Shepherds for Sale should be required reading for everyone who professes the name of Jesus as LORD and Savior. I’ve spoken to a few people about this book (more specifically about Meghan Basham), and I understand that she’s quite the controversial figure. I didn’t really know before, since I had never read anything she had written. But I admired her courage for writing a book that really stirred the pot. Now after reading this book, I have even more respect for her.
Overall, a great book
This book was well researched and extremely well written. Obviously, there were a few things that Basham wrote about that included her own personal opinion. However, considering all of the information in its entirety, I thought for the most part, the book was as objective as possible. And spot on.
The murky middle
As I read this book, I kept thinking about how as believers, we’ve been taught both explicitly and implicitly that we shouldn’t go to extremes. We’ve been encouraged to hold the middle ground. The center is the safe, most gracious spot to be. That’s where Jesus would be, right?
But then I was reminded of the popular and controversial “He gets us” campaign. All of those short video clips are essentially about holding the middle. We shouldn’t judge and we need to have compassion is the general sentiment.
However, a big problem with the “He gets us” campaign and those who trumpet holding the middle have brushed to the side that: “The Bible instructs us to proclaim truth, not to hold centers – and anyway, the center is far too liberal a place for biblical orthodoxy,” (Intro XXIII). Here lies the foundational problems that the church is facing and what Basham addresses. Our culture has moved so far from anything resembling biblical orthodoxy, those of us who held the “middle” yesterday, is a far right, Christian Nationalist today.
Compassion, mercy, and truth
Of course, we should always have compassion and mercy. And yes, we shouldn’t judge those who are outside of the faith. However, if we believe the Truth of God’s Word, we are called to live it out, regardless of how we or anyone else “feels.” Truth is not up for debate. And as Believers, we are called to uphold truth by loving God and His Word above everything and everyone else.
This will lead us to ask, “What is Truth?” Depending on our worldview, we will land on different definitions. So should we have compassion on those who hold to lies or untruths? I wonder if the widows from India who were thrown into the funeral pyre of their deceased husband would have appreciated a different definition of Truth than what their culture provided. Or perhaps the babies who were left out to die in Roman times because they weren’t wanted for one reason or another. Would a biblical worldview been a better choice or should Christians have just left those babies to die? After all, those weren’t their babies. That was the other culture’s truth. Wouldn’t the Christians have been imposing God’s Truth (and their own convictions) on those Roman babies?
Um yeah. That’s the point.
Imperfectly obeying the LORD
I’m so thankful for those missionaries who knew better, and faithfully lived out making disciples in all the nations (Matthew 28:19-20). Although there were many mistakes made along the way, our world is far better off wherever the Word of God has been shared and lived out. Clearly, often there is no happy middle. Either the widows die or they don’t. Those babies are left to the elements to die or they aren’t. Whether we like it or not, the middle doesn’t exist in a preponderance of cases. And if we think there is a middle, we may only be fooling ourselves.
Topics
I love that the book covers pretty much every taboo subject we have faced in the past few years – Climate Activism, Illegal Immigration, the Pro-life movement, Corruption in the Church, C0VID 19, Critical Race Theory, #MeToo, and of course, LGBTQ. And she does not mince words. The church has been caught up with either corruption or toxic compassion (i.e. being in the middle), while often disregarding the plain Truth of Scripture.
Pro-Life movement
I think one of the most egregious of the topics above is the Sanctity of Life, or the Pro-Life movement. The subtlety of how the arguments have been twisted is, to be frank, insane and wicked. Mostly because we are talking about the most vulnerable and marginalized humans on earth – babies in the womb.
Tim Keller has always been heralded as a giant in the evangelical world. And honestly, it was well merited. He was an incredible communicator and shared the gospel with thousands around the world in a relatable, clear way. I think that’s why what he said with respect to the murder of the unborn is so mind blowing and frustrating. He argued, as many on the left have, that although we know from Scripture that abortion is in fact, murder, “… it doesn’t tell me the best political policy to decrease or end abortion in this country, nor which political or legal policies are most effective to that end” (page 59).
Holey cow. If we want to stop abortion, shouldn’t we, maybe, I don’t know, endeavor to simply stop the practice? My word. This is not difficult to understand.
Even Bill Maher, an open liberal, recognized what abortion is and respected those who wanted to stop it, by stopping it. Seems like that’s the best, and most logical thing to do.
Keller on Trump
Additionally, according to Basham, somehow “Keller found support for Donald Trump uniquely discrediting in a way that voting for Joe Biden – who had plenty of evangelical Democrats in his corner even though Biden had also been accused of sexual assault – was not. And Biden was promising to protect abortion access, expand LGBTQ power, and erase religious liberty protections to boot” (page 61). As we all know, Trump turned out to be the most pro-life president we’ve ever had.
But that didn’t matter. Apparently, Trump was still way too icky to vote for, which Keller often verbalized. But not so much for Biden (again, see page 61). The cognitive dissonance is breathtaking. And heartbreaking considering what we’re talking about and who it affects.
This is just one small part of what’s discussed in this book. It’s such an important read. I encourage everyone to please take the time to get it, and read it through!
