The Tone Police – to protect and serve the rabble

A vituperating description of how churches converge, and an explanation of Pastor Wilson’s middle-of-the-road-stance.

Readership: Christians
Length: 2,200 words
Reading Time: 8 minutes

The Dalrock Route

Of prime interest over the holidays, in an answer to a letter from Keith, Pastor Douglas Wilson finally defined what he means by “the Dalrock Route”. (Scroll waaay down this page, or just search for “Dalrock”.) To quote Wilson,

“Keith, from what I have seen, I would describe the Dalrock route as over-realized patriarchy. This is not the same thing as extreme patriarchy (the toxic kind), and it is not the same thing as my own version of (amazingly balanced) patriarchy. I speak as a man, as Paul might say, and that’s the problem, as RHE [sic] might say. Over-realized patriarchy has a tendency to assume that the complementarians who gave away the store (and I agree with Dalrock that many of them did give away the store), did so on purpose. In other words, what they tend to describe as conspiracy, I would describe as a mix of conspiracy from some and confused foolishness from others. This also has had an impact on how Dalrock has interacted with some of my stuff, looping me as one of the conspirators to feminize everything. Since I know that he is persistent in reading me incorrectly, eventually I quit reading him.”

I informed Dalrock in a note, and he’s yet to give a response to Wilson’s description of him.

Gunner Q offered his take on Doug Wilson Multi-Cucks (December 22, 2018).

Wilson – a typical, Churchian pastor

From his anecdotal Civil War story, it is clear that Wilson is trying to maintain his balance on the fence between various intradenominational factions in order to passively retain an image of innocence and impartiality. Pastors are like politicians – they have to be smooth and “proper” at all times, just to prevent the proverbial ship from rocking.

An unfortunate consequence is that Pastors will rarely tell anyone the raw, ugly truth, even if it will help them, even in private counseling! In my opinion, this is the greatest shortcoming of the profession.

Wilson’s best defense is claiming that his first and foremost priority is the unity and continuity of the entire congregation. But he lacks wisdom and humility in claiming that his version of “Patriarchy” is the best. An anonymous long time reader left a fair assessment of Wilson.

“[Wilson’s attitude is like,] “If you aren’t acting like me you are Doing It All Wrong”. In the 8 or more years I’ve participated in the Androsphere, I’ve seen that plenty of times, often from some aging Boomer who married in his 20’s and has zero clue what men under 40 have to deal with. They know everything except when they don’t.

Anonymous Age 60-something at the late Spearhead commented that when he ran groups for divorced men back in the 1980’s it was a regular event, some new man would join and immediately inform him “This is all wrong, listen…” and would suggest something that had already been tried and found to not work.

Careful reading of the article [like the one] above by Wilson reveals zero Bible quotes, zero actual concrete criticisms of the “this will not work” variety. It appears to be more about tone. Dalrock and the rest of us might as well have been caught wearing white shoes after Labor Day, or a straw hat before Easter, or failing to open a door quickly enough for a delicate flower of womanhood along the lines of Andrea Dworkin. Social faux pas’, poor tone, but no actual, actionable, critique.

In the comments, a couple of persons who have done drive-by-run-away trolling here showed up (Katecho is a prime example.) with more of the same attempts at tone-policing. So once again, it’s not about something concrete such as Proverbs 14:1 or Ephesians 5:22 or 1 Peter 3 or even Proverbs 21:19, it’s about “tone”. The “tone” of this site and the commenters here just aren’t up to snuff, humph, harumph, HARUMPH! Plus, we made one of The Ladies sufficiently unhappy that she developed the vapors!”

Like Wilson, most pastors see their main role, not as a defender of the Kingdom, but as being the Tone Police – to protect and serve the rabble.

How the church converges their doctrinal stance along the heretical viewpoints of the world

Over the last decade, we’ve been seeing an acceleration of headlines like the following, which are slowly spelling out the disintegration and/or convergence of the Church.

• The Nation (feat. Drew Haxby): Episcopal Church Splits Over Gay Equality (January 12, 2009)
• The Daily Beast (feat. Gene Robinson): How Episcopalians Embraced Gay Marriage (July 5, 2015)
• The American Conservative (feat. Rod Dreher): Nobody meets their spouses at Church (December 20, 2017)
• The Christian Post: Liberal Lutheran pastor to melt purity rings into vagina sculpture to ‘take down’ church teachings about sex (November 29, 2018)
• Now The End Begins: Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) becomes latest Christian denomination to accept transgenders and same-sex unions (January 11, 2019)

It is easy to put our finger on pastors, but the problem is bigger than merely spineless leadership. All of society is drifting towards the abyss, and most church goers are getting swept away with the current.

In my experience, the majority of people who are regular church goers are very odd people. The Bible does describe Christians as being a peculiar people in 1^st Peter 2:9 (KJV), and being peculiar ascribes them dignity as being a member of the Body of Christ. But most churchians are not peculiar, they are just too odd to fit into society.

And they’re not even Christians!

A bold claim you say? I’ve heard at least two pastors tell me in confidence that only 5% (from one pastor) or 15% (according to the other) of their congregation “have Jesus on the throne of their life”, meaning that they are truly seeking after God.

The rest of the people, comprising an average of 90% of the congregation, might have a plethora of reasons why they go to church, including comfort, routine, pity, handouts, ego stroking, virtue posturing, vainglorious posing, and social acceptance. But whatever those reasons are, they are NOT earnestly looking for God. They do NOT want the gospel. They do NOT want to have their minds transformed. They do NOT want their lives to be drastically rearranged for the glory of Christ.

