The Christian Reformed Church (CRC), a quasi-mainline denomination originating in the Dutch Reformed tradition, had been trending in a more liberal direction. It approved of ordaining women and its Calvin University took a more progressive tack. But recently the denomination has pivoted to the right on sexuality issues. What dynamics have been at play in the CRC? What does the future hold for this denomination? CRC pastor and Youtuber Paul VanderKlay joins to discuss.

Paul VanderKlay's Youtube Channel:   https://www.youtube.com/@PaulVanderKlay 

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Conservatives have a strong preference to have other people make their points for them. Hence they love liberals who criticize wokeness, or Muslims who argue for religious freedom. There's nothing wrong with partnering with or promoting others who share your views, but there's something wrong with people who can't seem to advocate for themselves.

The left frequently argues that "structural racism" and other factors dominate our societies. While conservatives rightly recognize these as code words for left ideology, they often react in ways that fail to recognize the way structural forces really do affect individual and group outcomes.

The now disgraced Mark Driscoll was once one of America's hottest "bad boy" pastors. His church had 14,000 attendees, and he had a massive following on social media.

Although his empire imploded in a cascade of scandals a few years back, it's still worth looking at his teachings on gender because stripped of his provocative style, the content is actually pretty similar to what other complementarians (those who assert men are the head of the home and that only men can be pastors) teach even today.

Driscoll's complementarianism can be summed up as: The husband is the head of the home, but what that means is his primary life mission is sacrificing for and serving his wife and kids. He is probably doing a very bad job of this, deserves stern rebuke, and needs to repent. What authority he has should be used to give things to his wife. He is to defer to his wife’s wishes for anything that is not a major life issue. If there’s a conflict on a major issue, he is to try to avoid making the decision if he can, and only do so as a last resort. If his wife is unhappy about that decision, or anything else, she can appeal to the elders of the church to override her husband. She should make sure not to be too submissive to him.

Driscoll sermon Men and Marriage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jacWAsOK0w

Driscoll's "How Dare You!" Rant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkaeAkJO0w8

Newsletter #28: The Anti-Marriage Message of American Pastors: https://www.aaronrenn.com/p/newsletter-28-the-anti-marriage-message

Newsletter #3: The History of the Church and Men: https://www.aaronrenn.com/p/newsletter-3-the-history-of-the-church

There's been a lot of discussion of the limits of the "winsome" model of cultural engagement in the evangelical world, and how it is no longer as effective as it once was and is even counter-productive in some ways. But the culture war model also has limits and is in many ways equally as obsolete. A new model for the negative world is needed that transcends the limits of the old.

Liberal pressure campaigns frequently work. Conservative ones are typically a failure. But the largely spontaneous Bud Light boycott was an exception. I look at why it was an exception - but one that most likely just proves the rule.

A mainline presbyterian Gen-Z videocaster and Episcopal priest recently discussed whether mainline denominations can ever be retaken by the theologically orthodox. I share one example that shows at least some level of institutional recapture is possible, though the risks remain very high.

Interview with Jake Meador: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxP_sPcCIkY

My podcast on Tim Keller: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1330924/6548746-regarding-tim-keller

My podcast on mainline Protestantism: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1330924/8416331-the-cost-of-the-decline-of-mainline-protestantism

Peter Thiel says that "brilliant thinking is rare, but courage is in even shorter supply than genius."  We see that on display in the way the leadership of the Gospel Coalition threw pastor and TGC Keller Center fellow Josh Butler under the bus when the hate mob came for him. This is unfortunately standard operating procedure in much of American leadership today.  We all need to find ways to become incrementally more courageous in order to deal with the serious challenges facing our society and the church today.

Conservative insurgents have won elections in a number of places. But as we've seen in cases ranging from Ottawa County, Michigan to North Idaho College to the Hamilton East Library, they often lack detailed knowledge of the governments they are now in charge of, and are getting tripped up by process and other errors. Some to-dos for conservatives, with a focus on libraries.

American's view of what an oppressive, authoritarian society looks like is shaped by models like Naziism, Communism, George Orwell's 1984, or perhaps the persecution of the early church. These systems are both formally repressive, relying on hard government power. And also almost entirely bad. But there are other models in which bad is mixed with good, and in which the system functions differently while still being at some level repressive. China is an example of this. The United States is another. The US model is very unique, based on a hybrid public-private-philanthropic system, and must be understood on its own terms.