The Prophetic Minority

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The 13th Annual Prophetic Voices Lecture

Russell Moore
President of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

Date: April 2, 2014

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Abstract

American evangelicals are, sometimes frantically, trying to adjust to an increasingly post-Christian America. We can no longer pretend that we are a "moral majority," sharing "values" with the American mainstream. In a quest to differentiate themselves from the failures of the old Religious Right, some younger evangelicals wish to retreat into a libertarian cultural isolationism, and some wish to adjust to ambient culture. How do we live as a prophetic minority, challenging the culture with a gospel vision rooted in the kingdom of God without abandoning our mission as those who are ambassadors of reconciliation in a broken world? How do Christians live out a distinctively Christian witness in the aftermath of the culture wars?

Speaker Bio

Russell D. Moore

Russell D. Moore听is president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the public policy agency of the Southern Baptist Convention. He is an ordained Southern Baptist minister, and speaks frequently on issues of theology, culture, and public policy, having been quoted or published by such news outlets as the听New York Times,听Wall Street Journal, and Associated Press. He blogs frequently at his "Moore to the Point" website, and is the author or editor of five books and dozens of academic articles. He also serves as senior editor of听Touchstone: A Journal of Mere Christianity. Prior to his position as head of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, he served as pastor for a number of Southern Baptist churches, as chairman and four-time member of the SBC Resolution Committee, and as a regular columnist for听Baptist Press. Dr. Moore earned a B.S. in history and political science from the University of Southern Mississippi; an M.Div. in biblical studies from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary; and a Ph.D. in systematic theology from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

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Russell Moore, President of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, addresses the md传媒国产剧 College community.

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Photos by MTS Photography

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Event Recap

On April 2, Russell Moore captivated the crowd in Gasson 100 with his vision of the evangelical community as a 鈥減rophetic minority鈥 amidst a secular culture, as he delivered the Boisi Center鈥檚 13th annual Prophetic Voices lecture. The lecture series honors people who have drawn upon the prophetic traditions of their faith communities to challenge the consciences of all who hear them. Moore, head of the Southern Baptist Convention鈥檚 Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, is one of the country鈥檚 most visible and prominent evangelical leaders. His impeccably delivered Prophetic Voices lecture intrigued audience members of all faith traditions and inspired a robust question and answer session with supporters and critics alike.

Moore began his lecture with a personal narrative, recalling his time as a Cub Scout seeking the God and Country badge. While working toward the badge, he asked the pastor at a local church whether Christians could be possessed by demons; the pastor replied that not all of the Bible should be taken literally. For Moore, this was his conversion moment, the instant he experienced a pull to a Bible-based Christian life. Southern Baptist congregants, Moore explained, are a narrative-driven people; they experience God through personal connections, mo- ments of conversion to their faith. Moorerealized as a child that earning the God and Country badge was parallel to being a 鈥済ood citizen鈥 in the American context, devoid of specific Christian convictions. It was a way to preserve Bible Belt Christianity, making it broad enough to allow political pluralism to coexist with Christian morality.

Against the backdrop of secular society, Moore feels that now, more than ever, the individuals who attend church are those who truly believe in its message. Gone are the days where Church membership was a ticket to social acceptance and economic prosperity in America. Nominal, cultural, God-and-Country-badge Christianity is too shallow, he argued; it is part and parcel of the secular culture that presently dominates our society. Today鈥檚 culture war will not be fought by the majority, but rather by a minority of true believers. The shift from a majoritarian self-identity, which was key in the old culture wars, to a minority identity will ultimately benefit the SBC by strengthening the prophetic voice of the community and re-centering it on Gospel truths.

Moore analogized the new culture war to the difference between Merle Haggard and Bob Dylan: both have complex lyrics, but where Dylan speaks for today鈥檚 liberal mainstream, Haggard鈥檚 is a conservative counter-cultural voice: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 smoke marijuana in Muskogee/ We don鈥檛 take no trips on LSD/ We don鈥檛 burn no draft cards down on Main Street.鈥 The prophetic minority must be like Haggard in a culture increasingly consumed by Dylan鈥檚 ideals, Moore said.

The minority must be engaged in the political arena, yet with the understanding that they are first citizens of the kingdom of God, and second, citizens of the earthly kingdom. As Moore closed his speech, 鈥淲e鈥檙e for God and country, yes, but Jesus taught us to seek first the kingdom and His righteousness. We may not be a moral majority, but Jesus told us not to expect to be a moral majority. Broad is the path to destruction; narrow is the way He has called us to.鈥

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Further Reading

Schuster, 2012).

David S.听Dockery,听听(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2009).

Neil King Jr., 鈥,鈥澨Wall Street Journal, October 22, 2013.

Russell Moore,听听(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2009).

Russell Moore,听听(Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2011.

Russell Moore,听听(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2004).

Napp Nazworth, 鈥,鈥欌澨Christian Post, Accessed January 15, 2014.

Naomi Schaefer Riley, 鈥,鈥欌澨Wall Street Journal, August 16, 2013, sec. Opinion.

Christian Smith et al.,听听(Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1998).

Benjamin Soskis,听听(New York: Oxford University Press, 2013).

In the News

Russell Moore听has听听of late for backing the Southern Baptist Convention听.听

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