CRT, Sexuality, and Divisions: Conversations from Theology in the Raw Conference

“We’re losing touch with the radical political implications that come with saying ‘Jesus is King’… When Babylon’s politics divide the church, no one wins.”

So declared Dr. Preston Sprinkle, the president of the Center for Faith, Sexuality, and Gender and host of the Theology in the Raw podcast. He was hosting the Theology in the Raw Conference, titled Exiles in Babylon, recently held March 31 – April 2 in Boise, Idaho.

Sprinkle clarified the goal of the conference as “To help believers think Christianly about theological and cultural issues by engaging in curious conversations with a diverse range of thoughtful people.”

Following Sprinkle was well-known pastor and northern California and Asia church planter Francis Chan. He devoted much of his time to expressing how the church has moved from making the body and blood of Jesus in communion central to making the pulpit central, which at least in Chan’s view both sets aside the vast majority of Christian historical practice and lies at the root of many modern-day divisions. 

Chan also lamented disunity in the church, saying we tend to interact with other believers “as if we don’t believe the Holy Spirit dwells in you.” However, he expressed some optimism for the future on that front, noting the presence of “a younger generation that doesn’t believe in labels,” and stating, “We could make enough noise that it’s heard by the higher-ups.” In other words, Chan expects that the days of denominational divisions in the church are limited.

Author, poet, Bible teacher, and hip-hop artist Jackie Hill Perry spoke on Friday, focusing on the cost of obedience for Christians, especially in areas of Biblical teaching on sexuality. She discussed the offense of the gospel, saying, “It’s a hard word to tell a person that they can’t do whatever they want… I don’t go into a place expecting people to applaud it.” She also said, “It’ll be increasingly hard to commit yourself to a certain sexual ethic.”

Perry also pointed to the need to share Biblical truth about sexuality “in a way that dignifies the person you’re speaking to.” Putting it a little more frankly, she added, “Y’all ain’t making any disciples cause you’re mean.” She also indicated that while she did not find it helpful, she would not die on the hill of believers, while remaining celibate, identifying as “gay Christians.”

Another speaker, writer/artist Johana-Marie Williams, posed the question, “How do we build spaces that are safe enough for queer Christians to figure out how they can live their lives? Are people able to be out of the closet and visibly gay without receiving mockery, disgust, hatred, or pity? Are there mature, trusted leaders in the community who are themselves queer and can offer guidance? Is there an assumption that if kids are raised and protected correctly, they won’t turn out to be queer? And is there attention paid to the material needs of queer people?”

An evening panel on matters of race in the church featured Dr. Ed Uszynski, who works with Family Life Ministry and Athletes in Action, Thabiti Anyabwile, pastor of Anacostia River Church, and Dr. Derwin L. Gray, pastor of Transformation Church. 

Uszynski challenged the narrative of some white people that “they’re trying to separate us on the basis of race,” saying that for centuries “every social institution has been intentionally, purposely separating us on the basis of skin color.” He added, “It turns out that it was a whole bunch of white people that brought this on and I have white skin – I think it’s okay to feel some negative emotion about that.” Regarding critical race theory, Uszynski asserted, “Ethnic indifference is a much bigger issue than CRT. CRT is going to go away in a couple years. No one’s going to know what that is. But indifference will still be there.” He also presented a more gentle view of the nature of critical theory, claiming “They’re not trying to teach our kids that they’re racist.”

Anyabwile discussed the history of racism and the church, arguing that racism was not something that happened to the church but something that the church did. He stated that “willful ignorance” is “a significant part of white American culture,” adding “you are well skilled in forgetting what you need to know.” He sought to portray the value of applying an understanding of racial history to our understanding of ourselves. For example, he discussed how slavery is taught as a narrative of black history even though many white people were deeply involved in it, and how that leads black people to a story of redemption through suffering wherein “we pressure ourselves for excellence more than we pressure our white neighbors for justice and accountability.” 

Anyabwile also contributed thoughts on our current political moment, saying that “progress isn’t linear,” a fact proved by how President Trump’s governance and ideology were “in many ways America’s payback for Obama.” He also spoke about the issue of reparations, saying that reparations are owed and that we need to “restore the dignity of those from whom it has been robbed.” However, he declined to answer as to what that might look like, saying “That’s above my paygrade” and “I’m far more interested in the moral reasoning of Christians and whether they’re coming at this from a Biblical perspective.”

Gray focused on the need for diversity in the church, saying, “The gospel and the multi-ethnic church are a seamless thread rooted in the eternal heart of God.” He criticized attempts to look through a lens of color-blindness, which is “muting the creative goodness of God.” He also denounced the rise of politicizing everything in the church, saying, “Some of you are more afraid of losing America than you are the gospel.” He concluded, “Love doesn’t need to be this complicated.”

Other speakers at the conference included Chris Date, a leader of the Rethinking Hell movement, which promotes the theological view of conditional immortality (also known as annihilationism), and Dr. Greg Coles, author of Single, Gay, Christian.

One would hope that among the different voices presented at the conference, some progress might be made toward a helpful Biblical understanding of complex social issues. However, throughout the conference, the sense that many speakers were close to and yet far from this goal was unavoidable.

For example, while Chan’s heart for unity may be in the right place, he neglects thousands of years of Church history and major variations in beliefs, worship practices, and governance among Christian denominations in favor of unnuanced generalizations.

While the speakers on sexuality valiantly and counter-culturally heeded God’s call to self-restraint regarding their sexual desires, many of them also portrayed these desires as a significant part of their identity and encouraged others to do the same.

It is undoubtedly important for the church to acknowledge the history of racism (especially among Christians) and its current impacts, as well as to call out any racial prejudice for the sin that it is. Diversity and racial unity are both deeply desirable in the church. On the other hand, a number of the speakers strongly suggested that Christians are under Biblical obligation to support reparations. The speakers also tended to understate both the pervasiveness and the fundamentally un-Christian reasoning of critical race theory.

The Theology in the Raw conference largely took the path of bringing secular, culturally accepted frameworks and ideas to bear on Christian teaching. Such a path may not always be wrong, but it is assuredly a path which must be taken with caution. When in need of guidance, Christians must turn first and foremost to the authority and divine wisdom of Scripture, not to the novelty of whatever philosophy dominates the world around them.