Lighthouse Trails Research Journal VOL 8 | NO. 1 | Page 4

Lighthouse Trails Research Journal 4 Southern Baptists—continued from previous page Gender, sexual orientation, family, race, culture, or religion—every aspect of a person’s identity is to be questioned; every norm or standard in society be challenged and ideally altered in order to benefit supposedly oppressed groups. . . . Cultural Marxism is such a conflict as existing between the oppressed and the oppressors, between those with privilege and those without. . . . Majority groups are typically defined as privileged and oppressive with minority groups accordingly labeled underprivileged and oppressed. Heterosexuals are oppressive. Cisgender 11 people are oppressive. Whites are oppressive, especially white men. Christians are oppressive. Those that do not fit into these groups are thus considered oppressed. If whites are oppressors, the solution is racial diversity. If Cisgender people are oppressors, the solution is to encourage transgenderism. 12 Calvinist author and pastor David Platt, who was president of the SBC International Mission Board for four years until 2018, was quoted on the documentary as well, showing his affinity with CRT. In live footage on the documentary, Platt says that basically the evangelical church is propagating racism rather than helping to diminish it. The nar- rator of the film refutes Platt’s statements: Platt’s sermon is not based in biblical truth but in the ideology of Critical Race Theory of cultural Marxism. His basic presupposition is that white Christians are not only immersed in racism but are actually increasing the racial divide. He exhorts churches to repent of racism and to set up multi-ethnic communities in order to achieve racial reconciliation, but Scripture VOLUME 8—NO. 1 teaches otherwise. All true believers are one in Christ, so there is no racial divide in the true Church of God—for black Christians and white Christians are one in Christ; they are reconciled in Christ. 13 The documentary draws to a conclusion with a statement by Pastor Voddie Baucham about true and legitimate racial reconciliation from a sermon he gave from Ephesians 2: [The apostle Paul] starts off talking about what the Gentiles didn’t have, and we end up talking about what Jews and Gentiles now have because of the Cross. Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself, being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit. That’s racial reconciliation, and it’s not something you and I have to achieve. It’s something you and I have to believe because Christ has already achieved it. It is done. It is real. We are one in Christ. You need to be reminded of your union; you need to strengthen your union . . . same thing with racial reconciliation—we are reconciled in Christ; we don’t need to achieve racial reconciliation, we just need to walk in the racial reconciliation that Christ achieved at the Cross. It’s ours. It’s real, and I don’t need sociology books in order to walk in this reconciliation. I need God’s book in order to walk in this reconciliation. 14 Countless men, women, and children, throughout the history of man, have been hurt and ostracized, sexually and physically abused, and even murdered by those who have hated and had evil and murder in their hearts. The world’s answer today for this is: socialism, social justice, changing views on gender and sexuality, New Age thought, radical feminism, and now cultural Marx- ism through CRT. But these are not the “answers” the church should embrace. These ideologies are powerless substitutes for the only viable and true solution—and that is the Cross. And any group that claims to represent that Cross (e.g., SBC) should have nothing to do with the world’s solutions that will never work but rather should be proclaiming the Gospel to an unsaved, lost, and hurting world. Baucham Those who embrace Critical Race Theory (which broadens the terms racist and white supremacist to include virtually all white peo- ple) believe CRT is going to help end racial tensions and create a more loving world. On the contrary, it is going to cause animosity, suspicion, anger, and all the things that are the opposite of God’s love that is described in 1 Corinthians 13 (the love chapter). Let us remember this too: Man’s adver- sary, Satan, does not care about anyone of any race, color, gender, or culture. He only uses people to propagate and accomplish his horribly wicked evil plans. And his ulti- mate goal is to keep people from Christ and His salvation. As utterly horrible as abuse, bigotry, rape, hate, and murder are, there is something even worse, and that is to be eternally lost without Christ. Promoters of Resolution 9 say there is a “massive” racism problem within SBC. If that is truly the case, then SBC should take Abraham Hamilton and Voddie Baucham’s advice and realize this is not a corporate sin (that would be saying every white SBC pastor and leader is a racist); rather, the problem Concludes on next page SPRING 2020