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22 June 2025

The SBC Founders Find the Road to not just Loserdom but Functional Apostasy (I)

https://www.theblaze.com/abide/meek-not-weak-the-era-of-christian-loserdom-is-over

https://founders.org/podcasts/tstt-must-christians-lose-down-here/

The Founders here refers not to the American Founders but a movement within the Southern Baptist Convention to recover its Calvinist roots from the time of the antebellum split in American Christianity. I remember hearing about this movement back in the 1990's and it was spoken of with great approval and hope. Today, Tom Ascol is the leader of the Founders. I'm not entirely sure if he's cut from the same cloth as earlier men like Ernest Reisinger who got the movement going. There's no doubt that the Founders have played a significant role in the genesis of New Calvinism.

I must say I was rather disappointed to listen to this latest episode of the The Sword and the Trowel or should I saw The Sword and the Trump - for that is the ethos these people have captured and seem to exude. A simple perusal of their podcast episodes and subjects reveals that all too often they seem to be motivated and driven by GOP/Trump talking points. It would seem that the recovery of 'conservative roots' has been transformed into Christo-Trumpism and as such I deem the Founders project dead and buried. Or one might say it has resurrected not an old Calvinist ethos but something unwholesome.

They speak of a 'vibe shift' - in other words they believe that under Donald Trump (yes, under Donald Trump), the Church's position has suddenly shifted. Christians have opportunities and shouldn't be afraid to wield power. The implications of that come through and reveal a great deal about not just the hearts of the podcast participants but their understanding of the nature of Christianity.

The fact that no one even blinks an eye at a Christian pastor posting an article on Blaze Media is also revealing. The Blaze of course is the platform of the Right-wing Mormon Glenn Beck who played a significant role in fostering the Tea Party. It is a platform for all types of disinformation peddlers, Right-wing activists, and heretics. I suppose in that sense it is appropriate that this New Calvinist pastor is posting his material there. He'll fit right in.

Davis (the pastor being interviewed in the backwards baseball cap) reveals he's wholly cut from the New Calvinist cloth. This comes out in the introduction - which again is kind of strange (or should be) for those who supposedly trying to re-capture the historical character of American Calvinistic Baptist theology.

As expected his thinking and narratives are muddled, right down to his understanding of how events played out during the Covid pandemic. I'm quite certain he's misrepresenting how the 'leftists' went after his congregation. To this day I find most in right-wing circles have not understood the mitigation efforts or protocols. I'm not saying they were all correct nor suggesting they were always applied with consistency but sometimes the thinking had to do with concentrations of people, being able to provide a mitigation plan, and so forth. Without revisiting all the arguments I will only say that for churches that have established themselves as non-profit corporations with the state, they have no standing. They want tax breaks (which are effectively subsidies) but don't want to then answer to the state. You can't have it both ways.*

Davis' article is entitled 'Meek not Weak - The Era of Christian Loserdom is Over'

I was immediately reminded of Meredith Kline's criticism of Theonomic Postmillennialism and the way its authors - men like Rushdoony, North, and others would criticise the Church's progress over the centuries. They would argue that had the Church been more obedient and robust it could have successfully retained, re-captured and/or transformed the West etc.

Kline accused them of blaspheming the Holy Spirit because they treated the glorious testimony of martyrdom (by the True Church) as being akin to being 'losers' on Earth. He rightly argued these people have misread Scripture on a massive scale. They literally do not understand the message, the nature of the Kingdom, and the calling we're given. I would go further and simply state that were Christ to appear today they would crucify him. They would stone the apostles. They literally do not realize how far removed they are from the message and doctrine of the New Testament.

I found the discussion in this podcast to be along the same lines.

I was rather taken aback by his comments regarding competitiveness. It was really strange as I had a very similar experience during my years in Christian high school. It's a story I've often shared regarding (just as Davis reports) the attitude and contradiction in how Evangelicals approach sports.

He grew frustrated with what he felt was a restraint on his desire to conquer his enemies and thus he's equating this with what he calls the 'loser' attitude of Evangelicalism. He believes his desires (presumably being consonant with manhood) are genuinely natural and defensible and thus he wants to justify them in Christian terms and apply them across a broader spectrum.

As a lost teenager attending an Evangelical high school I could not reconcile the Christian ethos with the spirit I had to adopt to be effective on the field. To play solid defense in American football I had to want to hurt the people on the opposite side. To be successful I had to want to hit them hard - hopefully to the point that the ball will get knocked loose and the running back or quarterback will be seeing stars. I had to hate them and if I didn't - I couldn't really get into it. This bothered me - again as an unbeliever who had some Christian background. The whole attitude of 'we hit them hard but then we help them up' made no sense to me and still doesn't. I ended up quitting the team before the season ended. I was tired of the attitude of the coaches. I began to loathe them and frankly looking back after all these years I wonder where their hearts were.

Later when I became a Christian I revisited this episode and realized how problematic the whole attitude of competitiveness is along with the violence and the sham glory of such sports.

Davis wants a Christianity that will allow him to assert himself, exercise agency and win.

