From Jim Fletcher:
” One popular technique is to label such critics as “Pharisees,” “legalists” or some such pejorative label. Witness this frequent technique employed by key evangelical leader Ed Stetzer. The president of LifeWay Research, a division of LifeWay Christian Resources (the publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention) comes across as a winsome, dedicated, knowledgeable evangelical leader. He even reminds us often that he is a leader (www.edstetzer.com).
But when it comes to answering the critics of his closest ministry friends, Stetzer displays a subtly nasty streak that I believe is a hallmark of the crowd he runs with.
Notice this recent gem on Twitter: “It’s not there yet, but this cold front has the potential to get as cold as a legalist’s heart. #brrrrr”
Notice the winsome hashtag that Stetzer uses. He’s kind of winking at the reader, as if to say, tsk, tsk, these pesky critics are just legalists at heart.
No, they’re not, for the most part, but this is a highly effective technique to neutralize the usually important work being done by folks like Duncan, the late Silva and Pirate Christian Radio’s Chris Rosebrough.
I could cite many more examples from daily social media, but hopefully you get the idea. Stetzer is part of a group of influential evangelicals that seek to muzzle legitimate examinations of the more outrageous traits of evangelical leaders……..”
Continue reading the rest of the article HERE
Posted by Dustin Germain
