one as a heretic or not believing in the gospel.

These are very important issues, but they don't change that we both believe in the same gospel that by grace through faith alone, we can be. we can be saved through Jesus Christ, which is a gift that has been given to us by God in Christ. And so we agree on that gospel. We might disagree on some other theological issues. But one of us is right or both of us are wrong, but the Bible is always right. But we all have access to his word. We all have the ability to read and understand his word.

that's why we still praise God for the Reformation and all that it spurred thereafter. The word of God got into the hands of believers, and they were reminded of the truth that has been true from the beginning, that all believers can and should read and seek to understand scripture for themselves, not just from a priest or a pope. That doesn't mean that teaching isn't important or church history or church fathers are not important. that they don't seriously contribute to the direction of our faith and our understanding of scripture, but ultimately, God is the authority and his inerrant word is the authority. He has clearly shown his character and will through his word, and his word is meant for us.

To read, to understand, to share. Hebrews 412 says this, for the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit of joints and of marrow and discerning the thoughts and the intentions of the heart. That's amazing. So scripture today is alive and working, moving, piercing, peeling, discerning. And isn't that exactly what our culture of confusion needs today in the way of a Christian witness? As we'll see today when we look at these posts, We are constantly bombarded with things that sound good. But when you look beyond the surface, you see there just lies.

Now, I want to pause for a second because if you are hearing a low hum in the background, you guys know I'm recording from home for the time being. And there are people mowing their lawn outside my window. And so that is the low hum that you hear. And I apologize for that. I know it can be very frustrating. to have like audio issues when you're listening to a podcast or even when you're watching a podcast, there's literally nothing I can do about that. And we have a time frame in which we have to record

the podcast episode. And so my apologies for that, I hope that you can kind of just like push that out to the time. Maybe you can't even hear it that well, but I can hear it. And if you can hear it, I just wanted to apologize. But we are going to continue on. So in order for us to see Lai, for what they are to see things that sound good as truly deceptive when they are deceptive. We need the clarity of God's word. And it's amazing and gracious that he has given that to us. Psalm 119 105 says, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

So we feel like we're stumbling through the darkness of our world. And sometimes it feels like that to me as well. It just seems like there's never going to be any light at the end of the tunnel when I look at all the chaos that's waging around us, especially when it comes to the cultural and political and theological takes that we see on social media. We just don't know what to make of it all sometimes. It's overwhelming. There's so much deceit. There's so much manipulation. There's so much tiny, subtle twisting of the truth. And yet, God's word shines in the darkness. The stuff that we are seeing, the manipulation of God's word and the gospel that we're seeing is not

new. God's word has always equipped believers by shedding light on our path so we know where our next step should go. And if you're thinking, as a Christian, well, I don't understand the Bible yet. I'm not a theologian. Like, I don't feel equipped to be able to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong when it comes to biblical teaching. Or maybe you're thinking I'm not smart enough to know how to respond to what some of my woke friends say who are deconstructing their faith or what to say to that hot take on Twitter about Jesus being a transgender communist. I can't do it. My response is, yes, you can.

You're not always called to respond publicly, by the way, but if you're in a conversation with a friend or you feel compelled to respond publicly or even just respond to yourself so you can make sure that you're in the truth, that is certainly something I think that we are obligated to do, and you can do it. And not because of anything that you bring to the table in a way of intellect or wisdom, although you might be a very smart and wise person, but it's not about that. It's because of what God brings to the table. James 1.5 says, if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. Proverbs 2.6, for the Lord gives wisdom from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Wisdom is a promise for the believer that James Passage is obviously in the context of talking to Christians that is implied by saying, let him ask God for wisdom. The only people that would be asking God and have access to God to ask God for wisdom would be the believer in Christ. So wisdom is a promise for the believer, it is a gift that is given to us. If you are in Christ, by grace through faith, you are following Jesus, have believed in his death and resurrection for the forgiveness of your sins and your reconciliation to a holy God. Then that holy God is now your good, loving father who promises to give you wisdom. So we see in scripture that wisdom is a promise for the believer, but we also see that it is a process for the believer.

