When Ray Ortlund and David French Finally Come Out

When Megan Basham’s book, Shepherds for Sale, came out, I knew it would have repercussions that would shake certain trees. Megan’s credibility has been vindicated too many times. Her assessment of high-profile evangelical figures making back-room deals with leftist ideologues is evident on a host of issues, including Climate Change, Illegal Immigration, the Hijacking of the Pro-life Movement, How the Government Used Pastors to Spread COVID-19 propaganda, Critical Race Prophets, #MeToo, and the pervasive LGBTQ movement in the Church, and more.

Those who heavily criticized Megan’s book found themselves in a conundrum: they could challenge her assertions and research (an arduous task since the book was heavily footnoted) or nitpick it to death by challenging a college reference of one of the characters. I don’t know how Megan can handle such egregious factual errors like listing of someone’s wrong academic institution and still live with the accuracy of thousands of detailed document references.

I remark sarcastically, only to observe that nitpicking is one of those things Screwtape encourages his deacon demon nephew to pursue to throw the righteous off track. And I find it surprising that such tactics become the focus of many. But what happens when such noble icons of the evangelical eco-system who have pretended to play the neutral game for a long time come out and speak their mind? What happens when they say what we all know but realize they shouldn’t have said it out loud? What happens when third-wayism becomes just a code word for Kamalaism? What happens when that happens?

When you hate Donald J. Trump so much that you would instead support the apologists for transgenderism, pro-death, open borders, LGBTQI+, and more to take the purity march. At that point, you prove that Basham’s book was merely the beginning of an unveiling. There are forces behind the scenes that are actively seeking the destruction of Orthodoxy, the moral theology of the Western Christian tradition, and the very fabric of this country.

No, there isn’t a single Christian rationale for voting for Democrat in this election season. No, there isn’t a single rationale to play the Donatist game and support a candidate so outrageously proud of her disdain for truth. No, niceness packaged as Gospel is a peculiar form of compromise. As C.S. Lewis noted, the politics of N.I.C.E. is not nice at all. In fact, they are more difficult to save (Mere Christianity).

What was considered the “Gospel-centered” movement has always been a mirage, an attempt to use the power of God unto salvation as a mask to subvert conservative politics. It was a facade to sneak in political caricatures in the name of meekness and humility. It was a cultural way of bringing sonship theology back into the mainstream. They argued that they were not political, but their politics was always headed in one direction.

But nothing is left to hide because there is nothing left to defend. The Frenches are out of the bag, and the Gospel Coalition has been reunited again. At least this time, we all know what we are dealing with, and at last, Megan’s point, and the point we have been making for years, is out for everyone to see. The trees were shaken and their fruit is evident.

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