The Bible doesn’t apologize for God’s wrath.  The Bible rejoices in God’s wrath.

I know that in our day and age, the discussion of God’s anger or wrath can cause many of us to be apologetic rather than to do apologetics.

Apologetics refers to the defense of the faith.  The word apologetics comes from the Greek word apologia which means “defense.”

That’s very different from a related word which we use today - “apology.”  This is when we say we are sorry for something we wish wasn’t true.

I don’t want you to feel like you have to apologize for God’s wrath, but rather I want you to feel equipped to give an apologetic, a defense, of God’s wrath.

When it comes to God’s wrath, I want you to do apologetics, not be apologetic.

The wrath, anger, and justice of God can definitely be a stumbling block for unbelievers and believers alike.  That’s why we need apologetics.  

So, while I don’t want you feeling like you have to apologize for God, I also don’t want you to simply brush off people’s genuine obstacles and concerns when it comes to God’s wrath.  

We must show them that God’s wrath is a reality.  But we must also show people why it is a good reality.

First, listen to the way the Bible speaks of God’s wrath and justice, and then compare that with how you speak of it.

Exodus 15:6–7 – Song of Moses after the Red Sea
“Your right hand, O LORD, glorious in power, your right hand, O LORD, shatters the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries; you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.”


Psalm 58:10–11
“The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance; he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked. Mankind will say, ‘Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth.’”
Revelation 11:17–18
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged… and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

The bible presents the wrath and justice of God as a good thing.  

Why is this?  

Because in displaying His wrath, God is glorified.

The reason the world exists, the reason you exist, is that God may be glorified.  And what does that mean exactly?

That’s a Christianse phrase if there ever was one.  What is the glory of God, and what does it mean for God to “be glorified?”

Louis Berkhof (Systematic Theology)
“The glory of God is the recognition of the excellence of His divine perfections, the manifestation of His attributes, and the honor ascribed to Him by His creatures.”
God is glorified when His attributes are manifested, made known, clearly apprehended and then rightly treasured and enjoyed.

And what are God’s attributes?

Holiness, Grace, Love, Mercy, Power, Justice, Wrath, Wisdom, Patience, Power - you could go on.

But notice that the display of many of those attributes requires the presence of sin.  Hang with me.

In a world without sin, there is no grace.  

In a world without suffering, there is no expression of divine mercy.  

In a world without evil, there is no expression of divine justice.

God is being glorified in and through this broken world, because through our sin, His full range of attributes is put on full display.

And this includes His wrath.  His justice.  

In displaying His wrath, God is glorified, and seen to be holy, righteous, just, and all powerful.

When we see God judge the wicked, we praise Him for this expression of His character.  He is thus glorified.

The wrath of God is a good thing because it brings relief to sufferers.

In a world without a just God, sufferers would never receive divine relief.

This is why the Israelites rejoiced in God’s wrath after crossing the red sea.  Pharaoh and his armies had been crushed, granting relief to God’s people.

This is why the christians in Revelation rejoice at Satan and sin being destroyed, because it is then that those Christians experience ultimate and final release from the suffering of sin and satan.

In parts of the world where the persecution is severe, people don’t have trouble with God’s justice and wrath like we do.

But we are learning.  As we suffer more and more for our beliefs, we will begin to find great relief in knowing that all causes of satanic or sinful suffering will one day be destroyed.

The wrath of God is a good thing because it means no evil will go unpunished

You may have heard the famous MLK quote:  “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

He meant that, one day, everybody is gonna pay for their sin.  Justice will be served. All wrongs will be made right.

But without a holy and righteous and wrathful God, that’s just not true.

Without a consistently just judge of the universe, there are countless abusers and murderers and tyrants who will escape their sin soaked lives with no consequences.

But there is a just judge over the universe.  

And all who do not repent of their sins and receive Christ will stand before Him one day so that, as Paul says, “each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

You’ve heard the phrase “no good deed goes unpunished.”  That’s a clever way for us to complain about not getting what we think we deserve for doing the right thing.

But the opposite of that phrase is actually a very important truth that needs to shape your worldview:

Because there is a just and holy God, no bad deed will go unpunished.

But where does that leave us, people who are guilty of bad deeds?


The wrath of God is a good thing because it magnifies the grace of God through the cross

When you truly understand God’s burning anger towards sin, you will begin to truly marvel at the cross of Christ.

When you understand just what our sin deserves, you will rejoice more fully and freely at what we receive through Jesus Chrsit and His sacrificial death.

At the cross, God is glorified in the clearest way possible, because at the cross, the full range of His attributes is on display.

In the brutality of Christ’s death, we see the true ugliness of sin as well as the Father’s hatred of it.  

We see God’s justice in that He does not merely sweep sin under the rug, He nails it to the cross in the bloody body of Jesus.

And in light of that justice and anger on display through the cross, we see more clearly God’s grace.

