The Southern Baptist Convention has a reputation for being staunchly conservative. And while this may be reflected in the laity, the establishment of the SBC is well documented in their liberalism. This week, pastor Matt Crawford of Trinity Baptist Church in Cordova, Tennessee attacked President Trump for his immigration policies and advocated amnesty from the pulpit. But a local politician, State Senator Brent Taylor was there and walked out on him, according to witnesses.
In the clip, Matt Crawford laments the policies of Trump believing that its too hard for illegal aliens to find the pathway to “legality.” Crawford told a story of an illegal alien volunteer at his past church in Florida who could not be hired by the church because he was undocumented. He then complained that the federal government (ICE) could raid churches for illegal aliens. He whines about people being afraid to come to church.
Matt Crawford was the pastor at Dean Inserra’s City Church. As David Morrill aptly points out, he had no problem with governments locking down churches in Covid, but he objects to the government raiding churches that harbor invaders. At the end of the clip, Matt Crawford appeals for unity following his divisive diatribe.
Jon Harris of Conversations That Matter points out that Senator Brent Taylor was there and walked out during the sermon. “Multiple sources confirmed this to KWAM, but Senator Taylor isn’t saying a word.”
It’s not a good look for the Southern Baptist Convention to have pastors whining for amnesty from the pulpit, but the SBC has never taken a strong stance against illegal immigration, so this is unsurprising.
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2 Responses
I saw the video of this clip at Conversations that Matter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmeRKfqwQi4 . How many things can you catch wrong with it?
1. Admitting to having a ‘volunteer’ pastor who he now knows was undocumented for ten years or more.
(How does that happen? no background check? No eVerifying? Did the pastor lie about his identity and citizenship? Hard to believe a potential felony was not commited by either him, the board that hired the associated pastor, this pastor, or the pastor that was hired)
(Btw have you ever heard of a volunteer unpaid pastor before anyways, was he really a pastor or is this just language chosen to pull at the congegrants hearts as if its the same as anyone else?)
2. No problem locking down the church for Covid.
(Man’s government’s orders is more important than our duties to God?)
3. Stops before he begins the service to say some things of concern?
(talks about how governments may raid churches
4. Some of us may have ‘different opinions on this’, ‘strong opinions on this’…’Consider it with love and grace, in the spirit of ‘Unity’ that our church has consistently been marked by…
(Why is it when pastors are about to go off script, not even open the bible to find guidance from scripture, do they always preach about the ‘importance’ of unity, right before bringing something controversial? I’m starting to believe that those who claim they want to bring Unity, don’t want unity, they want Uniformity, which btw would go against what Paul said in Corinthians about all members of the body are different, some formed for different purposes etc.)
5. ‘We all believe in the rule of law’
(Except in this one area that I think you are wrong? Note anytime it was okay to not go along with government, it was because government was overstepping what God had taught, whether it was Daniel, Peter and John, etc. always clearly rooted in scripture. How much scripture did he use in this sidebar conversation? Not 1 verse was cited. Not a single Verse.)
6. ‘I do believe that Immigration is a major part of what has made this country so great’?
(If we don’t have founders who were people of faith, wanting to make sure government was balanced, there would have been no immigration, because everything else, absolutely, every other western nation was essentially a dictatorship, or tyranny, last I checked people flee tyranny, they don’t immigrate to it. So if anything Immigration is a side effecft of liberty, it is not what made the country great, it happened because the country was ‘great’. Some of these pastors need to go back to history class frankly, its discussing. Where are the D James Kennedy’s who used to connect our spiritual and liberty heritage with history and the bible?)
7. ‘We all believe that violent criminals should not be allowed to remain here…’
(And you know the but is coming already right?)
8. ‘I do think there are many good people here who are undocumented and would like a path to legality’
(Did they break the law by entering unlawfully? What does the bible say about anyone who breaks the law even one small piece of it?)
Consider what James wrote at the near start of the second chapter 8-21 (KJV)
“8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:
9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.
10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law.
12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty.
13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment.
14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
17 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.
19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?
22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?”
He is there lecturing his people about what the government is doing, saying there is an immigration problem, even if I do agree the system needs reformed (I do btw), that doesn’t change that people…
Yet even with all this, Immigrants are supposed to be under the same liberty and law of the land, they should not get preferential treatment over citizens, (and technically vice versa, yet we know the immigrants did especially undocumented, that’s not justice either)
…
9. “I don’t know the legal status of many in our church” (including ESL service) “I don’t believe its our place to police that”.
(I’m confused is someone arguing we should police immigration status of church membership? Clearly this is an attempt at setting a Strawman argument.)
10. ‘We are called to love and help those in need’
(Noone disputes that, but notice how he’ll use this thing and try to use that one idea to manipulate the outcome for lawbreakers though)
11. Mentions Raids, suggests that’s scary. (would they really raid on a Sunday? Again Moralistic language, combined with fear mongering.) Says he doesn’t want people to be afraid to come here and here the Gospel. (Is the only place to hear the Gospel inside the walls of an edifice, a church building? The building IS NOT the church? If this pastor believes only within these walls can people come find and be saved (in this town), then man is he way off base)
12. COmbines ‘respect for rule of law’, with the fear now places of ‘worship services being raided’ And here it comes again, Unity, and Nuance again. Look I don’t have a problem if someone’s position is nuanced, it likely means their thinking is not complex and simple, but you set up this strawman, this fear, and then talk about it with unity, and nuance and even differences of opinion./… no Clearly, this pastor feels this issue, which is not necessarily a bible issue, because note he has not cited a single verse, not one, he appeals to a broad theme, which may itself have come from scripture, but he does not plant it with sources making it suspect and untrustworthy. It’s like borrowing God’s authority, to preach this man’s own opinion on the situation, without letting God weigh in with scripture.’
13. “so I hope that we can give each other grace if we disagree on the ‘details there’ and be a unified church’ Because the unity of the church of jesus Christ is so important”
(And there he ends again, no scripture, unity is important. No what he’s doing is not telling people to have grace in discussions, he is telling people to shut up about arguing with those who agree with this pastor, word of God not required in this discussion, because this pastor clearly didn’t think it was important enough to use it. How long before some of us have a belly full of pastors like this and expel them?)
His church is all old out of touch boomers it seems from the video. Look how old they are. Nobody under 60.