The Evangelical Dark Web is a mission based platform founded to specialize in combating three major heresies infiltrating the church. We support a decentralized grassroots movement of pastors and laity to combat the three false gospels. The Social Justice Gospel is a cause against where we have many allies. The Gatekeepers Podcast Network, whose work we have promoted in our DarkLinks a number of times, hosted the Destroy Social Justice Conference. Seth Dunn over at Pulpit and Pen took great issue at Greg Locke being invited to speak at the event. He said this much as we reported in DarkLinks 34:
Unfortunately this conference is headlined by the disgraced, self-appointed, adulterous, and unqualified Tennessee “pastor” Greg Locke. Locke is the founder of his own church, Global Vision Bible Church in Mt. Juliet Tennessee, and was most notable for being a popular internet pundit before making news by divorcing his wife of 20 years and marrying his secretary. Somehow, a conference featuring multiple pastors which is ostensibly intended to address a threat to the church is being headlined by a known wolf.
In my response, I recognized why Dunn would feel that way, justifying his ire. They do not recognize him as a pastor, and therefore feel that his invitation is unwarranted. Jeff Dornik received an heaping of backlash from this, so we noted that he “doubled down” on having Locke speak at Destroy Social Justice. This was never to say that Dornik defended that which Locke has done or been accused of doing.
At this time, we have Jeff Dornik’s side of the story. The first thing we discussed was that there are conflicting sides of the story involving Locke and his particularly nasty divorce. So let’s review what we know to be true. Following an ugly divorce, both Greg and Melissa remarried around the same time, though only Greg is still married. Greg married Tai, whom he was alleged to have had an affair with by his ex-wife. At best for Greg Locke, the evidence will show that his wife abandoned him. At worst, he’s as bad and abusive as Melissa claims as well as an adulterer by worldly standards. Jeff agreed with me that its safest to operate as the truth is somewhere in the middle. He does not feel the evidence corroborating Dunn’s interview with Locke’s ex-wife is strong enough for him to make a judgement upon. It’s important to note, in my opinion, where the biggest disagreement is. At this foundational premise on the issue, Dunn and Dornik would strongly disagree even if they may agree on most other things surrounding the issue.
I asked Jeff a few key questions about the choice to have Greg Locke speak at Destroy Social Justice. I first asked whether he believed that Locke had repented of what he did wrong. From what he had observed, he says that Locke spoke of repentance and trust that his wife and his church would hold him accountable for it. Before judging from afar, I would like to add that measuring repentance in a divorce situation is difficult, especially as she remarried.
I then asked about on what basis was Locke invited to speak. The conference for the most part featured a lineup of people who were not pastors. Jeff noted that Trevor Loudon isn’t even a Christian yet spoke. So the pastoral merits of Locke were not the basis for his invitation other than that he does not preach a Social Justice Gospel. On the contrary, Locke has gone viral several times for social media videos denouncing the trends in our society, specifically the homosexual and transvestite agenda, which is why leftist media outlet vehemently hate him. Dornik notes that if President Trump was willing to speak he would have been invited because the premise of the event was in the name.
I lastly asked whether he thinks that Locke is qualified to be a pastor. On this, Jeff did not want to pronounce a judgement, once more deferring to the elders at his church. On this he and Dunn would disagree, going back to the foundational premise. Dunn would likely say that since Locke is grossly unqualified for pastoral ministry, his invitation as a pastor shows a complete lack of discernment on Dornik’s part. However, Dornik has disagreed with the level of discernment necessary for speaking at political event (that’s not necessarily Christian). This begs an interesting question that you, the reader, should answer for yourself. Furthermore Jeff has taken an innocent until proven guilty approach while Dunn could certainly fall back on the “above reproach” and “husband to one wife” ministry standards. I will also invite you to ponder that yourself.
Closing Thoughts
The grassroots of Christianity, both learned and laymen, could turn the tide of post-Christendom, by the grace and providence of God pruning the church for revival. We should not be so focused on the personalities within the movement. Instead we should boldly act on our own faith in Christ. This may manifest itself in different ways for different people. It may make for some uncomfortable alliances, especially in the realm of politics. And while we should debate the merits of these means and alliances, we should not turn on each other, especially since we consider one another brothers and sisters in Christ.
Interested in learning more? Join the Evangelical Dark Web.