This is something we've talked about before. It's something that we seek, pursue, protect, and practice as we follow God. Psalm 11810 says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever. Proverbs 286, whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool,

but he who walks in wisdom will be it delivered. So it is both a promise and a process. We pray for wisdom. Trusting God to give it to us through the means he has provided to grow our wisdom, prayer, scripture, sound teaching that aligns with scripture, examples of a faithful people who have gone before us. Hebrews 137 says, remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the Word of God. consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. So whether you have a theology degree or not, whether you are young or old, whether you've been a Christian for 40 years or 40 minutes, whether you have reverent in front of your name as a

title or not, God can and will give you the wisdom that you need both now and over time to understand and apply the Bible rightly. You can discern the truth from a lie when it comes to theology, you can. You can distinguish good, sound teaching from bad, unsound teaching. You do not have to be a certain age or go to seminary or lead a church or listen to this, be a particular race or socioeconomic class or have a certain, quote, lived experience to do these things rightly. That doesn't mean that having more years in the faith or more knowledge or a certain kind of experience doesn't add that wisdom or benefit you, or add to that wisdom or benefits you, but because it can, but it also means that you, as a Christian, who is this filled with

the Holy Spirit, have the ability and the authority to disagree respectfully, kindly, and maybe just privately or to yourself, sometimes publicly though, if done in the right way, you can disagree with people who are older than you, or who have a more official title than you, or who have their masters in divinity, for example. If there is anything that I think that we have observed as Americans living in this era is that degrees and titles and status and wealth and years of experience do not negate or even really diminish someone's ability to be very wrong. Someone can be very smart. They can be very book smart. They can be very intellectual. They can be very accomplished and also be very wrong. And someone less smart, maybe with a lower IQ or less

experience or fewer degrees, may be right in an area that someone smarter than them is wrong. So you can be very smart and very wrong. I say all of this because I see how false teachers and their ilk like to try to intimidate those who speak out about the Bible and the gospel. They use a logical fallacy called appeal to authority. And I want to talk about this. You guys have asked me to talk about this on the podcast. And so this is the important place, I think, to bring it up. A lot of you guys have been dealt this blow.

An appeal to authority fallacy works in a few ways. It can be appealed to false authority. So an example of this would be, well, you know, as a doctor, Jill Biden knows a thing or two about coronavirus. Well, that's a logical fallacy. That's an appeal to authority fallacy because Dr. Biden is a doctor of education. She's not a medical doctor. So that doesn't give her the authority in this realm. It doesn't give her any special expertise on physical illness.

Or saying something like Albert Einstein said there was no God, so there must not be one. Well, Albert Einstein was a genius, but that doesn't give him the authority or any expertise on all things, religion. Or it can appeal to a relevant authority, but still be a fallacy. So it's not just false authority. It could be a relevant authority in the realm in which you are discussing, but it can still be a logical fallacy. So, for example, if an OBGYN asserts that a baby inside the womb is actually just a ball of lifeless tissue until 35 weeks gestation, and you, random person who's not an OBGYN, let's say, says, well, hang on a minute. That's not true. That's actually, that's actually not true when you,

you know, refute that with facts. And this OBGYN comes back with, well, I'm an OBGYN. Where did you get? your medical degree, she asks rhetorically and sarcastically, that's a fallacy because she is using her authority as her argument rather than actually making an argument or addressing your assertion. I see this all the time on social media. Some gender studies professor says trans women are women. And then someone says, well, no, like biologically, that's actually untrue. And the trolls will say and this gender studies professor will say, you're going to argue with a gender studies professor?

This actually happened to me the other day when I disagreed with something the Pope said about Mary on Twitter. And I posted my response with scripture, wasn't disrespectful or rude or anything like that. And then people in the comments saying, you're going to disagree with the Pope? Well, sure. Why not? Like, why not? If I can come up with an argument that is a sound argument, then we're, why not? The same thing, and we'll talk about, for example, my response to Raphael Warnock's

Easter tweet, the only negative responses I got were people saying that how dare you argue with a reverent who has led his church for 16 years and then also claims that doing so that disagreeing with him was racist somehow. And so you've got two logical fallacies in that kind of response because you've got the appeal to authority fallacy. So rather than dealing with my argument or his assertion, you're just saying, well, he's a reverence, so he must be right. That's a logical fallacy. And then also accusing someone who disagrees with someone who has to be black of racism. That's an ad hominem. Both of these are ways to distract from the actual argument. And that's why they are fallacies. In order to avoid these kinds of fallacies, you actually have

to argue with someone's logic or someone's argument on their. merits. The truth is truth. Facts are facts. Logic is logic. A sound argument is a sound argument no matter who actually says it. People use appeal to authority fallacies or ad hominem because they are insecure about their inability to actually respond to what you're saying. And so they defer or a straw man. That's another example. They defer to these other types of fallacious arguments to avoid dealing with what you actually said. It is a failure on their part. It is inapt intellect demonstrated on their part, not on your part. Now, let me caveat this, because this doesn't mean that we don't consider the source when someone is speaking. If someone makes a subjective claim that we don't

have a way of otherwise verifying, we do have to consider on what authority that person is speaking. So if someone claims to be an expert on parenting, but doesn't. doesn't have any kids. If someone born in America in 1999 claims that Soviet Russia was actually great and that the people who lived through it are wrong in their assessment, there are good reasons to question these kind of statements. But someone, at the same time, someone who doesn't have kids may be right on something parenting-wise that someone who has parented 10 kids might be wrong on. And someone who didn't live through the USSR may know something about so. Russia that the Soviet dissident or the immigrant from Russia doesn't know.