RC Sproul said: “The most violent expression of God’s wrath and justice is seen in the cross. If ever a person had room to complain of injustice, it was Jesus. He was the only innocent man ever to be punished by God. If we stagger at the wrath of God, let us stagger at the cross. Here is where our astonishment should be focused.”

The wrath of God,  the justice of God, the anger of God towards sin, it is a good thing.

At the cross, God is glorified because His range of divine attributes are made manifest.

At the cross, the love of God delivers you from the wrath of God through the Son of God.

Know this: all sins will be paid for, either by a sinner in hell or a Savior on the cross.

God is offering us all a glorious and gracious way of escape.  Jesus is the way out of wrath and into reconciliation.

When it comes to the wrath of God, may we always be ready to do apologetics, but may we never apologize, because in the wrath of God:

God is glorified.

Sufferers are delivered.

All wrongs are made right.

And the grace of God is clearly displayed through the wrath-removing sacrifice of Jesus at the cross.

“A plane just flew into the World Trade Center.”

“Charlie Kirk was shot.”

These are announcements of bad news that affected us all in some way, on a national level.

But maybe some of you can’t remember 9/11.  And maybe some of you weren’t super familiar with Charlie Kirk.  

Still, you’ve still received your share of bad news.

“Your mother was rushed to the hospital.  They don’t know if she’ll make it.”

“They’re calling the family in.”

“There’s no heartbeat.”

“We’re letting you go.”

“It’s cancer.”

“I’m no longer a Christian.”

“I don’t want to be married to you anymore.”

This world is an ocean of bad news, and it’s a question of when, not if, you will receive your own personal version of it.


I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the World Trade Center.  And I remember, of course, exactly where I was yesterday, when I heard the news about Charlie Kirk.  And I have no doubt that if you have received any of the bad news listed above, you remember where you were when you received it.

This is a world of bad news.  And these days, we don’t just hear bad news, we see it.  As a 13 year old, I remember the pit in my stomach that I felt as I watched the horrific scenes on the news 24 years ago.  The screams.  The smoke.  The shock.  

And, while I didn’t see the disturbing video of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, I trust that many of you did.  I did see the frenzy and the panic that ensued among that crowd of mostly young people after that shot rang out.

This is a world of bad news, because this is a world of sinners.  Because this is a world of sinners, it is a world of suffering.  A good world made by a good God has become a world full of bad news perpetrated by bad people.

What’s incredible to consider is that our good God entered this broken world.  Have you thought much about the fact that Jesus received bad news?

Consider John the Baptist.  I think John the Baptist would’ve really liked Charlie Kirk.  John the Baptist went around calling out evil and pointing people to Christ.  And it got him killed.  It’s hard to not see a parallel.

Matthew writes:

“He (Herod) sent and had John beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. And his disciples came and took the body and buried it, and they went and told Jesus. Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.”

“Jesus, they killed John the Baptist.”  

Jesus, God in the flesh, received bad news.  Like we did yesterday.  Like we did 24 years ago.  Like you all have so many times in your own life.

It would seem pretty reasonable to assume that Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, would respond to such news with an almost defiant tone, offering up an immediate pearl of wisdom that turned everyone’s grief Godward.

But what did He, the King of Kings, do in response to this bad news?

He withdrew.  To a desolate place.  By Himself.

We often, and rightly so, think about the fact that Jesus would walk that calvary road on our behalf, would bear such great pain and shame for our sins.

But what about the fact that He would subject Himself to a life in which He would allow Himself to be emotionally affected by bad news, just like we are?  He is indeed a great high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses.  

Consider another example.

“Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

This was the bad news concerning Jesus’ friend Lazarus. Jesus received the bad news that many of you have received:  your loved one’s life is in jeopardy due to sickness.

When Jesus finally arrived, He learned that His friend Lazarus had died.  Jesus, of course, knew that He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead.  Still, we read:

John 11:33–35 (ESV)
33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”  35Jesus wept.


Jesus received bad news.  And Jesus saw bad news.  And, even though Jesus knows better than anyone about the resurrection hope we have -  He wept.

Why do I say all of this?

Because, in the midst of your pain, whether it’s a national tragedy or a personal one, I want you to know it’s okay to withdraw for a bit.  To weep.

I want you to know we serve a God who took on human flesh.  Who entered this broken world so full of bad news.  


And why?

Yes, to sympathize with us.  To weep with us.  To identify with humanity.

But He didn’t merely come to sympathize, He came to save.

He did not merely enter earth to cry, but to conquer.

He did not come to earth to merely bear the burden of a broken world, but to bear the sin of broken people.

He took our sin upon Himself, and died in our place, and rose to life on the third day in triumph, ascending back to the Father’s right hand, declaring His victory over sin and satan.

In a world of bad news, we now have the best news.  


