It’s not easy going through life being stupid. You know, unable to reason, cognitively ill-prepared to weigh facts and evidence, intellectually aloof, cerebrally challenged…you get it. It’s especially hard to operate with a brain almost entirely programmed by the gods of this age while convincing others that you’re smart. And yet, that is exactly what the Evangelical Intelligentsia have done. It might be their penchant for bowties or maybe it’s the hornrimmed glasses, but for whatever reason, they seem to have the ability to say demonstrably asinine – and even untrue – things without being called out on the carpet for it. And here’s the thing, the latte mafia of evangelicalism is entitled to hold whatever opinion Russell Moore and Rachel Maddow want to give them. They’re entitled to scrub themselves down with exfoliation moisturizers and lather their face in beard balm. They can let their fists fly as limply as possible and tailor their suits as skinny as they want. But what they cannot do – because the rules of logic apply to them – is say things that are demonstrably and factually untrue and expect to get away with it.
They can expect their fellow fraternity of low-information twitter followers to back-slap them from their Starbucks office at the corner table. But they can’t change facts. Their little post-modern brains don’t understand that. I saw something yesterday that exemplifies the gross intellectual dishonesty with which the “woke” social justice contingent of evangelicalism live their lives.
Jacob Denhollander, husband of the brave and articulate Jen Denhollander (who we have never said anything but positive things about it, even and especially in her criticism of Sovereign Grace Ministries), has apparently traded the wonderful, clear, and articulate Gospel spoken by Jen in court and traded it for the Social Gospel (which is the same exact thing as Social Justice, and that’s what we called it five years ago). When you replace a Gospel in which our victory is in Jesus with a Gospel that perpetuates our identity exclusively in victimhood, you lose the Gospel altogether. And Jacob Denhollander’s tweet yesterday was not only teeming with unbridled stupidity and factual unawareness, it may indicate that the latte mafia’s love for their current Social Justice bandwagon may be melting their brains, making them unable to properly understand what the Gospel is at all.
The 9Marks and ERLC fanboys were beside themselves in disgust that the VP of the United States – who by all accounts is a professing Christian believer in right standing with the church – addressed the Southern Baptist Convention. This was supposed to be a totally woke meeting, a new and improved Southern Baptist Convention, and Identity Politics, Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, and Cultural Marxism were on the menu. Pence ruined the narrative. The latte mafia’s allies in the WaPo and other press outlets would not be impressed. And so, proving that lemmings always run in groups, those sharing the collective brain of the Social Justice Borg all similarly act as though Pence’s presence at the SBC signaled the impending apocalypse.
Russ Moore was a Democratic staffer and is a globalist who takes cash from George Soros and James Riady, chiefly focusing his energy on dismantling American sovereignty by arguing against immigration law and border security. He invited two non-Christian Roman Catholics along (Rubio and Jeb Bush) and Hillary Rodham Clinton to address the SBC in 2015, without a single fanboy flailing his bent wrist about in the air or getting the vapors on their fainting couch. Dwight Marxissic and Thabiti Anyabwile, two Black Nationalists who have become token representatives of the soft bigotry of lowered expectations, both endorsed Hillary Clinton for president. For this Democratic wing of the Southern Baptist Convention, Pence speaking is the end of the world. I get it. But at the risk of repeating myself, that doesn’t mean that Jacob Denhollander (or anyone else) gets to say stupid and provenly false things.
Denhollander’s claim is clear: Chris Pratt’s speech at the MTV Awards was clearer than Mike Pence’s speech at the SBC.
Great. Let’s compare them, because I have the transcript for both. What is in bold was done so by me, so you don’t waste your time looking for the Gospel-pertinent sections of each speech.
CHRIS PRATT AT MTV AWARDS
We didn’t have a pot to piss in growing up, but we laughed our butts off every day—we still do. And a special mention to my son Jack, who will watch this one day. Kid, I love you. I love you more than anything in the world.
And to the fans, I wouldn’t be here without you.
This being the Generation Award, I’m going to cut to the chase and I’m going to speak to you—the next generation. I accept the responsibility as your elder, so listen up. This is what I call ‘9 Rules from Chris Pratt: Generation Award Winner.’
Number one: Breathe. If you don’t you’ll suffocate.
Number two: You have a soul. Be careful with it.
Number three: Don’t be a turd. If you’re strong, be a protector and if you’re smart be a humble influencer. Strength and intelligence can be weapons, and do not wield them against the weak. That makes you a bully. Be bigger than that.
Number four: When giving a dog medicine, put the medicine in a little piece of hamburger and they won’t even know they’re eating medicine.
Number five: Doesn’t matter what it is, earn it. Reach out to someone in pain. Be of service, it feels good and it’s good for your soul.
