A Response to JD Greear's Response to Megan Basham: Part I - "Whispering About Homosexuality"
JD Greear has stepped up to the plate in an attempt to defend his reputation against Megan Basham’s allegations in Shepherds for Sale, but his response is more akin to a magician's sleight of hand than a genuine rebuttal. In an article titled “An Open Response to Megan Basham’s Shepherd’s for Sale,” he takes a desperate stab at defending himself.
Having followed Greear’s teachings for years, I can’t say I’m surprised by his response. It’s filled with familiar tactics—deflection, straw man arguments, and a subtle appeal to his followers' sympathies. But in this article, we're going to zero in on his first contention out of six: his controversial statement about the Bible "whispering" about sexual sin. Before we dive into that, though, let's briefly list the other five contentions Greear has promised to address, of which I will address in later articles:
Race, the SBC, and Black Lives Matter: Greear’s involvement in promoting certain racial ideologies within the SBC.
Ethnic diversity and SBC committee appointments: His approach to promoting diversity within the Southern Baptist Convention.
The “Eleventh Commandment” and calling those who disagree with him “demonic”: Greear’s alleged use of inflammatory language against his critics.
Immigration: His stance on immigration policies and how it aligns (or doesn’t) with biblical teaching.
First Baptist Church of Naples, Florida: Controversies surrounding his involvement with this church.
For now, let’s dissect his first point regarding the infamous "whispering" comment—a statement that has haunted him precisely because it reveals so much about his approach to sin, particularly the sin of homosexuality. For context, here’s the clip that Basham referenced, and Greear defends:
In self-defense mode, Greear stats that his “primary aim” is to “make sure the people of The Summit Church are equipped to answer any question they might receive about me or our ministry” and that “the shepherd that Basham describes in this book is not the pastor they have known for more than 20 years.”
Responding to Basham’s claim, Greear states that he has “not changed my position on homosexuality or changed how I encouraged our congregation to engage with it.” He then reminds us that he “apologized” for the use of the word “whisper” and that he had “acknowledged that faults in communication are almost always the fault of the communicator, and that I was guilty of using unwise and unhelpful words.”
The exact section in Basham’s book that Greear takes aim at regarding his stating that the Bible only whispers about sexual sin is the following:
Though he reversed his position after two years of pushback, North Carolina megachurch pastor J. D. Greear, while president of the Southern Baptist Convention, encouraged his congregation to minimize speaking about sexual sins like homosexuality, saying they should not “shout about what the Bible whispers about”—as if the destruction of Sodom and Paul’s description in Romans 1 of the progression of societal depravity were mere murmurs.
First, his main contention—painting Basham as having accused him of denying the sinfulness of homosexuality—reveals more about his tactics than his theology. It's a classic straw man argument, diverting attention from the real issue. Greear has undeniably encouraged his congregation to minimize the severity of homosexuality by equating it with other sins like greed, and this is not an accident—it's a strategy.
JD Greear’s central claim is that he was “misunderstood” or “misrepresented.” He insists that he never intended to minimize homosexuality’s sinfulness and that his choice of the word “whisper” was merely an unfortunate slip. But let’s not kid ourselves—Greear’s real objective was as clear as day.