We, believers, are good news people in a bad news world.  We are bearers of the light in a world gone dark.  We have the antidote of truth in a lie-infected society.  


Jesus did not merely withdraw.  He did not merely weep.  

He pressed forward, and bore the cross, “for the joy that was set before Him.”

So, too, we cannot merely withdraw, though it may be right to do so for a time.  We cannot merely weep, though we should seek to “weep with those who weep.”

We cannot surrender - not to the evil around us, nor to the evil within us.  

But what does not surrendering look like in practice?  How do we respond rightly to the evil and suffering in the world?

I offer a few humble suggestions, though certainly not exhaustive.  Maybe this will provide a place to start.

Preach.

Charlie Kirk was shot dead under a banner that read: “Prove me wrong.”   His crime was promoting truth in an age of lies.  

Our society is growing increasingly dissatisfied with “proving” anything through dialogue or the exchange of ideas.  For one evil individual, the way they would “prove Charlie wrong” and shut him down and up for good was with a bullet.  

This is how the world has always reacted to the truth.  Maybe not with a bullet, but always with opposition.  The sinful human heart does not want to hear the truth about God, and righteousness, and judgment, and grace.  We hate it.  We resist it.  

This opposition has been there since the beginning.  Simply read the book of Acts.  Read church history.  Read the story of martyrs around the world today.  

This is a world of sinners, under the sway of satan.  But Jesus calls us, invites us, commands us to go out into that world with His light.  With His good news.  Under His authority.  For His glory.

“But I’m no Charlie Kirk, and I’m not a public speaker or preacher, and I’m most certainly no John the Baptist.” you may say.  What does it mean for me to preach?

It means you talk about Jesus where you work.  

You speak about how meaningful church is in your life.  

You teach your kids the Bible.  

You send verses to other members of the church that you think will encourage them.  

You ask friends and coworkers meaningful questions that could potentially highlight areas of contrast, or disagreement, with the aim of sharing who Jesus is and what He has done for you.

It means you leave Christian books, or even your Bible, out where people can see it, in hopes that they ask about what you’re reading.

It means you call out evil, unafraid to say what’s true about the sins of our society, no matter what the consequences are for your reputation or even your career.  

It means, when someone asks your opinion about a hot button topic, you respond with biblical truth, not people-pleasing passivity.

And to preach in a biblical way means we do all this with a certain mixture of tenderness and toughness that catches the world off guard.  

We do this in the power of the Spirit, with the fruit of the Spirit.  That means we are bold and courageous but happy and patient.  That means we call out the demonic without demonizing our opponents.  

We have the best news in the world!  And that is news meant to be announced, heralded, proclaimed.  



Pray.


Yesterday, just hours after Charlie Kirk was announced dead, an argument broke out in Congress about the need for prayer.  This isn’t unsurprising.  The phrase “thoughts and prayers” has long been derided by those who don’t believe in God, or truth, or the Bible.

And while we would never openly minimize the power and effectiveness of prayer with our words, I wonder if our actions match our beliefs?  Do we pray like people who believe in a God who hears prayer?

“Pray for our country” is a phrase I heard so much growing up that I honestly grew to resent it.  It seemed so cliche, so empty.  It was often tossed out there by people who I deemed to be less than truly genuine in their desire to see a spiritual revival in our nation.

But the fact of the matter is this:  all great revivals in history were preceded by great prayer.  This is because, as Jonathan Edwards said:

“When God has something very great to accomplish for his church, it is his will that there should precede it the extraordinary prayers of his people.”
 
Do you believe that?  Do you believe that your prayers for coworkers, friends, our church, your country, and the unreached could actually lead to conversions, transformation, and revival?

Let’s pray like the gospel is true.  Let’s pray like God loves to answer prayer.  Let’s pray as if God actually wants to save sinners and glorify His name and use us to advance His kingdom.

Persist

The change we all want to see happen in our hearts, homes, nation, and world won’t happen overnight.  That person you’re trying to reach with the gospel may not have their big “aha” moment the first time you share the gospel with them.  

There is a reason the new testament so consistently uses agricultural metaphors to describe gospel ministry.   Let me remind you of a few:


1 Corinthians 3:6–7 – “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

Matthew 9:37–38 – “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

Galatians 6:7–9 – “Whatever one sows, that will he also reap… let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

We plant, water, and watch.  The harvest is plentiful, even in this bad news world, because the harvest is God’s.  

Preach.  Pray.  And wait patiently.  God will give growth.  


Providence

Okay, so this is less about what we do, and more about who God is.  

In all this - in receiving bad news, in working to announce good news - remember that God is in total control.  He is not coming behind the mess, trying to think of ways to clean it up.  He is at work in the mess, getting glory and preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

Joseph was sold into slavery, essentially left for dead by His own brothers.  And, as you know, at the end of his story, He finds himself in a powerful position, used by God to save the chosen people.  

