I spent the last couple of days telling a group of Christian pastors and college professors that Christianity is the only religious ideology they need. It might surprise you to hear that I failed to convince them. Not because I am wrong but because lots of pastors don’t believe the gospel is as big a deal as the apostles made it out to be a couple thousand years ago.

Maybe your pastor is one of them. You should ask!

I’m not joking.

Ask your pastor these questions:

“Do you believe Christian doctrine should be adjusted to fit with culture?”

“Do you believe there is truth in other religions that isn’t found in Christianity?”

“Do you believe Christians should be involved in social justice?”

That last question is the most important. The pastors in my conversation are certain that Jesus would be a social justice warrior. And if your pastor agrees, then your pastor is preaching a different gospel than the one found in the New Testament. That may not matter to you depending on how you interpret Galatians 1:8…

“Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you.”

Some scholars think this suggests that doctrine matters quite a bit.

You may be wondering why “social justice” and “Critical Race Theory” is a problem for Christians. You’ve been told that “social justice” is simply caring for the poor and seeking justice for the oppressed. That’s what you’re supposed to think. But you’ll quickly discover (when you ask a few questions) that Critical Race Theory (CRT) is NOT about caring for ALL poor people and seeking justice for ALL the oppressed people.

The roots of CRT are in the writings of James H. Cone. I’ll let Cone speak for himself.

If there is one brutal fact that the centuries of white oppression have taught blacks, it is that whites are incapable of making any valid judgments about human existence. The goal of black theology is the destruction of everything white, so that blacks can be liberated from alien gods.

James Cone – A Black Theology of Liberation, page 61-62

We have had too much of white love, the love that tells blacks to turn the other cheek and go the second mile. What we need is the divine love as expressed in black power, which is the power of blacks to destroy their oppressors, here and now, by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject God’s love.

James Cone – A Black Theology of Liberation, page 70

If you’re like me, you’ll be alarmed to learn that the spiritual leaders of your church don’t think Christianity offers everything we need to find God. Sure, these pastors speak highly of Jesus but they’ve got a lot of good things to say about Critical Race Theory too. They told me that Christians need to listen to CRT advocates. The church, according to these pastors, has something to learn from CRT.

Monique Duson knows A LOT about Critical Race Theory and social justice. She knows more than me for sure. So I asked her if Christians can join forces with social justice warriors. Press “play” on the video to hear her answer.

Soapbox with Monique Duson from The Center for Biblical Unity from John Branyan on Vimeo.

If you’ve got a pastor who insists that Christians make friends with social justice advocates, send him this blog post. If he’s like the pastors I’ve talked with, he will ignore it. He might dismiss you for being an imbecile. Don’t take it too hard.

Go find a church that teaches all you need is Jesus.