Book number 41 of 2024
Megan Basham’s new book, Shepherds For Sale, has made a big splash in evangelical Christian circles with its accusations of prominent leaders “selling out” their orthodox Christian principles. I’m a lifelong United Methodist, and in my denomination that battle was lost decades ago. (As an aside, the only reason I still attend my UMC is because I have many dear friends there.) However, I have read and appreciated evangelical authors such as Timothy Keller (The Reason for God), Russell Moore (Onward), and Eric Metaxas (Miracles). Basham has compiled a convincing case that on a variety of hot button issues, quite a few well-respected pastors – “Big Eva” – have attempted to use their influence to convince evangelical congregations and organizations to lobby for progressive legislation that they normally would oppose.
For example, in Chapter 1, she writes how leftwing environmentalism was rebranded as “creation care” by an organization called the Evangelical Environmental Network (EEN). This group received a lot of funding from a Soros-funded think tank, New America, as well as the Clinton Global Initiative. The EEN pushed for cap-and-trade legislation to curb carbon emissions. Meanwhile, evangelical workers in underdeveloped countries were seeing firsthand the incredible damage “green” policies were wreaking. Sri Lanka was, in 2019, improving from a lower-middle-income economy to an upper-middle-income one. Three years later, it was on the verge of collapse, as food shortages became widespread. Rice yields dropped 30%. By joining the fight against climate change, the Sri Lankan government was starving its citizens to death.
Other chapters cover immigration, the pro-life movement, Christian media, Covid-19 policies, critical race theory, the #MeToo movement, and LGBTQ rights. Obviously, Basham is not one to shy away from contentious topics!
So why would Big Eva go left, when its laity are overwhelmingly on the right? Basham makes a convincing case that it’s all about the money. Secular progressive foundations have given millions of dollars to evangelical groups in an attempt to create a wedge between evangelicals and the Republican Party.
If any one person comes off as especially hypocritical in Shepherds For Sale, it’s Russell Moore, the former director of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) and current editor-in-chief of the flagship evangelical magazine, Christianity Today. On issue after issue, Moore took positions that were diametrically opposed to those held by the majority evangelical Christians. He promoted radical environmental policies under the guise of “creation care”, he pushed for open borders, and he uncritically agreed with Francis Collins of the NIH when Collins denied that Covid-19 could have been the result of a virology lab leak. According to Basham, Christianity Today now receives most of its funding from secular organizations like the Lilly Endowment. “Between 2015 and 2022, the outlet’s [Christianity Today’s] staff and board made seventy-four political donations. Every single one went to Democrats.” (page 75) Setting aside the poor ethics of a news organization making political donations, it is not a good sign of intellectual health when everyone in the organization is supporting the same party.
Eric Metaxas, on the other hand, quickly withdrew his support from a petition he signed, once he discovered that it was being used disingenuously to promote a progressive lobbying effort.
The longest chapter is #MeToo, #ChurchToo, and an Apocalypse, which chronicles the sex scandal that roiled the Southern Baptist Convention in 2020/2021. Once again, Russell Moore comes across in a very negative light, opportunistically leaking letters and secretly recorded audio clips to burnish his anti-harassment credibility. As expected, the mainstream media were more than happy to amplify his accusations against fellow SBC members.
As Basham tells it, the whole scandal boiled down to two adults who engaged in an extramarital affair for twelve years. Instead of holding both parties accountable, the SBC adopted the same approach as many colleges and universities did in the wake of the Obama administrations reworking of Title IX. Under the new policies, due process was thrown out, and many men were accused, tried, and convicted by the same investigator. Also, the burden of proof was reduced from “clear and convincing evidence of wrongdoing” to a simple “preponderance of evidence” – a bare majority. The accused had no right to question their accuser, and the whole process could be carried out in private.
So, the SBC launched an extensive investigation, and ended up considering the woman involved in the twelve-year affair as a victim of abuse inflicted by her male partner. A group of activists used the scandal to replace the conservative members of the SBC Executive Committee.
A thread running through all of the chapters is how secular and political organizations appropriate religious language to promote their causes. Pretty much anything is justified by simply invoking Jesus’ command to “Love your neighbor” – green policies, masking and social distancing, “anti-racism” struggle sessions, allowing unlimited migrants into the country, supporting “gender-affirming care” for minors, etc.
Basham closes Shepherds For Sale with a very moving personal testimony of how she came to faith in Christ. She is now a happily married mother, but when she was in her early twenties there certainly wasn’t any indication that was the way she would end up. She credits a book by John MacArthur, The Vanishing Conscience, for getting her on the right path, and a church community that included her future husband.
The reaction to Shepherds For Sale has been swift. A quick look at Ms. Basham’s X feed shows how many times she has been attacked. Some reviews have been very negative. One at The Dispatch even tried to make the case that Basham’s book was about Trump!
For me, the larger question Basham’s book raises is, “What is the proper role of politics for persons of faith?” The common failing of all the evangelical leaders named in Shepherds For Sale is a loss of perspective. They all subordinated their faith to a pursuit of political and social prestige. If you care about what the New York Times and NPR think of you, then you’re doing something wrong.
Conservatives have no reason to feel superior, either. Tim Alberta has just published The Kingdom, The Power, And The Glory, which documents how that side of the political spectrum is tempted toward “Christian Nationalism”. The older I get, the more I realize that no matter what ideology is dominant, Christianity is going to be countercultural. That is the role of a vibrant and faithful church – it should always hold those in power accountable.
It looks like Christianity in America is in a time of tremendous upheaval, when established policies and procedures are no longer effective. Old assumptions have to be let go, and new ways of evangelizing adopted. These are exciting times, as the Church once again undergoes transformation. The old mainline Protestant denominations are withering away, and new forms of Christian community and worship are being created. The challenge for today’s Christians is to maintain the orthodox beliefs that they have held since the days of the early Church, while engaging a world that is increasingly consumed with superficial and easily obtained entertainment. Basham’s final message to readers is: Don’t give in to despair! One person can make a big difference.
FracTad's Bookshelf 