And his brothers, those who sold him into slavery, are rightly afraid that their now powerful brother will pursue vengeance.  They beg for His mercy towards their evil, and he says:

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

The brothers meant something for evil.  But God meant something for good.  

It’s important to note that it is the same word for “meant” in both phrases.  Somehow, in a divine and mysterious providence, God was actually at work in the midst of an evil act to bring about a greater good as the brothers were perpetrating a great evil.

And, if this gives your brain some trouble, it would be understandable. But I would point you to the words of Peter:

“This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

Many people meant evil against Jesus.  But God meant it for good. God was at work in the messy evil of the cross to bring about a glorious and gracious salvation for His people.

This is the anchor in our boat when suffering comes our way.  Maybe we don’t know all that God is doing when planes fly into the twin towers, or when Charlie Kirk is publicly murdered, or when John the Baptist is beheaded, or when we receive devastating news.

But, this we do know:  the greatest evil ever committed, the murder of the Son of God, was planned by God for our eternal salvation.  

This is the good news from heaven that conquers all the bad news this world could ever offer up.  It is this good news we hold to.

It is this good news that points our hearts heavenward, to an eternal, fixed, unfading hope of glory.  

Christian, this world is as close to hell as you will ever get.  Jesus is alive.  He has canceled our record of debt.  He has disarmed the demonic powers.  He has all authority. He is able to use even the most satanic sins for His glory.

He is coming back.  And when He does, as He says in Revelation, He will make all things new.

Dedicate the first part of the day to scripture and prayer. Keep it simple - Pick a book of the Bible.  Read one portion at a time (your bible probably has helpful subdivisions).  Ask yourself - What does this say about God? How does this point to the grace of God in Christ? How should I respond?  Pray for God’s help to respond, pray for those closest to you, confess sin, and thank God for His blessings.  20-30 minutes, 5 days a week.  Where will this take you in 6 months / a year?

When you lay down at night, take 5-10 minutes to meditate on one verse (maybe from your reading that morning). Thank God for specific mercies from that day.  Confess any sins that stand out from the day and thank God for the blood of Jesus that cleanses us.  Pray for help for tomorrow.  I know you scroll on that phone - I do it too.  What if you swapped that habit out for this end of day spiritual reflection?

Decide that you won’t pick up your phone for anything before you pray for something or someone.  Make it a game - Today, I’m going to pray for my pastor (ha ha) before I pick up my phone throughout the day.  Or, today, I’m going to pray for my spouse before I pick up my phone.  Today, I’m going to pray for the Iveys before I pick up my phone.  Every time, all day. What if you cultivated this as a lifelong habit?

Swap out that podcast for an audio bible or solid bible based podcast on your ride to work, or while you’re folding clothes, or while you’re feeding the baby.  We have the dwell app, and the ESV app has tons of options for different voices, different background music, plans, etc.

Watch a “Look at the Book” Youtube series on a specific book of the bible.  This is a series where John Piper puts a section of scripture on the screen, and just walks you through it by making notes, highlights, etc.  They’re about ten minutes per video.  Where in your day could you place these?
Get a few folks to agree to memorize a chapter of the Bible together.  One verse a day.  You’ll find you begin to really meditate on the deeper meaning of the passage as you repeat it to yourself throughout the day. Hold each other accountable, pray for one another in this pursuit, and text each other things God is showing you about the passage.

Practice family worship.  Again, keep it simple.  Read a passage of scripture, and ask: What does this say about God?  The grace of Jesus? How should we respond?  Then pray.  10 minutes, a few times a week.

Use our catechism, for yourself and your family.  The New City Catechism app contains songs, the bible verse that accompanies the question/answer, and a devotional based on that truth from an older source and a modern source.  Utilize this app, it’s free.  

Talk about the sermon during lunch or dinner Sunday. What stood out?  How did you see Christ?  How should you specifically respond?

Keep a notes app that has a few specific ongoing prayer focuses.  Before you scroll through social media or youtube, scroll through that list.

Keep a notes app with a few promises of scripture that speak to a specific situation you’re in right now.  Before scrolling anything else, scroll through that list.

Read the Solid Joys devotional before you get out of bed. Or when you lay down.  Or you can even listen to it while you brush your teeth.
Pray with and for your spouse at the end of each day.

Use Operation World or a similar resource to pray for an unreached people group everyday.
Fast from something once a week, asking God to help you know Him better and love Him more.  For extra credit, ask another member of the church to do this with you.

Hope City Church,

I felt it would be helpful and right, with so much attention given to the issue, for me to personally address you all with some thoughts concerning the recent annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.

First, some clarifications, as I know many of you may not have grown up familiar with the SBC or its various entities.