The point is title, education, status, lived experience are not in themselves the argument. They don't prove nor disprove. They don't alone validate or invalidate. And so in order to actually be able to engage, in order to be able to prove that you know what you're talking about, we have to deal with the argument. at hand, if you can't deal with the argument at hand, then at least, at the very least, just avoid these fallacies. All this to say, you absolutely have the authority, no matter who you are and in what station, to make sound arguments, especially when it comes

to arguments about and based on God's word. God promises to give you wisdom as you pursue it. And why is it important that we, through God's wisdom and word and inhumility, are able to detect false teachings and then call them out? Because of 2 Corinthians 11, 4, and 13, and verses 13 through 15. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. for such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ, and no wonder for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. So it is no surprise if his servants also disguised themselves as servants of righteousness.

Their end will correspond to their deeds. 2. Peter 2.1 through 3. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies secretly, so they won't even be detected by a lot of people. Even deny the master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction, and many will follow their sensuality, and because of them, the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed, they will exploit you with false words, their condemnation from long ago is not idle and their destruction is not asleep. 1. Timothy 6.3 through 4. If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the

sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. So false teaching leads people astray. Different gospels lead to destruction. I'm not talking about differences in opinion when it comes to, for example, infant or believers baptism or when the Great Tribulation is happening. Those things are very important, but that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about teachers making, or we're not talking about teachers making errors and then correcting their ways. I'm talking about doctrines that present to you a different gospel, a different definition of salvation of Jesus himself. What we learn in the Garden of Eden and saw and see again and again in scripture and have seen time and again

in human history and in our own lives, the daylight between truth and a lie is sometimes very slight. But the lie isn't any less of a lie because of its similarity or proximity to the truth or because it sounds good or appeals to our biases. When the serpent tempted Eve, when Satan tempted Jesus, he used what sounded a whole lot like truth. He twisted it. He presented it to them in a new way. And hallelujah, what sinful man and woman in the garden fell for. Jesus in the wilderness did not. You can read Matthew 4 for the account of Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by the devil. So where sinful man bought the lies, Jesus claimed victory over lies with truth. And because he now, through his spirit, lives in us who believe. And because he is the way,

the truth and the life, as John 146 says, we have both the ability. and the obligation to confront lies with truth. Through him, we can do the same work of refuting deceit, refuting false teaching with the truth of God's word, with the truth of Christ. 1 Corinthians 1521 through 22, for as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. for as an Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. We have been made alive with Christ, according to Ephesians 2.5, and we therefore not only get

eternal life and forgiveness, but we also have access to the wisdom, to the discernment, to the strength Christ embodies and offers us. That's why God can promise us in the book of James to give us wisdom because of Christ. and we are thus obligated to use it. He wouldn't give it to us if we didn't need it. And he wouldn't give us wisdom if it didn't please him. And he wouldn't give us wisdom if it didn't glorify him. So how does giving us common folk, you and me, who to the world only look like

unauthoritative fools? Why does he use people like you and me to give him glory? Why does he do this? Why does he empower and emboldened the people whom the elites and the erudites scoff at to carry his message. 1 Corinthians 1.26 through 31 tells us, for consider your calling brothers, not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are

not to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification and redemption so that, as it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord. That's why. So he became our wisdom and righteousness so that we've got no leg to stand on but his. And when we rightly seek and apply his wisdom to share the gospel plainly revealed to us in his word, we do so for his glory. So when you see tweets and posts like the ones that we're about to read, you have both the right

and the responsibility to refute them using the wisdom and scripture God has graciously given you. So we're going to go through these posts and then we're going to quickly debunk them and talk about the thinking behind them. So here's the first post that I saw. It was by a church called Clackamas, United Church. Church of Christ. Now, this church and the guy who pastors this church, they post on Instagram a lot. They are always putting social justice messages on their signs that I guess you're supposed to kind of

