Review: Fault Lines by Voddie Baucham
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Voddie Baucham is a force the Lord has and is using mightily. We have benefited from his sermons and ministry work for years. And with his personal upbringing and challenges he has faced throughout his life and career, as well as his educational background in social sciences, he is more than qualified to address the hot topics of CRT and social justice. After all, he has been talking about a lot of these topics for around 20 years.
If someone asked me what book that came out in 2021 they should read, Fault lines would be at the top of my list if not the #1 spot. Of course, as Spurgeon said, “visit many good books, but live in the Bible.” As always the Bible should be what we are reading daily and praying for God to illuminate His Word and hide it in our hearts. God’s Word helps us in many ways including helping us to better read, understand, and discern in other books we visit whether they line up with His Word and a Biblical worldview. That being said, Fault lines is something everyone should read and a Biblical Worldview is one of the topics Voddie Baucham discusses in this book as well as why it matters.
I would challenge you to read this book in its entirety whether you agree with Pastor Baucham or not. You won’t get the full context without doing so. Also, test it. Test it against Scripture and a biblical worldview and test the statistics and data that are listed within it. Above all, I encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ to “see to it no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8). So test everything.
Now let’s be clear about something right from the beginning. Racism is real and sinful. Pastor Voddie Baucham makes that clear. Hating someone for any reason is sinful. But I didn’t come to these conclusions on my own, or from Fault Lines, or from reading literature supporting current movements. I came to that conclusion because the Bible tells us we are one race who are all fallen and all sinful. Christ freely offers the gift of salvation for those who repent and believe. He offers it to all nations, tongues, and tribes…No exception.
If we are Christians, we are to love our neighbors and our enemies. And with just this small amount of Biblical knowledge, it gives me enough to know these movements are not biblical. They elevate one person over another, spread malice and hatred, and certainly don’t love their enemies and sometimes not even their neighbors. I knew all this going into Fault Lines. As always, Pastor Baucham has helped me understand these current issues more fully and has helped equip me further with more Scriptural evidence as to why these movements are not something a Christian should endorse or support.
It was refreshing and interesting to see Voddie Baucham saying that culture is an important factor. And when you consider the culture at large it is easy to say that it certainly does need to change. Why? Because it’s devolving. People advocating for people who check certain boxes to give them a voice. And yet those same people shout down others who fit the same criteria simply because they don’t agree with them... this doesn’t improve society.
Put plainly social justice isn’t biblical justice. God hates injustice and falsehoods. Real justice requires truth, not narratives. Here are a few sections of Scripture that describe biblical justice, which Pastor Baucham lists in the book:
“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of 2 or 3 witnesses shall a charge be established.”
(Deut 19:15; cf. Matt. 18:16; 2 corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19; Hebrews 10:28)
“You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.” (Leviticus 19:15)
“Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”(John 7:51)
“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”(Proverbs 18:17)
“If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.” (Proverbs 18:13)
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:16)
“God is truth” (John 14:6)
“His Word is truth” (john 17:17; psalm 119:43, 160)
Now, I am by no means a scholar, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect these simple dots: if I’m a Christian I believe and try to obey Scripture. That means I should not follow anything or anyone that is counter to Scripture. These verses say what biblical justice looks like. So are these movements calling for justice that matches biblical justice or for a different “justice” that fits a narrative? If it doesn’t mesh with Scripture, then by default, it’s unbiblical and a Christian shouldn’t be promoting it or be party to it.
Pastor Baucham also lays out a plethora of data, research, and studies and does it in a way that is easy to grasp. he also gives all the footnotes right there on the page so we can research it ourselves. Pastor Baucham compares and contrasts cases (both high profile and not), multiple data points, as well as objections and arguments that are common regarding these issues today.
The Critical Social Justice Movement and all of the associated causes that fall under that umbrella can easily be summed up as a new (false) religion or cult. They fit all the marks of a false religion/cult. They create new terms or they redefine old terms with new meanings. They claim to have some secret knowledge that wasn’t known or recognized until now and that they can “enlighten” others if they will join their cause. They also stay close to what is acceptable within mainstream circles as much as they can. They do so to appeal to those who are more orthodox in hopes of drawing more followers from a section of society that might otherwise see through what was being said if it were stated plainly. All of these are tricks false teachers of false religions, cults, and movements have used in the past.
This false religion/cult/movement even has its own hierarchy, martyrs, leaders, doctrine, theology, “holy” texts and even (false) gospel. But there is no salvation in this religion/cult and their false gospel. There are only laws with boxes to check to ensure you meet their standards for membership and inclusion; these movements offer no hope, no good news, no salvation, no true gospel.