Let me summarize some general information regarding the SBC, admitting to you up front that I asked the internet to summarize this next bit of info for me and for you:

“The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is not a denomination in the sense of a top-down organization that owns churches or appoints pastors. It is a voluntary association of autonomous churches that cooperate together to accomplish ministry they could not easily do alone.
At its core, the SBC exists for three main reasons:
Missions – The SBC's primary purpose is to send and support missionaries through organizations like the International Mission Board and the North American Mission Board. Churches pool resources through the Cooperative Program to fund thousands of missionaries and church planters.
Ministry Training and Education – The SBC cooperates to train pastors and ministry leaders through its seminaries, such as The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, among others.
Cooperation Around Shared Beliefs – Churches work together because they generally affirm a common statement of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message, while maintaining local church independence.

What the SBC Is
A convention (an annual gathering) of cooperating churches.
A network that funds missions, church planting, seminaries, disaster relief, and various ministries.
A fellowship of churches with broadly shared doctrinal convictions.
A voluntary partnership—churches choose whether to participate and can leave at any time.
What the SBC Is Not
It is not a hierarchy above the local church.
It does not own local church property.
It does not appoint pastors or elders.
It generally cannot tell a church how to conduct its ministry, except that it can determine whether a church is in friendly cooperation and therefore eligible to remain in the convention.”

The conversation swirling around the last few weeks has centered on a particular amendment to the SBC constitution, which was voted on at the annual meeting of the SBC, held in Orlando, FL.
The amendment that has generated the discussion is the "Truth and Unity Amendment" (previously called the Law Amendment in its earlier form).
It would add language to the SBC Constitution clarifying that a cooperating Southern Baptist church does not:
"affirm, appoint, or endorse a woman serving in the office or function of pastor/elder/overseer, specifically preaching to the assembled congregation."
If adopted, this language would place any church engaging in these practices regarding women in the office or function of pastor under review by the Credentials Committee, with final judgment resting in the hands of messengers at the SBC Annual Meeting.
If investigated and found guilty of violating the language of this amendment, and then voted on by the messengers as such, the church in violation would be removed from affiliation in the SBC.
In short, if you have a woman preach on Sundays, you will be removed from the SBC after a thorough process.
But before I go any further, let me start with some general thoughts on the annual convention, and we will work our way towards clarifying comments in regards to the controversy regarding the amendment.

General Reflections and Encouragements

Near the beginning of the annual meetings, we all (over ten thousand?) joined together for the IMB (International Mission Board) Commissioning.

During this portion of the meetings, we heard from 63 missionaries who are this year being sent to countries all over the world.

They each gave a brief backstory, talked about their destination and the gospel need, and shared prayer requests.

For many of them, their destinations are so dangerous/restrictive that their faces couldn’t be shown, and their voices were AI generated to protect their security.

It’s hard to express the emotion you feel as you sit and listen to this many people describe a calling to the mission field and a desire to reach the unreached with the gospel of Jesus.  

This is what it’s all about, quite literally, when it comes to the SBC.

We aren’t mainly gathering to argue about doctrine (although that is a necessary component of maintaining missional integrity), but to reach the lost with the gospel.

The annual meetings are quite a unique experience.  There are open mics, to which any qualified messenger in the room (of thousands) can freely approach the mic and voice affirmation or disagreement with a given motion or resolution.

Edits were proposed, differences of opinion were expressed, and the president, Clint Pressley, put on a clinic in how to handle disagreement with directness, humor, and charity.

I would note that, in the room, there was a warm spirit, even in disagreements.  The overall “vibe,” sorry I can’t think of a better word, was joyful excitement at what the Lord is doing in us and through us.

As a church planter, it moved me to see and hear from so many other men who have watched their small group of committed members stack chairs and take ‘em down, celebrated having a new family join their church, and preached in front of those good ole black backdrops that cover up ugly gym walls.

But, let’s get into the issue at hand.  The Truth and Unity Amendment.

The context and need for the amendment

First of all, let me say this:  Our shared statement of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, already clearly states:

“While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor/elder/overseer is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.”

One would hope this might settle the issue.  It hasn’t.  

You would be right to ask, if the statement of faith says it so clearly, why do we need to vote on an amendment to the constitution that just says the same thing as our doctrinal confession already says?
Again, thank you to the summarizing power of the internet:
“The answer is that a confession and a constitution serve different purposes.
The Baptist Faith and Message tells us what Southern Baptists believe. It is our doctrinal statement. The Constitution, however, helps define what it means for a church to be in friendly cooperation with the Convention.
In recent years, questions have arisen because some churches have affirmed women with pastoral titles or functions while still affirming the Baptist Faith and Message in principle. This has led to disagreements about how our confession should be applied and whether certain churches should remain in friendly cooperation with the SBC.”
Supporters of the amendment, among whom I happily count myself, believe that if our confession clearly reserves the pastoral office for qualified men, then our Constitution should also clearly articulate how that conviction affects our cooperation.
In other words, the amendment does not seek to create a new doctrine, but bring clarity to an ancient one for purposes of defining what it means for a church to be in friendly cooperation with the SBC.
Right now, a church can play word games with the Baptist Faith and Message, and have a woman preach on Sundays, but not call her a pastor.  
Or, a church can say that a woman performs the function of pastor but doesn’t hold the office.
This can protect you from a clear violation of the spirit of our doctrinal position.
This is why the clarity from the amendment is needed.
The amendment passed, basically 75 percent to 25 percent.  Whitney and I are humbled and grateful to say that we were a part of the 75 percent. Glory to God.

