A Response to JD Greear's Response to Megan Basham: Part II - Racism and Black Lives Matter

Welcome to Part II of our ongoing series dissecting JD Greear's response to Megan Basham’s book, Shepherds for Sale. In Part I, we tackled Greear's contention regarding his infamous statement that the Bible "whispers" about sexual sin. We exposed how Greear, rather than being misunderstood as he claims, was clearly attempting to downplay the severity of homosexuality to align with secular cultural trends.

We demonstrated how his rhetoric, far from being a mere slip of the tongue, was a deliberate attempt to soften the gospel's stance on sin to appease the culture.

Now, in Part II, we turn our attention to Greear’s involvement with “racism” issues, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), and the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. Greear's responses to Basham's critiques on these topics are riddled with the same evasive tactics and rhetorical gymnastics we saw in Part I. He hides behind semantics, deflects responsibility, and continues to align himself with movements that are fundamentally at odds with biblical truth.

Let’s dive in and unravel the truth behind Greear’s latest attempts at revisionism.

First, Greear claims, "Contrary to Basham’s claim, I didn’t make a heavy push to change the SBC’s name." This is the classic bait and switch. While it may be technically true that he wasn’t pushing for an official name change, the sentiment behind his push to use "Great Commission Baptists" instead of "Southern Baptists" was on full display. Greear wasn’t just embracing an alternative descriptor, he was signaling a shift in identity, one that distances the denomination from its history and aligns it with the current cultural zeitgeist.

“Our leadership affirms the decision made by messengers in 2012,” Greear said, according to Kentucky Today. “We believe now is a good time to use it due to the fact that the primary reason we are part of the convention is for the Great Commission.”

And why now, JD? Because the "racial reckoning" underway in the United States makes it convenient to jump on the bandwagon? Let’s not pretend this wasn’t a purposeful move with the intended interpretation of it as it was. It’s no coincidence that Greear chose this moment to push the "Great Commission Baptists" label—a name that conveniently distances the denomination from its Southern roots and the perceived baggage that comes with it.

And then, as if to further ingratiate himself with the cultural elites, in Greear makes the asinine statement according to a Washington Post article that praises him up and down that “Our Lord Jesus was not a White Southerner but a brown-skinned Middle Eastern refugee.” A statement so ludicrous, so irrelevant, that it could only be aimed at appeasing the very cultural Marxists he claims to oppose.

Then, Greear laments, "I’ve tried my best, and I’ve even had a couple members of my team look into this too, and I can’t find any record of PBS, Washington Post, or any other credible outlet calling me an 'antiracist reformer.'"