Why the PCA inviting David French Really Is Outrageous

The blowback to the General Assembly invitation is heartening and justified.

I am heartened to see that the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) - or the idiot wing of the PCA - inviting David French to a panel at this summer’s General Assembly is getting not a little push back. See the replies to this X announcement for a sample of that. If only the faithful in my Anglican Church in North American (ACNA) had made such a holy stink when Russell Moore was a keynote speaker at our Provincial Assembly a few years back.  (Although, to be fair, the extent of his Regime orientation was not as obvious back then as it is now.  And his address was at least tolerable.)

But I am begging the question here.  Why is it so outrageous that a committee in an orthodox denomination invite the likes of David French to speak to their national meeting?

Imagine you are traveling to a synod in the Early Church.  You revere those who have been recently martyred because they refused to give into the Roman regime and declare Caesar as Lord.  But you find out that an honored speaker will be a “Christian” who did give in and call Caesar Lord and has not repented of that?  Or say you are going to a council about 250 years later.  Priests you love were martyred because they refused to hand over the Scriptures to authorities under Emperor Diocletian to be burned.  But now a bishop who did hand over the Scriptures — a traditor —  and has not repented but has even doubled down that it was the right thing to do* — such an unfaithful man will be given an honored place at the council?

Of course, the Early Church and the 4th Century Church did no such thing (at least not that I am aware of).  It would have created great scandal if any church jurisdiction presumed to platform unrepentant Caesar worshipers or traditores.

Today, except perhaps in exceptional cases, no Christian in America has shed blood because of their resistance to the prevailing evil Regime.  (Of course, persecution of Christians is bloody in many areas of the world.)  But many Christians rightly opposing the Regime have lost friends and even family because of their faithfulness.  Some have lost jobs or prospects of promotion.  There are small Christian businessmen, such as Colorado baker Jack Phillips, who have been sued or harassed.  Many could no longer endure the unfaithfulness of Regime “Christian” leaders and with sadness had to leave churches and search for faithful jurisdictions and congregations.  Many such Christians who so suffered for their faithfulness have fled to orthodox denominations, such as the PCA.

Such in the PCA are right to be scandalized that David French has been invited to speak at their General Assembly.  He is the poster boy of Regime Evangelicals, Regimevangelicals, if you will.  He typifies what faithful American Christians have opposed in the church and in society.  From his platforms at the New York Times and elsewhere, he not only has carried water for the Regime, but has shat all over the faithful who oppose the Regime.  I will not raise my blood pressure and yours by rehearsing all his enormities, but several of them are recalled by a PCA elder over at American Reformer.

Need I continue?  Does that answer well enough the question of why this is an outrage?  How can those in the PCA who oppose such Regimevangelical collaboration not be scandalized?  When we find ourselves under an evil regime as now, we can differ on how we should resist it, but we Christians do not support it. Nor should we platform those who do support the Regime in our churches. As I’ve written repeatedly it is not okay for a Christian to support the current Regime although we should cut some slack to those who are new or learning Christians.  It is an outrage for a church to platform a Regime “Christian” leader.

We revere those Christians who opposed the Nazis and the Communists and the French Revolution and other evil ideologies and regimes and suffered for it.  We spit on those “Christians” who collaborated and so do many in a watching world.

We certainly do not honor unrepentant collaborators at our church assemblies.  And woe to those churches who do.  Good on those in the PCA who insist they will not be such an unfaithful church.

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*Before you say I’m a Donatist, no church leader of good reputation said it was okay to hand over the Scriptures to persecuting authorities. That was not the issue.  The issue was forgiveness and schism.   The chief problem with the Donatists is they refused to forgive and reinstate those who repented of giving in to authorities under the threat of death.  So much so they created a schism.