Peeling back the Onion
All of those procedural notes being laid out, I want to speak to you now about the broader picture, from a pastor’s perspective.

I have read many articles, tweets, and blogs this week angrily opposing what just happened in Orlando, as Southern Baptists overwhelmingly voted in support of the Truth and Unity Amendment.

I have read headlines and statements such as:

"SBC votes against women."
"SBC bans women from ministry."
"SBC silences women."
"The SBC thinks women are inferior."
"The SBC cares more about women pastors than abuse."

These types of reactions to decisions and beliefs we do not personally hold have unfortunately become the air we breathe in our online age.

I’m not an educated man.  But, if you will indulge me, I want to take a minute to regurgitate to you a few lessons in basic logical fallacies.

1. Straw Man
A straw man happens when you misrepresent someone else’s position in order to make it easier to attack.
For example, you might tweet out, in response to the vote: "SBC votes against women."
The problem here is, to point out one specific example, my wife voted right along with me, and was absolutely zealous to find a way to arrange childcare and find money in our budget so that we could be present for this vote.  
We simply were not voting for or against the worth and value of women.  
We were voting for or against the biblical picture for pastoral ministry as clearly defined by scripture, and defining how that understanding would relate to friendly cooperation within the bounds of the SBC.
The Sunday after the convention, much of my sermon happened to focus on the positive example of Hannah presented in the book of 1 Samuel.  

This was not a “vote against women,” and this pastor is not “against women.”

I am against women doing things God neither created nor called them to do, in the same way I am opposed to men doing things they were neither created nor called to do, such as dressing like women, marrying men, or claiming they can be pregnant.
2. False Equivalence
This is when you treat two things as if they are the same, when in reality, important differences exist.  For example, you interpret a vote against women as pastors to mean that women can’t do any meaningful ministry.
So you might read, "SBC bans women from ministry."
The problem with this view is that the day before, we had just witnessed dozens of women commissioned for ministry as missionaries to great enthusiasm and thunderous applause.
Besides, if being a pastor was the only way anyone could do ministry, then 99% of the people in our churches would not have a place to do any ministry, regardless of gender.
Women are not banned from ministry, not in our church nor in the Bible.  
They can teach other women.  They can teach children.  They can serve meals, meet needs, and share the gospel with their children, neighbors, and friends.
This Sunday, a woman will help lead a song and probably pray during our service.
We are not, have not, and will not “ban women from ministry.”
3. Hasty Generalization
This is when you draw one big ole conclusion from one narrow fact.
So, a reporter might say something like: “The SBC thinks women are inferior."
I simply do not believe the people in my church, who listen to me preach week after week, are inferior to me.

Whether you stand behind the pulpit or sit in front of it does not determine your worth, dignity, or value in the eyes of the Lord.

Any pastor worth his salt knows that many of the Christians sitting in front of the pulpit are far more holy than the man standing behind it.

4. Loaded Language / Appeal to Emotion
This is a rampant and repeat offender in our day.  This is when you use emotionally charged language to persuade rather than using facts or evidence.
So you might write something like: "SBC silences women" instead of “SBC votes to uphold the biblical definition of a pastor.”
Can you spot the difference?
There is a lot of money in this fallacy, and our favorite podcasters know it.

The Bigger Issue

So all of these people from outside the SBC have used logical fallacies to cause quite a stir, it seems.

But there are bigger issues than pagan news outlets using unequal weights and measures.

My concern has been the amount of professing Christians whose issues with the decision have been numerous and loud and lacking specific scripture.  

I haven’t seen many, if any, negative posts about the SBC’s vote that have gone on to use scripture to explain away the clear teaching that the role and function of pastor is reserved for men.

But even if there have been a few posts here and there that attempt to explain away Paul’s clear teaching in Timothy, there is a bigger issue.

This debate isn’t ultimately about a proof text here or there in one book of the Bible. It is about God’s good design for sex and gender stretching back to the very first book of the Bible, and then catapulting from there across the entirety of the 66 book canon.

We aren’t actually debating a few verses of the Bible, we are debating the function and role of men and women in general.

Let me introduce a few more terms, if you’re still with me.

Egalitarian and Complementarian

The terms have their own issues, but for our purposes, they are helpful.