push back against what they think is mainstream evangelicalism or mainstream Protestantism or Orthodox teaching to try to challenge people. Really, all they do is they repackage left-wing talking points and they try to superimpose that onto the Bible or try to superimpose the Bible onto left-wing talking points in order to make their point. It says Jesus was a person of color murdered by state-sanctioned violence. This was going around. I think it might have even gone around last year as well. There was another post by Chris 10 on Twitter, but it was also reposted by this popular

account that I don't actually know Muchacha fanzine and has several. likes and shares in all of that. So this tweet says annual reminder that Jesus was a brown-skinned Middle Eastern Jewish refugee who befriended sex workers, lower-class citizens, and other outsiders. And then the next tweet that I saw that was also posted to this account that got a lot of engagement online, reminder that Jesus was an anti-capitalist person of color who was constantly calling out the BS and corruption in both the church and the government and was eventually executed by Roman police who considered him an enemy of the state. Happy Easter. Abolish the police. John Pavlovitz, who is constantly posting things like this. And if you push back on him,

he has no response. A few bits of news from the scriptures for Republicans. Jesus was born in the Middle East. Shocking. He didn't speak English. What? He wasn't white. Oh, M.G. This is me adding my commentary after these statements. He wasn't evangelical. He wasn't a Republican. What? Are you kidding me? He wasn't American. And he wasn't even Christian. Wow, this is all news to me, John Pavlovitz. Okay, so I want to quickly debunk these posts and then I'll get into the thinking that's behind them and why I think understanding that thinking that is beneath the surface is so important. So number one, the statement that Jesus was a person of color, we've talked about this before. Sure, that's true.

Matthew 2111 says that he was from Nazareth of Galilee. He was a Middle Eastern Jew, so that's what he would have looked like. But the truth is the Bible does not tell us much else in the way of describing his appearance. Isaiah 53 prophesized about him, and this is what verses 2 through 3 of that chapter say. He had no former majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised. And we esteemed him not.

I'm not sure why people think that this is a gotcha in any way. This is something that we have known, that we've always known. Yes, it's true that there are depictions of Jesus as, you know, with blonde harem, blue eyes from Europe and probably parts of America. But it's also true that in China, there are depictions of Jesus as an Asian person. There are pictures of Jesus that were created by African Christians in which he looks like, for example, in Ethiopian. And so different cultures have tried to kind of accommodate Jesus to their own culture or try to make Jesus into their own image. But the fact of the matter is, is that the Bible tells us what it's.

tells us about where Jesus came from, we can deduce what he looked like from that, but it doesn't tell us that much, and we should probably take the hint from scripture that his appearance really isn't all that significant. So God, being sovereign over the compilation of the Bible, could have inspired more descriptive text about what Jesus looked like, but he doesn't. We know from John 1 that he became flesh and dwelt among us from Isaiah 53 that he wasn't astoundingly attractive. We know from the Gospels where he's from can deduce, like I said, generally what he looked like, but here's the deal. If we love Jesus more or less or are more or less likely to follow him because of his skin color, that I'm afraid we've lost the plot.

And worse than that, we might be lost altogether. It is not Jesus's skin color or social status that saves. It is the fact that he is God and that his death and resurrection fulfilled the prophecy to save God's people, that he served as the perfect and eternal sacrifice for our sins so that we could be forgiven and reconciled to God forever and ever. His skin color makes no difference in that, clearly, since God didn't see it significant enough to discuss in scripture. So if you need Jesus to be white or black or Asian or brown or whatever, in order for you to love him, you have made an idol out of superficial identity and you do not understand who Jesus is why he died or what that death means for you. Read Ephesians too to find out. We've also talked about J.I.

Packer in his book Knowing God, how he talks about the idolatry and the danger of trying to make depictions or images of Jesus because they always are going to come up short. Once we try to say that we can only relate to Jesus through seeing a physical depiction of him, we, we lesson in some ways his divinity and we place significance on something and importance on something that clearly the Bible does not place importance upon. And so our priorities and our perspective end up shifting in a way that it doesn't seem according to scripture, God wants them to shift. The second statement that we see made on these posts, Jesus was murdered by. Jesus was murdered by. state-sanctioned violence. Once again, yes, but also no. Jesus was killed by the Romans on a Roman

cross, but he was handed over by the Jewish leaders, according to Matthew 26, 3 through 4, and his crucifixion was demanded by the people of Israel, as we read in Luke 23, 21. We even read that Pilate was hesitant. He even tried to absolve himself, but he feared a riot from the Jewish people who demanded Jesus's death. Now, obviously, Pilate still bears responsibility there, but the fact of the matter is is that both of these powers work together. Acts 22 through 23 tells us that. Men of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and