No, they are merely looking for a solution to the soul warping dilemmas created by their sin, so that they can go on to the next step of getting what they want out of life. But they will NOT address the real cause of their frustrations as being sin. They are NOT looking to repent from their problematic mindset. The idea of finding a whole new life in Christ is little more than an inspiring platitude.

Given the fact that these people are the oddball outcasts of society, suffice it to say that most of them are “problem people” who come to church looking for the condolences and assurances offered by the sympathetic, kind-hearted church people. The church is the only place where they can be “accepted”. So the average church becomes, what my old college roommate used to call, “a $h!t magnet”. Pardon the language, but you get the idea.

Out of thousands of followers, Jesus only chose 12 men to be his disciples. They were deplorables by the world’s standards, but Christ saw potential in their humble sincerity.

Does the modern Church select members according to their authenticity? No, they will accept anyone who breezes through the foyer. Some churches present some hoops to jump through, but not the kind that would analyze the state of one’s connection to the Holy Spirit. Consequently, the true Kingdom seekers get lost in the crowd, and many of these Christians go looking elsewhere for fellowship. As a result, attrition sets in to many churches.

It’s waaay too easy to be a churchian. I’ve said this before: To become a popular member of any protestant church, all a person needs to do is show up every time the church doors open, and talk the churchian language using religious jargon. Anymore, the churchian language is not far removed from the mainstream narratives offered by the Left. So it’s really not hard for any average person to integrate.

Furthermore, those members who act as the gatekeepers of the church are not necessarily those of outstanding faith and service, as it should be, but instead are those with dominant, charismatic personalities.

As a result, the social atmosphere of a converged church represents a microcosm of bizarre, hidden values which are a composite of all those held by members of the congregation. On the surface, it might appear that these values are aligned with scripture. But in practice, this may be far from the case.

Enter the Pastor, Stage Left

Now that I’ve offered a provocatively revealing snapshot of a typical protestant church, it’s a little easier to consider the pastor’s place in this mess.

A scripturally hard core pastor would very clearly wield the divisive sword of the Word contained in the scriptures, and in doing so, most of the riff raff would be “offended” and stop coming to church.

But most pastors are unwilling to do this for a variety of reasons. Instead, they choose to allow their church to converge with the un-Christian majority of attendees – the oddballs of society who show up at the door – and in doing so, become less of a Christ centered Church.

What about that slim minority of the faithful? Those 5 to 15% who come to church looking for a place to worship, instruction from the Bible, spiritual growth, and fellowship with other like-minded Christians. It’s hard for them to find these things, when 90% of the congregation only comes looking to strike a pose and stroke their ego’s.

Worse, Pastors seldom address the needs of these true Christians in the church because they are more concerned with the social management of the masses. Tending to the spiritual growth of individual members is far down their list of priorities. Some pastors even consider personal ministry to be a burden above and beyond the call of duty, which they will only undertake if and when it is absolutely necessary. Consequently, those genuine believers who are truly seeking to revitalize their lives are relegated to the back burner.

Conclusions

Dalrock serves us well by picking out the big names, like Chandler and Wilson, to address doctrinal inconsistencies. But the real problem is that churches are like banana republics, in that they have the leaders they want and deserve. Those churches could, at any time, discharge one pastor and hire another of their choosing. So pastors are more likely to fit the mold proscribed by their congregation, than for their congregation to jump on board with a bold, new pastor’s ambitious plans for church growth.

Update: The resignation of Pastor Justin Hoke at Trinity Bible Presbyterian Church in California is a typical example of this dynamic. H/T Vox Day: The Call of the World (January 13, 2019).

This is why contemporary churchianity is a religious circus, complete with a freak show and live entertainment! And the grand majority of churches are not that different from churchville.

It’s no wonder young Millennials have all but abandoned church altogether.

It is well known that Churches, such as those in China right now, grow under persecution. This is partly because people who are not truly drawn by the Holy Spirit will not come to church because of the persecution they would receive. As a result, the riff raff chaff is blown away, and the church is no longer weighed down by the bulk fluff and posture posing of false Christians who infiltrate the church for self-centered reasons. Christ becomes the center of the action, while the importance of trust and fellowship is emphasized, thereby producing exponential growth.

Why should we wait until tribulation strikes, before we embrace real fellowship and growth by thinning out the rabble?

The head pastor at my church has dealt with this problem by having two services – one for the rabble, and one for the Church. The service for the former is open to the general public, and meets late in the morning. The sermons utilize well known popular and psychological concepts that can be understood by the Bible illiterate, to highlight the deeper questions surrounding various life conundrums. The purpose of these sermons is to uncover the listener’s need for God. Those people who can face their personal issues are urged to contact an elder for personal counseling. The one-on-one interaction with the elder through counseling is intended to foster the newcomers faith, and it also serves as a “membership filter”. Those who pass through the “filter”, are then invited to attend the other service which meets at a more discrete location early in the morning.

For the authentic Christian lay person, it’s not as difficult as you might imagine. Just open your mouth and speak God’s Truth, man!

Related

• Jim’s Blog: Death of Christianity (December 6, 2014)
• Return of Kings (feat. Aaron Clarey): How the Manosphere is filling a void left by Feminized modern Churches (July 26, 2015)
• Religious Affections (feat. Scott Aniol): What’s wrong with the recent evangelical “social justice” movements? (August 23, 2018)