Meg Basham pulls no punches in her recent book, “Shepherds For Sale”. With a background in journalism that includes several years with World Magazine, contributions to the Wall Street Journal, the Telegraph, First Things, and National Review, she currently writes on cultural issues for the conservative media company, the Daily Wire. Following a viral article, https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-the-federal-government-used-evangelical-leaders-to-spread-covid-propaganda-to-churches, Harper Collins has released Megan’s book in which she names names and takes no prisoners. There have been public responses by some of those names, which I will link to below.
The Book
I don’t read “watch bloggers” or their cinematic counterparts on you-tube. My interest in this book started with the viral article linked above, in which the subject matter was relevant and well researched, and the players involved carry significant weight within the evangelical conservative community. Likewise, Shepherds for Sale deals with weighty cultural issues to which the church is responding, and with the thinkers, writers, and leaders who influence other individuals, pastors, and local churches. In other words, these are public figures engaged in weighty matters and, as such, are subject to criticism and evaluation.
Shepherds for Sale is too well researched and documented to be dismissed as mud-raking or a personal vendetta, although there are a couple instances in which a phrase could have been donated to the Babylon Bee, which would have made a better home for it. Each chapter reads like its own long-form journalistic essay. Despite being researched and documented, the chapters are engaging and Megan writes well, often introducing the topic with a compelling narrative from someone she has interviewed. This is an easy book to read in eight settings or one setting.
Shepherds for Sale deals with eight cultural/political issues (which are also chapter titles): climate change, illegal immigration, the pro-life movement, Christian Media, Covid 19, Critical Race Theory, the #MeToo movement, and the LGBTQ movement. Megan endeavors to show how, in each case, anti-Christian (or unbiblical) teaching has entered the church. In some chapters, she follows a money trail to para-church organizations that have used their position to infiltrate otherwise doctrinally sound churches and in other chapters she describes cultural moments that opened the door to false teaching by way of influential individuals such as Russell Moore, Tim Keller, or JD Grear.
Are the Critiques Fair?
Has unbiblical thinking on climate change entered the church? Is there a lamentable silence by church leaders over the downfall of Roe V Wade? Are churches wavering over sexual sins? Has the response of the Church too often mirrored the unbiblical and worldly philosophies of the culture in responding to issues like racism or #MeToo? Megan answers with a resounding “yes” with which I agree. I have heard testimonies from committed Christians and nominal Christians who experienced the entrance of political ideologies like climate change and CRT into the pulpit ministry of their church while issues such as abortion were minimized to a point of non-existence, almost as though the church leadership was embarrassed to talk about it. Megan’s book simply provides the narrative account of what the infiltration of worldly philosophy has looked like over the last decade.
Megan’s documentation of these events is convincing, but that isn’t to say that some events aren’t still up for interpretation. Personally, I found her account of how Francis Collins used his Christian connections to influence acceptance of the government’s Covid-19 narrative and to pressure Christians to get the vaccine to be fascinating, compelling, and concerning. The case made in some chapters is more concrete than in other chapters. Weaving a narrative across multiple sermons or speeches delivered over a couple of years is less certain “proof” than a recorded monetary donation or a published statement of faith. However, looking at the Table of Contents again, I can’t name a chapter where Megan fails to make a reasonable case for reasonable concern.
Are these “Shepherds for Hire”?
This is a difficult question to answer, even though I appreciate and am largely convinced by the case Megan makes that each issue represents a significant battle-field within conservative evangelicalism. Is it possible to be disqualified from ministry for a failure to guard the flock, without necessarily being a sellout? Is it possible for a good theologian to be culturally obtuse and therefore, easily manipulated? Is it possible that leading large organizations sometimes requires creating coalitions that prevent one from issuing clarion statements in the face of tsunami sized cultural events? Or are all of those just cop outs?
If I have a criticism of this book, it is that the title indicates that every person named in the book is a sellout, a hireling, or a coward. The brush may be a bit too broad for my liking. Nevertheless, to pastor a church or lead a Christian organization is a serious task. Pastors are not only to lead a church, but to guard against false doctrine and wolves. When the SBC’s executive committee manages to turn an anti-CRT into a pro-CRT resolution and then get it passed, someone is failing miserably and should be held accountable. When the president of the largest conservative Christian denomination in America is quoting critical race theory as a path towards ethnic reconciliation, there is a problem.
What is clear in my mind is that Christians are no different than the world when it comes to loving the glory that comes from men more than the glory that comes from God. Part of the pattern that Megan reveals is the love for respectability. When Grace Community Church defied California’s lockdown order, the silence from the evangelical community spoke volumes. When Roe V Wade was struck down and Christianity Today, evangelicalism’s flagship magazine, took weeks to respond and even then, failed to unequivocally celebrate the occasion, there is cause for concern.
Should You Read the Book?
Pastors should read this book. It’s helpful to see how ideas are spread throughout the evangelical world. It’s helpful to see how easily we can be compromised for money, or for popularity, or for influence. It’s helpful to remember that we don’t have to have an immediate answer to every cultural issue. It’s good to be cautious of parachurch ministries that may have an agenda other than biblical fidelity.
Some Christians should read this book. If you are in a church where every issue is starting to feel like a talking point for the Democratic party, then you should probably read it. If you are concerned that your once biblically sound church is starting to mimic the language and pose of the world on issues like race, or human sexuality, or abortion, then this might be helpful to know how to talk to your pastor/elders.
Some Christians should not read this book. If you spend a few hours a week listening to podcasts about corrupt pastors, you probably should not read this book. If you are prone to believing that every ministry with high visibility is compromised, you probably should not read this book. If you haven’t been to church in a month, go to church before you read this book.
Below are a couple engagements I found online between Megan and a person featured in her book.
JD Greear – He pastors the Summit Church in Durham, NC, and was the president of the Southern Baptist Convention from 2018-2020. Greear is featured prominently in Megan’s chapters on illegal immigration, Critical Race Theory, and her chapter on the LGBTQ movement. His response to Megan’s book is below, and then Megan’s response to him is below that.
https://cleartruthmedia.com/s/266/megan-basham-my-response-to-jd-greear
Gavin Ortlund – Gavin came in for some blows regarding climate change and what I thought was an unnecessarily snarky description from Megan. It appears that they have communicated via X and some reconciliation has taken place.
Nathan Writes 