killed by the hands of lawless men. So we see a few things here. One, both the Romans and the people of Israel played a part in Jesus' crucifixion. But his crucifixion was according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God. And we see the reason for this crucifixion, as Peter is sharing the gospel in Acts 24 and verses 37 through 41, he says, God raised him up losing the pings of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now, the passage goes on

to say that they were cut to the heart. They asked Peter, okay, what the heck are we supposed to do then with this information? And he tells them, repent and be baptized. And then the scriptures say that people believed in Jesus Christ. So that means that God did this for salvation. In this chapter, we see for the Jewish people, this means salvation, but also later we see that it means that all who are far off, which is a phrase that's used in this passage that I just paraphrase, also means to us, the Gentiles. So when people try to use Jesus' death as some kind of metaphor, I guess for black people being killed by the police, again, you're missing the plot.

You've missed the entire point. not only do you very likely have the narrative of police brutality, racialized police brutality in the United States wrong. Much more importantly, you got the gospel wrong. Jesus's death and resurrection is not a metaphor. Let me say that a thousand more times. Jesus's death and resurrection is not a metaphor. It's not a metaphor for human liberation or human improvement or social justice causes or political activism. It is an actual heavenly transaction that occurred in all of this. And one that incredibly miraculously works for our benefit. That transaction is that we give Jesus our sin. He gives us his righteousness. That's what his death accomplished. He paid the

sacrifice that had to be paid for our sin on our behalf so that the debt that we owe to God is now nothing for those who by grace believe. We give Jesus our old self, he gives us a new self. We give him nothing of worth, he gives us everything of eternal worth. That really happened. Jesus's death really happened on a Roman cross at the behest of the Jewish people. Jesus really did rise from the grave three days later, fulfilling the prophecies and validating his divinity and his victory. And it really accomplished forgiveness from sin and eternal life for all those who believe. It's not a metaphor. Third thing that we see often, Jesus was a refugee, something. that we have talked about before. And again, the answer is kind of, but not really.

It's not making the point that people are trying to make when they say this. Matthew 2.13 through 15, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet out of Egypt, I called my son. So while Jesus and his family sought refuge, they were not refugees, as we defined the term today. So it was in obeying God's command, Jesus and his parents never

actually left the Roman Empire, even as they were seeking refuge in a different place. So it would be more similar to someone in the U.S. traveling from one state to another. As Luke 2, 1 through 5 tells us, the family made a point to abide by Roman law by adhering to the census. and they returned home after Herod's death. And also, I think while we're here, it's important to note that Jesus also wasn't a Palestinian. That's something that we hear about a lot. Jesus was a Galilean Jew.

The Messiah bringing the gospel first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles, as Romans 116 tells us. The name Palestine for that region wasn't even around until 100 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. And the people who repeat that talking point, it's actually a talking point that was perpetuated first by Muslims to try to take Jesus out of Judaism. It's derived from this left-wing perspective that Israel, like the United States, is this oppressive force. So they kind of borrowed this idea from Muslims who tried to take the Judaism out of Jesus and then left-wing

causes here decided that that was useful to them, too, because they see Israel as some kind of capitalistic, imperialistic, oppressive force. And so they try to de-Judeize Jesus by calling him a Palestinian. That's actually an anti-Semitic trope. And it's also not historically accurate. So I just wanted to make that clear. And according to Scripture, according to Matthew 12 and Isaiah 42, it's actually very important to note that Jesus fulfills Jewish prophecy and was living at a Jew as a Jew during this context. Scripture tells us that. Number four, the fourth statement made.

Jesus befriended sex workers. Now, some people say this because they believe Mary Magdalene, who was a friend of Jesus, was either the woman in the city who is understood to have been a prostitute, who is talked about in Luke 7 or the woman who was caught in adultery in John 8. But we actually have no scriptural basis for believing those things. that is an assumption that people make, but not something that the Bible actually says. The interactions that we do see between Jesus and women who were either prostitutes or adulterists are very significant. They tell us a lot about grace. But they don't make the point that this social

media poster is probably trying to make by saying this. So in Luke 7, a woman of the city comes and weeps on his feet, kissed his feet, anointing his feet with oil. And then when the Pharisees scoffs at Jesus and doubts his prophetic ability because of this, because what prophet would possibly allow this kind of interaction between himself and this sinful woman? Jesus responds to that Pharisee in this story and says, I'm paraphrasing. I'm paraphrasing. She treated me better than you did. She showed me more love than you did. And because of her faith, her sins are going to be forgiven. Versus 47 through 48 says, therefore I tell you her sins, which are many are forgiven, for she loved much.