An egalitarian is someone who views the roles and functions of men and women as fundamentally interchangeable.

A complementarian is someone who, broadly speaking, views men and women as having equal worth and value, but differing roles and functions by God’s design.

The reason much of our complementarian reasoning has fallen short in recent years is that we have simply stopped at a few key verses that define the pastorate.

I am not simply asking you to evaluate a statement from Paul in the pastoral epistles (although that should clearly settle it).

I am asking you to go back with me to the garden.  

What’s at stake here is not simply, “Will the world’s largest protestant denomination allow women to preach on Sunday?”

The issue is:  “Did God make man and woman fundamentally different and for different purposes?”

The biggest reason many people have an objection to a male only pastorate is not because of their particular interpretation of a passage in the pastoral epistles, it is because they have bought into our culture’s lie that men and women are interchangeable.

If men and women are interchangeable, then of course a woman can pastor!  

But they are not interchangeable.  They are unique by God’s good design.

And this is my charge and challenge to my complementarian friends and my complementarian church.  

It’s courageous, sure, in the face of a feminist culture and society, to stand on God’s word and hold the line with a vote that clarifies the role of pastor as being reserved for men only.

But the question is this: will courage for us be a mere white knuckled grip on a few verses that we actually aren’t comfortable with concerning male only pastors, or will we give ourselves wholly and happily to God’s good design for sex and gender in all of scripture?

Let’s not just be bold about who can preach on Sunday morning, let’s go beyond that and enthusiastically champion God’s good design for manhood and womanhood in all of life.

Men and women are different.  And this is good. Christian, don’t apologize for this, promote it.

We are losing a generation of young men who have been told that their masculinity is a toxic problem not a transcendent gift.

And we are losing a generation of young women who are being told they can and should do everything men do.

The church has the fix.  And we have the fix because we have a word from the Lord on the matter.  We have the instruction manual, written by the creator Himself.


Let me quote Doug Ponder and Bryan Laughlin on this point in an article that you should go read, found here.

“First, we must see the biblical teaching on the sexes as good, not just right. The Bible is not bitter medicine. Indeed, for those who know the God of Scripture, they are soul-reviving statutes intended for our good (Ps. 19:7–11). The problem we face at present is that many Christians are embarrassed by unpopular doctrines, doctrines which they increasingly find unhelpful or unnecessary because they have unknowingly accepted certain feminist assumptions. The only antidote is to trust the wisdom and love of God. We must believe that he knows better than us and that he has our best interests in mind. This is the first and most crucial step for embracing God’s design for men and women.” (This article was first published on Sola Ecclesia, the online theological journal of Grimké Seminary.).

Good. Not just right.

Is that how you view God’s design for male and female?

So what’s the bottom line in all of this?

It’s this:  I am happy for a church that enthusiastically embraces God’s design for the sexes.

You are courageous, you have biblical convictions, and for that I am thankful to the Lord.  You make my job, to stand on the Bible in the face of a hostile culture, easier.

But let’s go further.  Let’s not settle for a biblically sound but bitter spirited embrace of what God says, while secretly wishing it were different.

Let’s humbly submit ourselves to God’s word in all areas of life, particularly as it relates to sex and gender, with happiness and hope.

Let us with joy discover the beauty and wisdom in God’s good design for men and women.

When your unbelieving coworker, or your friend who’s part of a more liberal denomination, asks you about your denomination’s recent vote, I beg you:  Do not cower.  Do not feel guilty.  Do not rush to explain all the things your church still allows women to do.

Just say:  Yes, our pastor voted for the amendment. We are happy to celebrate God’s good design for men and women.

I leave you with a final illustration, one I believe I got from John Piper over the years somewhere along the way.



Imagine a husband and wife are lying in bed at 2 in the morning.

They hear a sound.  A bump in the night.

Stop.  Ask yourself - who should get up and go investigate?

Now ask yourself, why him?

You know the man should go investigate. This is by God’s design.  

He is physically stronger and emotionally wired for that type of conflict in a way that his wife is not.

This is good for the man, and particularly good for the woman.

At this point, let me bring it back to the role and function of pastor.

Pastoring is an outflow of the man’s general calling to lead, guide, and protect.

The man protects his house.  And the pastor protects his flock.

It’s been widely pointed out that the number of aspiring pastors has declined in recent years.  There are simply more pulpits than pastors.

To be sure, there are a variety of factors.  

But no doubt, one of the factors is that we have tamed, civilized, and ultimately effeminized the role of pastor to the point that our young men do not find it a high calling or a sacred duty.

And so, we have come to the place where many evangelicals can’t think of any reason why a woman couldn’t or shouldn’t pastor.

We have lost the biblical vision for the role, and for men in general.

This is our moment.  Not just as a denomination, but as a culture.  There is a noise at the door.  A bump in the night.

The world, the flesh, and the devil are telling us that gender is a social construct.

