I have followed Karen Swallow Prior for several years. Though I’ve never had the privilege of meeting her in person, I’ve interacted with her often on social media. She is a woman of grace, godly character, and Christlike conviction. I’ve observed how she has responded to the most vile attacks against her with kindness, returning good for evil, loving her enemies. She demonstrates Jesus daily.
Extreme elements of the SBC and Christian social media have attacked her in an organized and evil way. They have distorted her views, lied about who she is, and spread the most vile false accusations against her.
Let’s not sugar-coat it. The judgment seat of Christ will be a hot-seat for some when their treatment of Karen Swallow Prior comes up. We are called to be conformed to Christ but their actions demonstrate the opposite. Satan is a liar and they have lied about her. Devil comes from the Greek word for slander and they have slandered her. What happened to KSP seems to resemble the tactics of the enemy more than the fruit of the Spirit. It has been wicked.
She won’t be around for the SBC to kick around anymore. She has decided not to return to Southeastern to teach next year. There were evidently some philosophical differences with the school, and she said she was done with SBC politics. Having watched her be verbally assaulted and abused by despicable men for the last several years, I wonder it took her so long. My guess is that no bus could ever hurt her like these people did. (IYKYK…and sorry, Karen)
I have talked to several people who are considering following her out the SBC door – good, godly, theologically conservative men and women. They have no heart, no appetite for the brutal theological bloodsport that many seem to enjoy in certain segments of our SBC family. They want to preach Christ, teach God’s perfect word, build up the Body of Christ, and be done with the theology of personal destruction.
Problematically, these eviscerators of the brethren believe they are the last line of defense against the invading hordes of false doctrine, against the “enemies in the church.” No matter how much of the Bible they ignore – Scriptures that call us to love, gentleness, kindness, unity, and encouragement – they believe they are God’s chosen to remove the specks from other’s eyes. Some are likely high-fiving that they have rid the SBC of Karen Swallow Prior.
The Real Problem
Having said all of that, Karen leaving our midst (as many other good people have before her and others may soon) is evidence of a bigger problem.
Godly people, those who want to honor God and walk in the fruit of the Spirit, do not enjoy getting in mud as some do. Spiritual predators love to bite and devour – they enjoy destroying others who dare to disagree with them or deviate from their theological (or political) systems. They unite in packs on social media to attack, belittle, and bring down those who do not bow before them.
The biggest problem we have is the unwillingness of those in positions of influence and power in the SBC to stand against those who brutalize others in the name of Christ. Too many among us stood by and shook our heads and said, “What they are doing to Karen is terrible,” but we did not stand up and speak out.
There should have been a groundswell of leaders at Southeastern standing up to the bullies and demanding they repent of what they said to and did to KSP.
In recent years, several brilliant and godly African American professors have come under fire and there were few voices who stood up to say that the accusations against them were false.
We continue to lose good people who get tired of standing alone in the line of fire while those who attack them are relentless and vicious and those who defend them are silent.
Yes, our entity leaders and others should speak out when people make false accusations against those in their employ, and all too often they’ve failed to do that.
However, the SBC is not led from the top down. We elect officers every year. This year, our president, Bart Barber, has spoken out on issues and has engaged some of those who level these attacks. However his primary duty is to seek to give all of us a voice, and he is doing that as the convention nears.
It is our duty, as pastors and church leaders, to stand up and speak out. We are a convention of churches and the power rests in our churches. It is our duty to stand against this onslaught of fleshly behavior and say, “This is not who we will be.”
It is time that we tell those who engage in verbal violence on social media that we want to honor Christ and that kind of speech has no place in the kingdom of God. If we are a people of the Book, then what the Book says about how we relate to one another needs to govern our conversation, both in person and online.
We cannot protect our positions, our power, our prestige, but remaining silent. Too many good people are being hurt. The SBC is hemorrhaging good men and women who are weary of fighting each other and just want to cooperate in missions. They are leaving us because the toxic environment created by these people prevents us from accomplishing the Great Commission. They would rather walk away than endure withering attacks by spiritual bullies or stay in a convention where such attacks are the norm.
We have to stand. We have to remind those who make these attacks that there is a better way – the way of the Cross, the way of the Spirit, the way of Christ. It is time for men and women of godliness and good will to stand against the bullies and say, “NO MORE!”
We are losing too many good and godly people. The time for silence is over.