But he who is forgiven little loves little. And he said to her, your sins are forgiven. And then in John 8, the woman caught in adultery when men were surrounding her ready to stone her according to the law. Now, there's actually a lot here about Jewish law that was not being properly abided by and why Jesus says, basically, that you guys have no right to throw a stone. He says, no one, basically Jesus says to this woman caught in adultery, no one is, here is condemning you, I don't condemn you. And then he says, go and sin no more. So in these examples,

we see Jesus loving these sinful women, loving these prostitutes, showing compassion to them, but also dealing with their sin primarily. He offers them forgiveness for their sins and is encouraging them to repent of their sins. He knew that was the desire of their heart. That was their greatest need for their sin to be dealt with. When he spoke to the one, woman at the well in John 4. He showed her her sin and then presented himself as the Messiah, the Savior from sin. Also remember, Jesus is God. So whatever God says, Jesus also says, whatever the Bible says, since it is God's word, Jesus also says. Any attempt to separate Jesus from the rest of Scripture is an erroneous understanding of the Godhead and his word. And throughout the Bible, literally

Genesis to Revelation, we see prostitution both literally and figuratively, regarded as sinful as damaging to both the prostitute and her clientele as behavior that should be avoided as an assault to the human body which bears the image of God. Jesus shows that yes, there is grace and forgiveness for the prostitute. But that means it is also a sin that needs forgiving. God is also very clear about that. And then the last thing that we see in these posts, Jesus was a friend of the poor and the marginalized and hated the powerful and rich. Again, yes and no. Jesus befriended the poor. He also befriended the rich. He befriended the weak and the powerful. He asked fishermen to follow him, but he also asked a tax collector to follow him, Matthew. Tax collectors were

often oppressive during this time. In Luke 19, Jesus declared salvation for Zekees because of Zekees' faith. He was a rich tax collector. And what does he say at the end of the story, Jesus, that he came to seek not the rich or the poor, but came to seek and save them. the lost. He also shares the gospel of Nicodemus, a Pharisee, in John 3. So yes, Jesus paid special attention to the poor and the sick and the outcasts, absolutely, people who society declared unclean. But he also shared the truth in love to the rich and the powerful. He brought salvation and forgiveness from sins to them both. He asked the rich to sell all they had and give to the poor because his first Timothy 610 says the love of money is the root of all kinds of evils.

Not the money itself, but the love of it, the worship of it, the dependence upon it for satisfaction and status. In other words, because of what it can do to the heart, which Jesus wants entirely for himself. Now, does that make God an anti-capitalist? I don't even know how you could possibly make that claim based on scripture. to equate capitalism, which with greed and the hoarding of wealth and the idolatry of wealth, which is an erroneous equation. It's just not true of the vast majority of people who have done well in capitalist systems. They've simply been able to work hard and give generously and provide for their families. The existence of poverty does not automatically prove a hoarding of wealth.

I know progressives have a hard time with that statement, but it's factually true. Jesus says the poor will always be with us. There is nowhere in the gospel. or in scripture where we see Jesus saying that the state should confiscate your property and profit and give it to the poor in the name of social justice. Yes, we render to Caesar what is Caesar's, but the government taking your money or property and giving it to other people is not what Jesus is commanding of you. That would be super convenient. You could be holy without ever having to get off the couch or actually express any charity on your own. But that doesn't cut it as compassion. Jesus calls his church voluntarily. Holy Spirit powered or by the power of the Holy Spirit to give generously.

The early church exemplified this kind of generosity. And we're talking free willed, compelled by the Holy Spirit, not compelled by the state generosity. Socialism is compulsory. It's mandatory. It's not voluntary, which means it's not really generosity at all. 2 Corinthians 6.7 says, Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. You can't look at the history of socialism

or certainly communism and see it as cheerful giving or not see that it's always led to more oppression, more poverty, more tyranny, more concentration of wealth and power. Any functioning welfare state, like in Scandinavia, for example, is powered by capitalism. Supply and demand, people making profit, freely giving as they see fit is necessary for wealth generation, for freedom, for, for independence

