Contentious & mouthy, or quiet and gentle? Let’s compare
By Elizabeth Prata
Beth Moore left the Southern Baptist Convention last year, loudly and badly. She is an Anglican now, happy to be proclaiming prayers and Psalms from her home church pulpit. But she is still talking to us in the SBC about how to run things, what should happen, and having opinions all over the place about a denomination of which she is no longer a part.
My sisters, this should not be. She is a perfect example of a contentious and divisive woman, someone the husband gets away from on the rooftop. A quiet and gentle spirit, she ain’t.
It is better to live on a corner of a roof
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.
Proverbs 21:9
A constant dripping on a day of steady rain And a contentious woman are alike;
Proverbs 27:15
If you notice, certain false teachers have a schtick. They don’t change their MO. Why? Because it works for them. Moore’s MO has taught her that having negative topical opinions frequently proclaimed stirs up her audience and gets her the attention she craves.
She tweeted the following the other day:
Chris Hohnholz of Voice of Reason Radio (podcasts found at slavetotheking.com) published a tweet thread rebutting Moore’s latest exhortations and imprecations. It’s concise and masterly. It’s not simply a rebuttal but also a mini-lesson on spotting a nefarious agenda. I asked him if I could reproduce it here and he gave permission. Please follow Chris and his partner Richard Story (@Richardst5 on Twitter). Meanwhile, here’s Chris:
All you have to do to mock biblically conservative Christians is mischaracterize their motivations, ignore the work and research they’ve done on matter, refuse to engage their arguments, and call them fearful. When pleasing the world is more important than God, our god is power.
This is the kind of sugary Christian-esque language that goes over great with the unsaved world. It’s the language of the winsome and nuanced. Instead of engaging what actual arguments are being made in the SBC right now (she gives the context in the thread), Beth simply appeals to the base emotional responses of her audience. “There was a sex scandal! We need to do something! If you don’t want to do something, you hate women! If you speak against it, you’re just fearful of change!” Beth has demonstrated repeatedly her hatred of those who felt she should be held to a biblical standard. She fled the SBC because that spotlight was too bright and too many questions were being asked for her liking.
It damages the brand when you are shown to be violating biblical commands. She didn’t engage the arguments back then. She lashed out and referred to bigotry and misogyny as the reasons people were holding her to biblical standards. Now she’s doing it again, this time from afar. She’s not SBC anymore, but she still wants to change them.
And here, she doesn’t actually engage what some people are saying. She’s just appealing to the “Do something!” crowd by making wild accusations like before. “They don’t want change because they’re fearful! They don’t really love Jesus, they just want power!” Who does this convince? Those on the leftist end. Those outside the biblical church. Those who don’t want to uphold biblical standards. It’s the crowd she’s always appealed to.
Beth isn’t concerned about those who hold to Biblical truth. They are obstructions to her agenda. Beth wants them ousted. She wants the church filled with emotional squish-bombs who hang on her every word. So, mark and beware. When someone like Beth is using emotionally laden language and avoiding the meat of an argument, they’ve got an agenda in mind. And it’s not how to bring the church into a righteous and holy walk with Christ.
End Chris Hohnholz comment.
And wasn’t that last line a gut punch to the conscience? Our entire goal should always be: What can I do to bring glory to God? His glory is the only thing that matters. The Westminster Catechism says in the very first question:
What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him for ever. [b]
[a]. Psalm 86:9; Isaiah 60:21; Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 10:31; Revelation 4:11
[b]. Psalm 16:5-11; 144:15; Isaiah 12:2; Luke 2:10; Philippians 4:4; Revelation 21:3-4
There are only two realities: In Christ and opposing Christ. If we are in Christ our goal should always be to proclaim Gospel truth, correct gently, be patient with those who doubt, and walk holy. Our righteousness was given to us by Christ and it is His. In return we can be mindful of that fact, and give Him the glory He deserves. Sisters, don’t get sucked into controversies, being busybodies going from house to house (or tweet to tweet) arguing. Keep on the path of righteousness, glorifying God, and walking on the holy path with Christ. A quiet and gentle spirit outclasses all.
