What do liberal mainline Christians have in common with ostensibly conservative, Bible-believing, “Gospel-focused” Christians? On the surface the answer is not much. Liberal mainliners consistently support the secular leftist agenda on everything ranging from sex to social justice. The conservative Christian establishment at least gives lip service against leftist positions on issues such as abortion and sodomarriage. Most people assume that conservative Christianity could not be more different from liberal mainline iterations of “Christianity.” There is one area in which the entire Christian establishment seems to be in agreement. Virtually all Christians, whether they belong to liberal or conservative denominations, condemn racism as vile, wicked, and disgusting.
You may have heard that Grace Episcopal Cathedral in San Francisco, California recently showcased a “Beyoncé Mass” featuring the music of pop singer Beyoncé Knowles. Grace Cathedral has become a white-washed sepulcher; a beautiful gothic church with the external trappings of Christian orthodoxy and tradition while the worship and beliefs of those who attend reflect spiritual death. The modern Episcopal Church is a monument to apostasy as this moribund mainline denomination champions every conceivable liberal social cause. The Episcopal Church advocates for radical egalitarianism that includes toleration and even celebration of feminism, homosexuality, transgenderism, “racial reconciliation,” and abortion. The Episcopal Church rejects every tenet of traditional Christian morality in order to foster a more inclusive and welcoming atmosphere. Episcopalians are tolerant of virtually any and every perversion imaginable, and anyone can rest assured that their particular vices will never be denounced or even addressed from an Episcopal pulpit.
The recent “Beyoncé Mass” (not to be confused with Bach’s Mass in B minor) that was celebrated at Grace Episcopal Cathedral was simply an extension of the policies of mainline Christianity to do whatever is necessary to attract a crowd. This should shock me, but nothing does anymore. Anyone who honestly confuses the music of Beyoncé Knowles with Christian worship simply doesn’t understand Christianity, and it is abundantly clear that genuine Christianity died out in the Episcopal Church long ago. Retired Episcopal bishop of Newark, New Jersey John Shelby Spong rejects every major Christian doctrine, and even preaches that Christ did not die for your sins. An Episcopal “priestess” underwent an abortion to finish divinity school. The march of sodomy through the Episcopal Church has continued untrammeled throughout the twentieth century. One might imagine that a denomination which tolerates and even celebrates abominable sins like abortion and sodomy doesn’t see the need to condemn anything at all.
But this brings us back to what the Beyoncé Mass does condemn…racism and patriarchy. The whole premise of this “worship service” was to cater to “women of color” who feel oppressed by “racism” and “the patriarchy.” If you are a conservative Christian who attends an ostensibly conservative church, then you are almost certainly aware of the constant denunciations of racism and white supremacy that have been made by the Southern Baptist Convention and the Presbyterian Church in America. You have to ask yourself why supposedly orthodox Christians who believe in the plenary inspiration of the Bible manage to agree with flamboyant apostates on the subject of race.
As apostates become ever more conformed to the image of the world on every important social issue, we should expect the gap between orthodox Christians and apostates to widen, but on the subject of race as well as traditional gender roles, the gap is actually narrowing to a frightening degree. We as Christians are to reject the world and the ways of the world. This indicates that the agendas that are espoused by secularists, Marxists, and apostates ought to be rejected by orthodox Christians.
Christians who are otherwise orthodox in their understanding of the Bible but continue to virtue signal on issues of race or traditional patriarchy aren’t promoting actual virtue; they are rather promoting themselves to unbelievers for the benefit of their own reputations and careers. There is a clear path forward. Christians need to realize that “racism” is just a modern, post-Christian cultural Marxist canard meant to morally disarm white people and bring about an end to what remains of Western civilization. “Racism,” however it is typically defined and used in public discourse, is not a sin. Christian leaders who continue to denounce this false sin need to be called to account for their apostasy from orthodox Christian morality. If this trend is left unchecked, purportedly conservative denominations will wind up in the same place as the liberal mainline. The line between Baptist megachurch “worship” and the Beyoncé Mass has become awfully thin.
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