A CRITIQUE Of Kevin DeYoung’s Article Against The Moscow Mood
Occasionally Protestia publishes articles from people that do not necessarily reflect the height and width and depth of our opinions on a matter, but we allow for diverse thought if we find it helpful to draw distinctions and dividing lines.
From @TheJollyBrawler. Reprinted in full with permission.
There is a lot that could be said about @RevKevDeYoung article on @douglaswils.
I have read most of what Kevin (KDY) and Doug have published. I have listened to hours of their preaching. I have enjoyed both of them and grown from both of them.
I have been caricatured as a Wilson Defender. This is largely because:
A. I have no interest in listening people to Wilson’s theological and/or political left critize him. If he is closer to the truth than you are, then I don’t want to hear your opinion on him.
B. I don’t criticize him for the same things that many people criticize him for. Either because I agree with Wilson on those issues, or because I have differences with him that are more important to me.
With that being said….KDY’s article was largely hot garbage.
As you read through it, note how many of his complaints against Wilson have nothing to do with anything that the Bible would label as sinful. Instead, his complaints revolve around Wilson violating our extra-biblical cultural standards. Complaints such as:
A. He has a “sarcastic tone”
B. He uses the word “wuss” and “wussy”
C. He uses memes and goes for quick chuckles
D. His NQN videos put the focus on him
E. He has a “Get in a shootout with the culture” vibe
F. He “Trolls limp wristed Christians”
G. He drinks bourbon and smokes cigars to anger teetotalers (Here I was thinking that he did those things because he enjoyed them, and they are a large part of our Christian culture).
H. “The mood is often irreverent, rebellious, and full of devil-may-care playground taunts”
I. The NSA school had an ad which said “Hey, Wokey McWoke Face” which is unnecessary and taunting
J. Wilson should “set a different mood”
Just a little side note: If you are serious Christian thinker, and you find yourself complaining repeatedly about “tones”, “moods”, and “vibes”, it may be time to step back and touch some grass.
The vast majority of KDY’s complaints revolve around Wilson being too rough with our culture, and (in his opinion) not posturing himself in a way that would win the world. This is a problem with many evangelicals today. They have exalted these cultural standards to the level of scripture, and are willing to label your behavior as “dangerous” and “sinful” if you transgress their newly erected standard (a standard that no man 100 years ago ever heard of).
Another side note: Remember, KDY and his people are the ones who came out of the Reformation. The ones who love men like Calvin, Knox, and Luther. Let that sink in.
KDY does go on to list things that are actually biblically categorized as sin, and should be taken more seriously than merely violating some subjective cultural standard. He lists things like:
Wilson uses crass language.
It is not debatable that Wilson occasionally uses crass language. And I do mean “occasionally”. When you take into account the thousands of sermons, thousands of blogs, hundreds of books, hundreds of lectures, debates, interviews, and Q&A’s this man has done, the “crass language” is a tiny drop in the bucket. But, the debatable part is whether or not Wilson has used crass language in a sinful manner. In many of the cases I am familiar with, I believe Wilson was well within his rights to use the language he used. There are many cases I am not familiar with, so I won’t speak to those.
Wilson never “cultivates broken hearted courageous contrition for his own sins.”
I am not quite sure what KDY is expecting here. I assume he doesn’t want Wilson on stage weeping into the camera in a Jimmy Swaggart like moment. But if what he is looking for is Wilson to openly ask for forgiveness of his sins (both to God and man), there are plenty of examples of this. In fact….he does it every single Sunday.
There were another group of accusations from KDY that I wanted to address. They probably could have fit under the categories of “Cultural Sins” and “Biblical Sins” above, but they really do deserve their own section, because they show you that KDY simply does not understand the times he lives in. The accusations are:
Wilson takes swipes at “conservative Christian organizations like G3 and ERLC”.
G3 has behaved wickedly toward Moscow and many in the CN camp for well over a year. They have lied, slandered, and straw-manned the group relentlessly. Wilson made fun of them for 2 seconds in a video, and KDY sees Wilson as the aggressor. This is what happens when “Nice” becomes too big of a factor in your theology.
DeYoung is also upset that Wilson critized the ERLC. Yes, THAT ERLC. The one that secretly worked to stop Anti-Abortion legislation, the one that was run by Leftist operatives like Russell Moore and Brent Leatherwood. The one that fought against the release of the manifesto written by the Transgender Mass shooter who killed a bunch of kids in a Christian school. KDY considers these folks “conservative” and wants Wilson to take it easy on them. But isn’t it odd that KDY is allowed to criticize conservative Christians (Wilson), but Wilson isn’t allowed to criticize Leftist Heathens who control Christian institutions? Odd.
Wilson “trolls limp wristed Christians”
I guess we just have a fundamental disagreement on whether or not limp-wristed Christians should be trolled. I happen to think it is good for them. (:
Wilson seems happier fighting a war, than with the things he is defending
This accusation is just simply false. One of the benefits of listening to a lot of stuff out of Moscow, and spending quite a bit of time there myself is that I get to see how much Wilson loves his family, church, and town. KDY severely underestimates Wilson’s love for the things he is defending.
Wilson is a master of the Motte and Bailey fallacy
I think there is a big difference between stating something strongly that any sane and charitable person could understand without needing it to be nuanced to death, and committing the Motte and Bailey.
KDY also accuses Wilson of being a showman.
This seems like an easy one to me. But for some reason, a lot of people get this issue wrong. Wilson, as a Pastor, is not a showman at all. He preaches straightforward messages in a humble, kind, and expositional fashion. Wilson as a Business man who owns a large blog, part of a publishing house, and parts of several other organizations is a showman to some degree. There is nothing wrong with the owner of a business drumming up new business in a fun and honest way.
If he was doing this in his pastoral role from the pulpit, we might have an issue. Otherwise, this is a stupid criticism.
One final point that I mentioned briefly earlier: KDY takes issue with the fact that New Saint Andrews school put out an advertisement that addressed woke people as “Wokey McWoke Face”. He takes 2 issues with this:
A. It is mean and unnecessary Yes, KDY thinks that we might be being too mean to the people who burned down our cities, looted our stores, captured our institutions, killed our people, and tried to pervert our children. Insanity.
B. If Wilson really thought that he was fighting a war and in the trenches, he wouldn’t use such silly language. Wilson actually gave a lecture on this very subject. It is called “Winsome Tartness” and you should watch it. But honestly, there is no winning with this one. If Wilson showed how serious the situation was by being shrill and heavy handed, KDY would take issue with that. But if he is lighthearted and funny, KDY takes issue with that too.
I will bring this post to a close with this:
As a “Conservative Evangelical”, KDY sat on the board for one of the most left leaning evangelical organizations in existence, The Gospel Coalition. Yet, to my knowledge, has never gone to public battle with them. When he does muster up the courage for an attack, he attacks to his right.
This is the tactic of the soft modern evangelical. Punch right, sit on the board of the left. This was disappointing, but not unexpected from KDY.
This was adapted from a X post from @TheJollyBrawler. Reprinted in full with permission.