“Women can marry women.  

Men can have babies.

It doesn’t matter who preaches on Sunday morning.”

God is calling us to something more.  Something better.  Something satisfying. Something high and holy.

It’s time we wake up.

Let’s go meet the sound, with the joy and boldness of the Holy Spirit coursing through our spiritual veins, and pray that God sends the necessary revival to change a society from the inside out.

Trust God in the ordinary, and let Him worry about the extraordinary.


Saul tells David he’s too young and inexperienced to fight Goliath, since Goliath has been a trained warrior from his youth.

David responds by pointing to his past as a shepherd: when lions or bears attacked his flock, he pursued them, killed them, and rescued the sheep.

He argues that the same God who helped him defeat those predators will also deliver him from Goliath.

When I say that, of course our minds rightly go - Wow, David had killed lions and bears.  That’s crazy.

I admit, those are some pretty extraordinary victories.

But notice, these extraordinary victories occurred in the course of David living his ordinary life as a shepherd.

Before David ever faced Goliath, he had learned to depend on the strength of God in his everyday vocation and calling.  

David didn’t wake up looking for giants to slay, he woke up looking for sheep to protect.

David stacked up years of watching God work in the ordinary, with no one giving him recognition, no rounds of applause, no praise from the king.

And after years of dependance on God in his ordinary life, the Lord put him in a position to achieve something extraordinary.

And think about this - the only reason David was even at the battlefield is because he humbly obeyed his dad’s instructions to bring bread and cheese to the soldiers.

It was as David was faithfully tending the sheep, and just faithfully honoring his father’s commands to essentially wait tables for the soldiers, that God put him in the position to conquer the giant.

Some of us would be happy to be seen as a giant killer, but we’re too good to be seen carrying bread and cheese to the battlefield.

Many of us love the idea of extraordinary greatness, but don’t have much time for ordinary godliness.

God doesn’t call you to pursue greatness, He calls you to pursue godliness.

You chase godliness, let God handle the greatness.

Well, you may say, I don’t struggle chasing greatness.  I’m not some athlete or  movie star.

I know how ordinary I am.

Well, I think we all struggle with this in our own way.  

We want to be the best.  We want to impress.  We want to be recognized. We want personal greatness on some level.

You’re not called to be the greatest coach or the greatest teacher ever or the greatest mom or the greatest friend ever.

You are called to be a godly coach.  A godly teacher.  A godly mom. A godly friend.

If you’re thinking of your life in light of David's, what I’m saying is that some of us need to refocus on the bears and lions in our life, and let God decide if we’ll ever cross paths with a giant.

Some of us just need to carry the bread and cheese to the battlefield and let God take care of the rest.

You have a battle to fight, right now, today in pursuit of ordinary godliness.

Maybe it’s just that you need to forgive somebody.  Or reach out to someone and ask for their forgiveness.

Maybe you just need to be more intentional as a spouse, and simply be a better listener.

Maybe you haven’t really been working at your job with a godly zeal, because you wanna do something more significant.

Maybe you just need to start getting in the word more.

There are some things we all need to focus on right now today in the pursuit of ordinary godliness.

You stack up days and weeks and months of years of ordinary obedience, of long obedience in the same direction, and God will handle the greatness.

God will increase your fruitfulness and your impact.  

You just seek to be a godly dad, and your kids will look back one day at the end of your life, and they will say - he was a great dad.

You just seek to be a godly employee, and your boss is probably at some point going to recognize you as a great employee.

You just seek to be a godly friend, and your friends are going to say that you are a great friend.

But as for you, you just pursue godliness.  Let God handle the greatness.



Meditation on God’s past victories fuels our faith for future victories

This is connected to the previous point.  

1 Samuel 17:37 (ESV)

37And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”


David not only pursued the Lord’s strength and help in the ordinary, he used those past experiences with God to increase his faith in the future activity of God.

Reflecting on God’s past victories fuels faith in God’s future activity.



In other words, when you don’t know what God is doing, and you are anxious because you aren’t sure what He’s gonna do, start thinking back to everything He’s already done.

But, what if I can’t think of much that God has done for me? My life has been really hard.  I haven’t seen miracles.

Let me remind you of this:

Romans 8:32–33 (ESV)
32He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

What God has done for all of us in the past is provide His perfect Son as a sin canceling sacrifice.

When you aren’t sure how he’s going to get you out of a difficult situation, think back to how He got you out of your sin.

When you aren’t convinced that He’s going to provide, think back to how He provided His only Son for you at the cross.

When you are worried that sin and satan have gotten the upperhand, think back to how God defeated the devil and covered over your sin at the cross.

David's reasoning was - if God delivered me from lions and bears, then I expect to just add Goliath to the list of God given victories.

And we can reason the same way.  If God gave me His only Son, I can expect Him to give me every victory I need.