Number six: God is real. God loves you. God wants the best for you. Believe that. I do.
Number seven: If you have to poop at a party, or you’re embarrassed because you’re going to stink up the bathroom, just do what I do: lock the door, sit down, get all the pee out first. And then, when all the pee’s done, poop, flush. Boom. You minimize the amount of time the poop is touching the air, because if you poop first it takes you longer to pee then you’re peeing on top of it and the poop particles create a cloud that goes out and then everyone at the party will know that you pooped. Just trust me! It’s science.
Number eight: Learn to pray. It’s easy and it’s so good for your soul.
And finally, number nine: Nobody is perfect. People are going to tell you you’re perfect just the way you are—you’re not! You are imperfect. You always will be. But, there is a powerful force that designed you that way. And if you’re willing to accept that, you will have grace. And grace is a gift. And like the freedom we enjoy in this country that grace was paid for with someone else’s blood. Do not forget it. Do not take it for granted.
God bless you.
Absolutely brilliant Gospel presentation, right? Oh, so clear. Give him a writing gig for The Gospel Coalition (Pratt will make about as much sense as Sho Baraka, who is the profane, dope-smoking rapper who posted an article there this morning). Sarcasm aside, if Denhollander (or anyone else) thinks that “God is real, God loves you, God wants the best for you” is the Gospel (not a clear Gospel, but any kind of Gospel), you need to go back to Sunday School and this time I would avoid the one back at the Unitarian-Universalist church.
VP PENCE AT THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION
Below is Pence’s speech at the SBC.
Thank you, Dr. Gaines. Thank you for that kind introduction. I too remember that night, and I appreciated your ministry that evening as well. Your kind words of introduction mean a great deal to me, but you know me well enough to know the one I — the introduction I prefer is a little bit shorter: I’m a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order. (Applause.)
It is deeply humbling to be here today, to address the 161st session of the Southern Baptist Convention. And let me begin by bringing greetings from a good friend of mine who just got back to the White House this morning. A leader who I can tell you has been delivering every day on his promise to protect faith and restore freedom across this country. I bring greetings from the 45th President of the United States of America, President Donald Trump. (Applause.)
You know, it really is an honor to be here at the Southern Baptist Convention. It’s remarkable to think that what began more than 170 years ago in First Baptist Church in Augusta, Georgia has now become one of the greatest forces for good anywhere in America.
You know, the President likes to say, in his words, that we’re a nation of faith. And the leaders gathered here at this convention and the congregations that you represent make that true every single day.
Your more than 47,000 churches minister to more than 15 million people, and millions more beyond your walls. You can be found in all 50 states, in communities of every size, and at this very hour, you’re planting churches and planting seeds of faith in countless hearts in America and to the very ends of the Earth.
The Southern Baptist Convention has always strived to “reach the world for Christ,” and so you have throughout the decades. And I believe with all my heart that your faith has moved mountains, and your witness changes lives every day.
And I know what I’m talking about. You know, I was raised in a churched home; it was grace before dinner and church on Sunday morning. But 40 years ago this spring, I heard the very message that Southern Baptists speak so faithfully across this nation every day. I heard it fresh in my ears, as though it had been for the very first time, that “God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever might believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.” And I walked the sawdust trail that night in 1978 and gave my life to Jesus Christ, and it’s made all the difference. (Applause.)
So thank you for carrying that timeless message everyday with such faithfulness to the American people. The truth is, Southern Baptists have always worked to bring about renewal of America, and new beginnings. And as I stand before you today, I believe that our nation is in the midst of a time of renewal. And we are in the midst of a new beginning of greatness in America. (Applause.)
You can read the rest of Pence’s speech transcript here.
For the Social Justice fanboys who were public-schooled, I’m going to put these comments side-by-side.
PRATT: God is real. God loves you. God wants the best for you. Believe that. I do…[and after some gross irreverent blatherings about pooping and peeing, another nugget comes in by the sound of rushing jets in a passing gospel flyby…] And grace is a gift. And like the freedom we enjoy in this country that grace was paid for with someone else’s blood.
PENCE: God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever might believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Listen, it’s okay for drones to be programmed however their programmers want. Pinnochio can be whatever kind of boy Geppetto makes him. These guys can continue to be told what to think by those influenced by the Soros-Riady cash infusions into Neo-Calvinist institutions. Whatever. But if buying into Social Justice makes somebody completely unable to know the Gospel or the non-Gospel when they see it, their theology is severely broken.
If these are the virtue-signaling, intellectually-astute, morally-pious mental giants leading evangelicalism into the new tomorrow, God help us all.
