Providing Evidence is Not Manipulation Used to Gain Power… but Not Providing Evidence usually Is.
We don’t respond to every bit of criticism or attack made against us, especially not by making an article and podcast, but this one seemed worth a response. Dave Miller is the editor of SBC Voices, an online opinion platform from which various SBC leaders and personalities get their messages out. Dave is the former pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church in Sioux City, Iowa (the SBV Voices bio is a year or two out of date). In an article recently published at SBC Voices, Rev. Miller starts off
“There is no shortage of voices in the SBC [Southern Baptist Convention] claiming that the end is near, that we balance on a precipice over the pit of destruction. I believe most of those voices are mistaken – some out of ignorance and others willfully. Most of the “enemies within the church” they warn us about are bogeymen designed to manipulate us into action, so that they can gain and maintain power.”
Rev. Miller, we provide evidence for our claims, what about you? And no, it is not a coincidence that Dave Miller uses the phrase “enemies within the church” as he does, because Sioux City, Iowa, is the home of Enemies Within the Church, as well as the home of Rev. Miller. Rev. Miller, if you have a fact-based issue with us, or our content, then we are man enough for you to state that clearly and directly. Further, if you become aware of this (and we are actively trying to contact you), we want to invite you onto The Wokepedia Podcast to discuss the facts when it comes to woke ideologies in the SBC. Please contact us at [email protected]
Why do we mention facts and evidence? Because Miller’s article is devoid of any verifiable facts or references. This is very hypocritical when a significant thrust of the article is the ever popular idea of “unity.” How is attacking people who raise concerns, while providing no justification, a path to unity? Or deleting dissenting comments, including our comment inviting you to dialog with us?
Rev. Miller is wrong about the condition of the SBC, and he is wrong about those who are sounding warnings to Southern Baptists about enemies within the church. Now the purpose of this response is not to refute his assertions, that is handled well in other resources, many of which are linked below.
Now if he doesn’t see wokeness as a real thing in the SBC, what does he think is wrong with the SBC?
“There is a growing unwillingness to cooperate in missions with churches and fellow believers unless they are in near-unanimous agreement on tertiary issues.”
Now to be fair, the SBC does have a fair amount of that, which is not surprising given its size and its intentionally vague confessional document. By no means is that the biggest threat to the SBC right now. But what does he think is a “tertiary issue”? Well, a simple look at his, and others, articles on SBC Voices and it becomes clear that things such as CRT fall into that camp. This includes bringing in a guest writer to pen a mild critique of CRT that Rev. Miller labeled as “offering [an] opposing viewpoint.” He then went right up the edge, or crossed it, of insult in a comment on the article. In another comment he mocks another commenter, accusing him of “willful blindness” for denying systemic racism.
That is by no means a thorough examination, but all said to give examples of where Rev. Miller is at. Granted, his positions are hard to nail down, as the combination of lack of evidence, blatantly contradictory statements, and (seemly) deficient definitions. Do you not agree with our assessment? Well, look at the evidence we provided, gather some of your own, and we will be more than willing to dialogue about it.
The only boogeyman presented in the article is the one Dave claims is hiding within ministries that actually provide you with evidence to look at. Follow evidence, not emotion.
Article directly dealing with Rev. Miller’s article: https://www.wordfoundations.com/heedthewarnings/
Our film documenting woke ideologies entering the church: www.enemieswithinthechurch.com
Woke SBC compilation: https://youtu.be/qOnaakLuJ90
And be sure to check out other articles here, as well as The Wokepedia Podcast on YouTube, Rumble, or your favorite podcast platform.