Consider CRT (Critial Race Theory). We have heard about it often in the news relating to it being introduced in government education, pushed by professors in colleges, and advocated for by politicians. But, as Voddie Baucham points out in this book, CRT has infiltrated most, if not all, levels of the church. One of his examples is a 2018 speech/presentation by New Testament Studies professor Jarvis Williams who happens to teach at one of the most prominent SBC seminaries. Matt Chandler and David Platt are other examples given of mainstream pastors who are discussing their “white privilege” and CRT. And, we can’t forget to mention resolution 9, which Pastor Baucham unpacks VERY well. I knew it was done in what I could only describe as a political maneuver, but the extent was more than I realized. With the SBC holding their convention within a few weeks of this review, I urge anyone and everyone to read Fault Lines to better understand the truth behind how Resolution 9 came to be what it is and somehow made it before the messengers.
But we can’t forget that these ideas being pushed at the highest levels are also being pushed at the local levels. Curriculum’s like “Be the Bridge” by Latasha Morrison for example are being used and promoted within churches daily, even though they don’t mesh with Scripture.
The theories and beliefs of this new religion/cult/movement also claim to be based on “research.” Yet, as Pastor Baucham points out, they are often sourced from grievance studies, assumptions, anecdotes, and Marxist ideas. Grievance studies, are not necessary scientific in nature. Their purpose is almost always to use literature, language, philosophy, etc. for political gain.
I can’t say I was surprised to see that “grievance studies” were where a lot of these ideas came from. After all, I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone who was imbedded in any one of the social justice issues of the day who seemed happy or content? How about the leaders... when was the last time they weren’t actively making the issue they champion political? Don’t all of those associated with these movements use philosophy, anecdotal evidence, out of context quotes and stats, etc. to defend their position? What about the reality that it’s common for the scientific method, facts, statistics, etc. to have a double standard today in these movements as well as in the media... Their position may be legitimate to some degree or have legitimate points, but you need to defend those points with in context, non-anecdotal FACTUAL and TESTABLE information. Not by picking and choosing, distorting, or only showing part of data. Statistics, for example, are quoted often. However, the full picture of those statistics need to be presented to make a difference. That’s another thing Pastor Baucham discusses and presents in this book that is both informative and refreshing.
Voddie Baucham takes on some of the lead authors of this current movement such Robin DiAngelo, Latasha Morrison, and Ibram X. Kendi just to name a few. He does a great job explaining and dissecting their arguments. This was very helpful in understanding the views and stances of these movements in a clear way. The argument these leaders make is that racism is not simply an individual (personal/person-to-person) issue as it has commonly been understood throughout history, but is now ingrained in every aspect of society. As stated in Fault Lines: the idea is that today we have racism without racists. These movements aren’t fighting individuals or groups of individuals who are simply full of sinful, irrational hate for others… They believe they are fighting a racist system.
There are so many issues right now, both within and outside the church. But we must attack the roots from which these issues come: worldview. Do we hold a humanistic, evolutionary, Marxist, secular worldview or a biblical worldview? Do we believe what the Bible says? That we are all one race with Adam as our Federal Head who are all equally sinful and equally guilty or do we cast that to the wind and disregard the biblical worldview and instead promote and embrace the idea of different races that evolved differently with some being superior due simply to a certain level of melanin as Darwin believed (by the way, one of the goals of Darwin’s work on his now infamous theory was to prove that certain people groups/races were less evolved and that women were inferior... In other words,. he was a racist and sexist man who was trying to use “science” and his theory to prove he was right to be so...don’t believe me...read the Descent of Man or the FULL title of Origins of Species... The Origin of Speicies by the Means of Natural Selection: Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life).
Toward the end of the book, Pastor Baucham gives us some things to consider when trying to move forward in light of these movements. Two things really stood out to me. The first is that the only thing that can help with this situation is forgiveness. Not simply our forgiveness of each other, but Christ’s death, resurrection, and the forgiveness of our sins. The gospel is the only thing that can fix a heart problem.
The second thing Pastor Baucham points out to help us move forward is the fact that we are not is a battle simply with people or even an ideology. We are at war with principalities and the rulers of the darkness of this world (Ephesians 6:12). And with that in mind, it helps us have a better idea of how to fight in this war. Here is why we can learn from Scripture on the subject: “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every though captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete” (2 corinthians 10:3-6). “Always honor Christ and always be able to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do so in gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.” (1 Peter 3:15-17) And of course we can’t forget about our Armor.
We cannot forget who we serve and that our God is sovereign. We must remember we fight for and with the Gospel, with biblical truth, and a biblical view of justice. We must hold to the truth of Scripture. We must be discerning. We must confront the problem head on, defend and contend for the Faith, and correct with love. In doing so, we have the opportunity to shine a light in the darkness of a religion/cult/movement that doesn’t and can’t save anyone… But we know the true Gospel can!
We must decide whether we are Christians holding to a biblical worldview where Scripture isn’t compromised, is sufficient and is the lens we view the world through? Or are we someone who elevates the issues of the day above Scripture and uses eisegesis to interpret the Bible through the lenses of the current movement? And so I can’t help but ask, are many who profess to be Christians denying Christ and His Word for the popular religion of the day?
We cannot serve 2 masters. Professing Christians need to evaluate whether they worship the Lord our God or if they are worshiping an idol created by the culture.
Faultlines by Voddie Baucham
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