Category 1
Verdict: There is insufficient evidence to show that Trevin Wax is a false teacher
Preface
At the request of one of our readers, we have been asked to investigate whether Michael Todd is a false teacher. You can make a request here, and we will honor it. It is a source of joy to be trusted in such a way. It is most reasonable to have never heard of Priscilla Shirer, but part of what we want to do in our Discernment ministry is to go beyond the low hanging fruits like a Joel Osteen or Paula White.
Background
Trevin Wax is best known now as the editor of Kingdom People, a blog under The Gospel Coalition umbrella. In addition to being an author he serves as the senior vice president of theology and communications at LifeWay Christian Resources and a visiting professor at Wheaton College. He is a Southern Baptist.
Why is he famous?
To be honest, it’s difficult to pinpoint an exact reason why he has the notoriety for being questioned However the connection to The Gospel Coalition, which is the distributor for his blog. Since his blog is a maincard blog alongside the Social Justice Gospel spouting Thabiti Anyabwile, it’s worth asking where he stands theologically, especially as the Southern Baptist Convention is embroiled in a heating civil war.
Main Contributions
Whereas I have pointed out three false gospels, while Trevin Wax published a book pointing out six. There is a lot of overlap between his messages and our own when it comes to pointing out and exposing false gospels.
Another strong point of emphasis for Wax is that there that the “inclusive” gospel is extremely exclusive. This is to say that embracing worldly trajectories of moral standards creates a more exclusive gospel because it denies the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ. This is indeed a strong stance against what we refer to as the Social Justice Gospel.
An overall pattern is that Trevin Wax is ready to take on opposing ideas and debate deeper issues. He’s willing to weigh in on Calvinism and Arminianism, the missional movement, and remains a staunch supporter of biblical sexuality. In addition to his strong stance on Biblical sexuality, he does not seem to veer in the direction of egalitarianism. It appears that Wax is atuned to the state of evangelicalism, however he is definitely a believer in the institutions that contribute to such a state of downgrade.
Biggest Danger
The biggest danger seems to be his willingness to associate with an organization that subverts the gospel is by far the biggest concern we have with Trevin Wax. We will go into deeper detail into the dangers of The Gospel Coalition soon enough. Overall, Trevin Wax seems like a good soldier fighting a within a bad platoon.
On a related note, with the Southern Baptist Convention heating up for a contested convention in June, I would discount the possibility of Trevin Wax supporting the grassroots over the establishment, though I hope this assumption based on his public affiliations is wrong.
In October, 2020, Trevin Wax appeared on The Gospel Coalition’s Marxist podcast, “As In Heaven.” After previously writing on the social gospel, Trevin Wax defends using the slogan “Black lives matter” despite the Marxist authorial intent of the slogan. Trevin Wax further articulated that associating with the movement of Black Lives Matter by virtue of shared common interest was morally equivalent to theologically conservatives Christians aligning with atheists that oppose Critical Race Theory, a likely reference to James Lindsay.
Conclusion
Trevin Wax may not be one of the bad ones at The Gospel Coalition, however just like the Trinity Broadcast Network, there are good programs to subsidize the bad. Unfortunately, the credibility of Wax’s witness online is undermined by the fact that he is a participant in an organization that is actively subverting the gospel with Marxism and liberation theology.
Updated 2/18/2021 to Category 1 to reflect concern over working with an organization that actively subverts the gospel. As In Heaven podcast details added. Reformatting.
One Response
Your opening words confuse me “At the request of one of our readers, we have been asked to investigate whether Michael Todd is a false teacher. You can make a request here, and we will honor it. It is a source of joy to be trusted in such a way. It is most reasonable to have never heard of Priscilla Shirer, ”
What have MT and PS to do with this article? Is this an uncorrected cut and paste? Sorry if I’m being stupid.
Ben K