Season: 10 Episode: 150
Listen to episode 146 in Spanish:
Summary:
A few weeks ago, Marianne Budde scolded President Trump from behind a pulpit at the inaugural prayer breakfast. What does this say about the state of the church? Leadership changes every four years but the church is supposed to be the constant that holds the culture accountable to objective truth. Is the church being changed by the culture or is the culture changing the church? It’s one or the other. We talk about the importance of knowing scripture and why speaking the truth matters now more than ever.
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A few weeks ago, “Bishop” Marianne Budde spoke at the inaugural prayer breakfast of President Trump and asked him to have mercy on illegal immigrants and the LGBT+ community. This is less about politics and more about the state of the church. We’re going to talk about why politics don’t need to change as much as the church needs to stand on biblical truth.
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Alright, today we’re going to talk about the state of the church and why I’m concerned more about the state of the church than I am the political climate. Because politics is always changing and we’re going to get a new president in 4 years. But the church should be a constant in the way we uphold biblical truth.
- What does the woman who represented the church, Bishop Marianne Budde, reveal about the state of the church?
2. What does the acceptance of her speech by the culture say about the church?
3. How ought Christians respond?
Marianne Budde
Who is Marianne Budde? I’m going to read an excerpt from apneas.com – Associated Press
“Budde, 65, is the first woman to lead the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, a position she has held since 2011. She oversees 86 churches across Washington, D.C., and Maryland, with 38,000 members.
National spokespeople for the Episcopal Church called Budde “a valued and trusted pastor.” They said, “We stand by Bishop Budde and her appeal for the Christian values of mercy and compassion.”
Before her current post, she served as a parish priest at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Minneapolis for 18 years.
Budde grew up in New Jersey and Colorado, and for a time as a teenager, she identified as an evangelical. Later she returned to the Episcopal Church, the mainline Protestant denomination of her childhood.
She graduated from the University of Rochester and Virginia Theological Seminary, an Episcopal institution just outside Washington.
“I’m a mom. I’m a grandmother. I really care about the people in our communities,” Budde said.
It goes on to say:
And as she watched the inauguration the day before she was set to preach, she noted Trump-supporting clergy offered a different Christian perspective in their prayers than her own. She hoped to show another way to interpret the world through the lens of faith.
More than a dozen religious leaders spoke during the cathedral’s interfaith service, including those from Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu traditions.
Notably absent from the invited clergy with speaking roles were conservative evangelicals, who are among Trump’s strongest supporters and now among Budde’s loudest critics.
The strong reactions to Budde’s sermon largely fell along predictable political and religious lines. Progressive people of faith found in her an inspiring example of “ speaking truth to power.” Some conservative religious voices found her plea confrontational and disrespectful. Others took issue with a woman in a powerful church leadership role, which their traditions reserve for men.
On the Episcopal Diocese of Washington’s website https://edow.org/about/bishop-mariann/ it says:
“A passionate believer in the gospel of Jesus and the Episcopal Church’s particular witness, Bishop Budde is committed to the spiritual and numerical growth of congregations and developing new expressions of Christian community. She believes that Jesus calls all who follow him to strive for justice and peace, and to respect the dignity of every human being. To that end, Bishop Budde is an advocate and organizer in support of justice concerns, including racial equity, gun violence prevention, immigration reform, the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons, and the care of creation.”
State of The Church
Obviously Marianne doesn’t represent the entire church but the fact that she is a prominent voice on behalf of Christians is a problem. How did this woman, who calls herself a bishop, get the opportunity to stand behind a podium to speak to the highest office in the land? That’s the problem.The other problem is that many in the church, who call themselves Christians applaud her. Now, we don’t just have Christians as the title in this country to describe that we are biblical. We have to add the adjective “conservative” before Christian and when that happens people suddenly know what kind of Christian we are – a traditional Christian; a biblical Christian; a Christian who holds to the biblical standard of marriage. That’s telling.
Today, we have Mormons who call themselves Christians, JWs who call themselves Christians, and progressives who themselves Christians. What happened to just being a Christian – a follower of Jesus Christ and His teachings?
I was reviewing some of George Barna’s stats from the 2022-2023 AWI and he said his studies show that 37% of American Christian pastors have a BW. Only 17% of children and youth pastors have a BW. These are the people teaching the Bible behind pulpits in America every week. You cannot give what you don’t have so you will not give someone a biblical worldview if you don’t have one. We’re barely at a little over 1/3 of the leaders in the church who have a BW.
The church is only as strong as its leaders.
And we don’t have enough strong leaders with a biblical worldview in these positions. That’s a problem. The future of the church is not bright when we allow Mariianne Buddes to stand behind the pulpit. People will think that’s harsh but it’s not. It’s true. You guys have heard me say that Barna’s stats show 64% of Americans claim to be Christians but only 4% have a BW- that number – the 4% will not go up unless someone disciples them and that will only happen when someone with a biblical worldview disciples them.