from a dictatorial state. Now, I'm not arguing that Jesus is necessarily a capitalist or a Republican or fits into any of our economic or political boxes. He transcends all of them. But he also wasn't in the box of anti-capitalist. He certainly wasn't a communist or a socialist. We've got two commands against those all the way at the beginning of the bipartisan. thou shall not covet and thou shall not steal. Right there, we see the legitimacy and virtue of private personal property. So what's yours is not mine, says God. And I have no right to even, well, I'm not, so God is saying that what is mine, Ali's is not yours. What's yours is not mine. And to even want that which is yours, my neighbor is actually a sin. And stealing it is also a sin. So that's,

are debunking, but it's even more important to understand what thinking exists under these kinds of posts so we can know how to confront them in the future. So first, we have to consider who these people are. From what I can tell, these people don't actually believe in the Bible as authoritative, nor do they believe Jesus is the only way to God as he is. And it's questionable whether or not they even believe that Jesus is God, whether or not they hold any Orthodox Tenants of Christianity. What it appears is that they actually see Jesus as a means to their political ends. They see him as more of an activist than anything else. And because of that, things like skin color and marginalization status actually matters to them very much. It's not Jesus's divinity

that they're primarily concerned with. It's his intersectionality that they're concerned with. So understand that this is not just a different theological viewpoint that's a little bit outside Orthodox Christianity. This is a different form of epistemology all together. That means an entirely different way of seeking and obtaining knowledge. This is standpoint epistemology. The idea that knowledge is actually gained through someone's standpoint in society through their subjective experience rather than through an objective deductive process. This is a tool of critical theory, which seeks to understand and frame the world through the lens of the standpoint of a certain kind of person who is traditionally regarded as marginalized. So a black person

in critical race theory, a queer person and queer theory, a woman and feminist theory, and so on. And these theories purport that the standpoint of these people are more authoritative when it comes to truth and obtaining truth than data, then logic, than facts. And in the case of Jesus, more authoritative than theology that is based on the Bible. And you see this a lot with people who are deconstructing their faith. They tend to say that they're letting go of the absolute truth that they once may be believed about scripture. They're letting go of dogmas only to repossess and only to latch on to new dogmas like

Jesus was a person of color killed by the state in order to get a new kind of woke righteousness. And this is all a product of postmodernism. It's the basic assumption that truth is relative. It has its roots way back to philosophers, atheist philosophers that existed hundreds of years ago and has become more and more mainstream in the United States. So these social media posters who probably consider themselves progressive Christians are operating from the subjective understanding of knowledge and authority from a postmodern worldview, which is why they are so stuck on listing his perceived external attributes.

Because to them, probably unknowingly, for Jesus to have any authority, he has to be in a marginalized class in some way. And not just for him to have any authority, but for him to be useful. to them. These posts reflect the desire for Jesus to be made useful as a justification for their particular brand of political activism. This is very common of those who hold to, for example, liberation theology, which was popularized by James Cohn in the 20th century in regards

Jesus not as a savior, but as a liberator and not from sin, but from systems. So liberation theology is not concerned with the inerrancy of scripture or the exclusivity of Jesus or the saving truth of the gospel. It is concerned with using certain principles, certain principles of Christianity and their activist version of Jesus to achieve their political ends. A quote by James Cohn from 1997 says that, yes, he believed in Jesus, but not to the exclusion of other religious perspectives. He quotes Malcolm Max and says, I believe in a religion that believes in freedom.

And we see this kind of thinking, exemplary. by Senator Raphael Warnock, who said this in a tweet that he ended up deleting. The meaning of Easter is more transcendent than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Whether you are Christian or not, through a commitment to helping others, we are able to save ourselves. So I responded to this on Twitter, and you can go look at that. But there are so many different parts of this tweet. First of all, there is nothing more transcendent than the resurrection of the God man, Jesus

Christ literally it transcends our human conceptions of time and space and and rationality. And he doesn't even support his claim that helping others is somehow more transcendent than Jesus Christ, the creator and sustainer of the universe, defeating death forever and defeating sin through his death and resurrection. This reflects something that we've also seen from someone like Ibermach's Kendi, who is outspoken about liberation theology, who says that he's. he doesn't regard Jesus as a Savior, even though he would regard himself as a Christian, because, you know, Jesus is not the savior of humanity, but he actually said in a video that

was posted on Twitter, one of his talks, that anti-racism can literally save humanity, Ibermx, Kendi says. And here, Warnock says that we can save ourselves. So this is the same concept by these two liberation theology advocates. We are our own gods and saviors. Like every false teaching from the prosperity gospel to the social gospel, they exchange the God of Scripture for the God of self. This is not new. Humans have indulged in self-idolatry since the beginning of time. It always ends in destruction both here and in eternity. So you need to run hard and fast from any semblance of this kind of heresy. Ephesians 2 8 through 10 says, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing.