Like all Evangelicals with their doctrine of cheap grace (something still very prevalent in New Calvinism)... the doctrine of mortification is unknown to him. As far as 'winning' he does not define this in New Testament terms but according to the world. Romans 8 tells us that we win by being faithful even as we are slaughtered. But you see for men like Davis (who sadly is helping to mislead an entire congregation) the New Testament's teaching is foolishness to him - it's to embrace a 'loser' spirit. This is because he has read the New Testament but has not understood it.

And so for many of these sad deluded men of this type - Covid now becomes their defining moment. It's no wonder they could not understand the New Testament's concerns to love neighbour even to the point of discomfort. It's no wonder they failed to grasp that idealism concerning rights and liberties has nothing to do with New Covenant religion but is instead a body of ideas born of Enlightenment humanism and unbelief. And it's no wonder they were in the final analysis incapable of even asking or entertaining the needed questions of that moment. Davis like many others thinks of himself as heroic and manly for resisting the state's mitigation efforts. In reality his manliness is Nimrodic and has nothing to do with obedience to Christ and the call to take up the cross.

Had they been able to step back from the culture war mentality they would have been able to approach this crisis and the questions it engendered from a completely different standpoint - one that did not just bow to the whims of the state but one that also exercised prudence and applied Christian ethics. We saw very little of this during that sad time and instead the Church's testimony (broadly speaking) was that most Christians don't care and were perfectly willing to let over a million Americans die rather than be inconvenienced or risk losing some profit. It was a shameful episode that despite having already been re-written by the people in these circles must remain a massive blot and condemnation on the American Evangelical movement for all subsequent history to point to and learn from.
When speaking of 'burning the ships' just prior to the 10-minute mark, Davis lays out what is an attempt to baptise the Nimrod/Lamech ethos found in Genesis. Manhood is about conquest, striking down enemies, building towers of greatness and power. It's striking how unfamiliar he (and the hosts of the podcast) are with the basic themes of Scripture and redemptive history.

And again, I must ask - where are these churches he speaks of - that teach so-called retreat from the world? Where can I find a church that is 'sour' on agency, power, and winning? I visit churches and see American flags and hear sermons railing against the culture. I see a celebration of American might and power, marking wealth as the blessings of faithfulness, and a giddiness over the prospect of Evangelicals being in upper echelons of American political office.

I find some Evangelicals wishing to avoid the questions - not because they don't hold to these views but because their watered down and accommodating approach to faith also requires numbers. These are 'big' churches with big budgets and their big tent approach needs to keep the money flowing. They focus on the gospel of self-esteem, therapeutic aid, and feel-good entertainment pop-culture worship. They're not rejecting power or sour on the notion of it. They're just unwilling to be controversial and deal with conflict or dissent.

Where can I find churches that are principled in their rejection of what men like Davis are saying? I know of almost none. And those extant are not Evangelical.

I remember attending a church on the Sunday after Roe v. Wade was overturned. It was a Restorationist congregation that historically would not have been overly keen on the Evangelical-political style of Christianity. They were effervescent about the court's ruling. For my part since I view the pro-life movement as a sham (which the Covid episode further proved), I was not particularly encouraged. And the developments since then in both the abortion world and the anti-abortion world demonstrate things are just getting uglier as a result. The pro-abortion crowd has become more militant in pursuit of their wicked goals and the Evangelical Right has become more militant in pursuing alliance with political power and in a desire to use law enforcement, surveillance, and the courts to intimidate and prosecute - again destroying the gospel testimony of mercy, forgiveness, and reconciliation. The cross is transformed into a boot stomping on someone's face and as such the message is deformed and destroyed.

His comments on power (10:00 - 11:00) demand a little closer scrutiny. He thinks that Tim Keller's views of power as servant/leadership are contradictory. Now, I'm not a fan of Keller at all and believe his transformationalist views of culture to be erroneous and harmful. But Davis thinks that servant leadership (which is also problematic) contradicts what we see in the Psalms and what we see in the teachings of Christ.

Where can we find anything in the gospels to support what he's saying about power and ethics? I challenge him (or anyone) to show me one example that vindicates this approach. There are none - not even the overturning of the tables in the Temple and there are countless examples of Christ rejecting the very things he is saying.

As far as the Psalms, it's interesting because this keeps coming up in discussions. Like so many others, Davis does not understand the Psalms in redemptive-historical terms. He's not reading them through the lens of the New Testament. He's not understanding that the voice of the psalmist calling for justice, vindication, or vengeance is ultimately the voice of Christ. They are prophetic and to think that we just take up their plea in the same way David slew Goliath or the like is to Judaize and read the Old Testament in an unfaithful manner. You cannot read the Psalms apart from the New Testament and the revelation of Christ. Redemptive history also reveals why the New Testament has a higher ethical calling. We live in the Last Days as citizens of the eschatological Kingdom. As such we are pilgrims and strangers on the Earth. We don't 'win' as Davis defines it. It's sad, but I'm thinking again of Kline and his charge of misreading on a massive scale. Davis shouldn't be a pastor. He's not qualified as he has not yet grasped the broad strokes of Scripture and how it all works.