That is the state of the church. This is a make or break moment. At what point do we stop compromising for the sake of “nice”? Followers of Christ are not ashamed of Christ or His word. We can be kind, of course. But we also must be honest. We must speak the truth without compromise.
Acceptance From The Culture
I think a litmus test for whether or not we’re on the right track of speaking biblical truth is whether or not the culture is applauding us. Jesus told us that the world would hate us because it hated him. I think we can sometimes fool ourselves into thinking that if we give a little here or a little there then everyone will be accepting of Jesus and the Bible. Jesus didn’t bend the message for the masses. He didn’t compromise to keep the crowds. In fact, as Jesus’ ministry continued, He increased the intensity of His message. John 6 is a fine example – eat my flesh and drink my blood. Many of His disciples walked away because it was a “hard saying.” He didn’t run after them. Instead, He turned to the 12 and asked, “Do you want to go away too?”
He continued to increase the intensity when He told His disciples they too had to deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Him.
That’s not fun stuff.
In John 12:42-47 it says, “42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved human praise more than praise from God.
44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
It’s hard for me to wrap my head around the idea that someone can believe that Jesus is God yet want the praise of fallible, mortal men more than the creator of the universe. Yet. It’s in all of us to feel that pull. And so when Christians stand behind a pulpit and compromise the word of God, you’ll get people in you seats. But don’t let the numbers fool you. Jesus said wide is the gate that leads to destruction and many go through it. Narrow is the gate that leads to life and few find it.
Paul warned Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:3
In the last days people will not endure sound doctrine – meaning they will not sit through the challenge of biblical truth because it grates against their human desires – but instead they will accumulate for themselves teachers who tickle their ears with things they want to hear according to their own lusts. And guess what women who call themselves preachers like Marianne Budde is doing? She’s the ear tickler. She’s opening the gate to the wide road and leading many down it. And when you think about it- they’re all working together – the one who loves the praises of men and the one who loves the ear tickling. The problem is they’re in the church and it reveals the compromise of God’s word.
This woman was praised by the women on The View.
Mainstream media have hailed her as brave.
That ought to let you know that you’re not on the right track.
So What Is Our Response?
First things first, we have to know what the Bible says. The path to a biblical worldview is biblical literacy. You will not think and live biblically if you don’t know the Bible. And you certainly won’t know a false teacher when he/she is behind a pulpit. And let me also say that I do not see any biblical justification for a female pastor. None. If you want to talk about when and how a woman should teach, fine. Let’s talk about it, but there are roles for men and women in the church and I don’t see leading the church as the role God gave women.
Second, if we know what the Bible says, we can contend for the faith. If we don’t know what the Bible says, how can we contend for the faith? That is our responsibility as Christians. Jude tells us to contend for the faith. When someone on the outside of the church says something against the church – OK. That’s to be expected. Paul told the Corinthians that we are not to judge those outside the church. What do they have to do with God or the Bible? They didn’t claim that standard.
But as soon as someone comes into the church and says, “I am a Christian” then there is a standard they claim to live by and it’s not subjective. It’s not subject to change. It’s a standard to uphold. To contend is not passive. It means to “assert something as a position in an argument.” We must state our case as Biblical Christians and it has to be founded on the word. If you’re not sure why this is so important, read Jude’s letter. He makes it pretty clear why we have to contend for the faith.
Why It Matters?
I don’t know if you have whiplash over the contrast between the last two leaders but it’s night and day. One president wants to trans kids and allow men into women’s sports and the other puts an end to it immediately. One president has wide open borders and the other puts an end to open borders immediately. This is a pendulum swing and all leaders will come and go. Some will be good and some will be terrible. But the church will remain. The Bible doesn’t change. The standard of truth doesn’t change. I don’t know what will happen in politics in 4 years from now but I can tell you this – if the church doesn’t stand on biblical truth and get a backbone to speak the truth, the culture will not change. People always say, “Christians aren’t here to change the culture. Why do you talk about politics. Just be a Christian.” Well, I would argue that when you live for God according to the word of God and speak the truth of God’s word, it’s impossible not to change the culture. Meanwhile, the passivity of the church has allowed Bishop Marianne Budde to stand behind a pulpit and scold the president for rounding up illegal immigrants and reiterating the biological fact that there are only two genders.
No. You either change the culture or the culture changes you. It’s as simple as that.
Close:
I encourage you to read the Bible. Get into the word. Speak it. Live it. And seek the praises of God over the praises of men. If you have any questions for me, email me at hello@shandafulbright.com and I’ll catch you on the next one.
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