It is the gift of God, not a result of work so that no one may boast. This is so much better news, so much better news than the idea that it is upon ourselves that we bear the burden of salvation through legalistic moralism. In his book, For My People, Cohn explains that, quote, the Christian faith does not possess in its nature the means for analyzing the structure of capitalism. Marxism is a tool of social analysis, as a tool of social analysis, can disclose the gap between appearance and reality and thereby help Christians to see things how they are. So if you're wondering why this kind of progressive theology is so often married to socialistic

politics, it is because these ideas are Marxist concepts. Liberation theology is rooted in Marx. Marx hated religion. He didn't believe in God, which is why whenever you see people trying to use Marxist concepts and infuse it with their faith, they end up giving up most of the latter for the former, which is Marxism. So they end up exchanging Christian orthodoxy for Marxism, even while they're trying to walk the line between both of them. And it ends up presenting a false gospel. And because this is so prevalent, And because it sounds so good, we have to know what it looks like, what's behind it, and how to push back on it. I understand why it's tempting to believe and perpetuate this stuff.

It gives people the feeling of covering their bases, like we said, of straddling the fence and being just worldly and Christian enough to avoid cancellation in this life. And just in case heaven and hell really do exist, maybe in the next life too. But it just ain't going to work like that. The Bible doesn't give us that option. And if you want to know my prediction, it's actually that even as we start to see statements like this more and more, sometimes soon we're also going to start to see them fade. We won't see as much of them. And that's because being a Christian is going to get, even in the United States where we have enjoyed so much privilege and so much religious liberty for so long, it's going to become less safe, less convenient, less popular, less lucrative, certainly. to be a Christian. And so there is going to be no reason for false teachers to even pretend that they're Christians or for progressive Christians to even try to use Jesus as their mascot for social justice

causes because there will be absolutely no benefit to it. The WHO posted this picture. I'll put it up on YouTube in which the Islamic Crescent and the Star of David are present. They're trying to present. They're trying to tell people that, hey, stay home and celebrate. your holidays. And then next to the Star of David and the Islamic crescent, they have an Easter egg. So instead of the cross, which actually represents part of what we are honoring on Easter and what is the most significant symbol of Christianity, there is an egg, which there's something wrong with eggs on Easter. It's a myth that that's some like, you know, pagan worship that we have to avoid. the cross is obviously representative of the gospel,

what Christians believe and what we are actually honoring on Easter. But they purposely avoid that. Google actually decided on their homepage, even though they have a sketch and a doodle for every significant day of the year. They did nothing on Easter. And of course, there's plenty of people that are mad about this. But I'm not. Like, even seeing all of the things that people are willing to say on Twitter about Christianity,

professor Alice Roberts, who calls herself a humanist. She said just a little reminder today, dead people don't come back to life. I think that was on Good Friday. I mean, people, there is a comfort with which people show their disdain for Christianity in a way that they would never show towards another religion because they would call it bigotry. And the reason why I'm actually okay with that is because the cross is offensive. like it's not neutral.

It's not like any other symbol. The gospel is offensive. It tells us of our sin and hopelessness apart from Christ. It's not neutral. It cannot be effectively secularized or made presentable or inoffensive. It must be done away with and pushed to the side in order to appease a world drunk on its own degeneracy. That's why, according to Pew Research, Christians are still the most pervasively persecuted

religious people in all the world. 1 Corinthians 614 for the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Galatian 614 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. That's how done Christians and the gospel is with the world and how done the world is with us and that is to be expected. that is already for known. And so when we see this kind of separation, it's actually a reason to rejoice. There will be no confusion someday soon over who is a Christian and who is not. So what are we to do in the midst of all this? And this is how we end. Romans 12, 9 through 21 tells us this. Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil. Hold fast to what is good. Wow. It is so opposite

today, but we are called to abhor what is evil, hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you. Blast and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice. Weep with those who weep, live in harmony with one another, do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give a thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves,

but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing so, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good. Speak the truth in love, Christian. Be equipped, be empowered, be emboldened by the Holy Spirit and the tools that God has graciously given us in His Word. call out lies in your own life and in the teachings that you see displayed publicly, have conversations with your friends and your family about this kind of stuff and pray to God to keep his church, to hold his church together,

which he has already promised to do and rejoice in the fact that it's going to be more obvious than ever who is the church that represents the city on the hill in the midst of darkness. And we are called to and equipped to shine brightly in the midst of that. All right, I'll be back here tomorrow. I'll see you guys then.