Just after the 11-minute mark he even references the 'more than conquerors' line from Romans apparently not realizing that it contradicts everything he's saying. And I'm left to suppose neither of the podcast hosts picked up on this either or were unwilling to challenge his blatant misuse of Scripture.

Rather than revisit Scripture, he simply makes the false assumption that the 18th century American Rebels were right and righteous in their cause. He doesn't even entertain that maybe the Christians who took up arms against George III were wrong. Where do the Scriptures say that if a king is tyrannical that we have the right or imperative to go and kill people so that we can enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? Given that Romans 13 was written when Nero was Caesar, I think Davis has no case to make and is in fact twisting Scripture to justify sin both past and present. He wants Christians to exercise power and agency which means they kill those who oppose them - the state is violence after all. Strength under control (under these many assumptions) is something he calls meekness.

He thinks meekness is restraint. Other think it means to be merely mild and submissive. Rather, it's self-denial, and submission in the sense of submitting to the will of God. It is resignation rooted in faith, long-suffering rooted in grace, and a resting in Providence and accepting our place in the world. This is where some draw comparison to the Stoics which is misguided. This has nothing to do with living according to nature - it's the exact opposite. Davis would live according to nature - fallen nature that is. There's nothing more 'natural' in the context of the fall than to lash out, and to seek revenge and vindication. The fact that he would restrain this impulse in no way removes the substance of what he has embraced and endorses. He still wants to sit atop the Tower of Babel - he just wants to do it with some benevolence and restraint.

He's upset that Evangelicals aren't willing to shed blood. Well, he certainly has blood on his hands - from the Covid episode to say the very least. He's not alone.

I was captivated by his invocation of Nietzsche. He of course condemns him even while he at least partly accepts his criticism of Christianity as being weak and effeminate. He repeats this later with regard to 'Elon' and his comments about Christianity - as if that lost and wretched man has anything to say to the Church.

While the connections between Nietzsche and fascism are debated and Nietzsche himself railed against anti-Semitism, the ideas he expressed regarding the kind of transformative leadership society needed was something that was in the air so to speak and it's hard not to see something of this in the emergence of the Führer-leader model of Hitler. Though Davis would be the last one to see it or admit it, and this is further the case because of the Right's revisionism regarding fascism - it's not too hard to see how this kind of thinking is pushing right-wing Christians in the direction of fascism. We see this not only in the embrace of Trump and his kind of lame and buffoonish fascist style but in actual historical revisionism regarding World War II. Let me clear, I'm not accusing Davis of this but he's swimming in the same waters and drinking from the same wells. It's not just in New Calvinist circles either. It's quite prevalent in the quarters influenced by men like Doug Wilson.

Davis thinks a rejection of his definition of winning is defeatist but he clearly doesn't understand that we've already won and that's why we're willing to die. He doesn't understand the eschatological nature of the victory. He's only capable of understanding this in worldly terms and by the metrics of the sword and the coin. He thinks to win we have to 'exploit' the weaknesses of our enemies. This is because he doesn't believe in the power of the gospel and the foolishness of preaching. He thinks we need to form alliances with the world.

The bottom line is the New Testament just doesn't work. It's actually an argument very much akin to that of Reinhold Niebuhr - another false teacher who in the name of preserving the faith, rejected it and laid the groundwork for further apostasy and capitulation to the world.

The ideas of Davis and the podcast which endorses him are a rejection of what Alan Kreider called the patient ferment of the Early Church. They seem oblivious to the fact that the Church grew and even transformed culture (to a point) without ever taking up the sword of coercion. They did not ally with the state until the fourth century.

The great irony is that once the Church wed itself to the state, culture then entered the Church, transformed it and won the day. These men (or should we say blind guides) would follow that exact same path. Like a dog returning to its vomit our modern dominionists have romanticised Medieval Christendom would take the Church right back to that same dark age in which the Word was buried and effectively silence, the gospel testimony was persecuted, and the Church became indistinguishable from the world.

Continuereading Part 2

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*On this note I will add a comment regarding a controversy in a nearby town where we have some relatives. A growing Charismatic-style congregation has sought to purchase a shuttered car dealership in the heart of a small college town. The property brings in over $20,000 a year in property tax revenue. The town is resisting the congregation's purchase on the basis of zoning and it is generally understood because of the fact that all that tax revenue would be lost - as the property would then become exempt. I'm not sure of the specifics of the zoning question but sometimes this also has to do with traffic and utilities.

The $20,000 which is plugged into the municipality's budget would then have to be made up by other residents by an increase in their tax - or a cut in their services - services the 'church' will also benefit from.

The congregation has responded by filing a lawsuit which to me is in perfect keeping with the Evangelical ethos which effectively rejects New Testament teaching and ethics. Most will undoubtedly support their decision.

What they're asking for is not a break, but privilege and to be subsidized. The tax money they would owe is basically given back to them allowing them to use it for their purposes and expenses. This is not the Church of the apostles to say the least.