“The point that Kevin makes here is what I call the Cave of Adullam phenomenon. Back in the day, we ran a magazine for about twenty-five years (Credenda/Agenda). It was about forty pages of teaching on family, church life, the civil magistrate, eschatology, and so on. Near the back was one page we called the Cave of Adullam, which was dedicated to skewering what we called the ‘regnant follies.’ We would also occasionally horse around in the masthead, or in an editorial up front, but in the main the bulk of the magazine was clothed and in its right mind. But what would happen is that people would get the magazine, turn immediately to the Cave, read it with a guilty chuckle or two, spend the rest of the evening being harangued by their conscience, and then write us a concerned letter about our writing habits—when they really ought to have been more concerned about their reading habits. This is called reading all the snark and ignoring the rest. This is called picking all the bacon bits out of the salad, and then complaining about the paucity of greens” ().
The Respectability Ache
“The temptation to ache for worldly respectability is, however, rampant throughout the evangelical world. Vast sections of our evangelical establishment have gone down before this alluring temptation, like dry meadow grass before a sharpened scythe.”
The Winsome Standard
“The desire to be found winsome by the world puts the standard completely in the grasp of Old Slew-foot. He is the one who now determines whether or not you are being winsome. No, no. Scoot farther to the left.”
A Never Ending War
“We are at war with crapola, and are willing to use words like crapola as the occasion demands.”
Not to Mention the Candied Peels
“And if f-bombs were raisins, The Gospel Coalition loves to laud and celebrate movies that would be the equivalent of a five-pound fruitcake.”
Debates Where Nobody Wins
“In this kind of debate, unless everybody watches his step closely, things can get pretty stupid—like a couple of dogs, neither of them very smart, debating quantum physics. ‘No! Arf, arf!’”
Less Honorable Parts
“It is a body life thing. That ankles do not need to perform the functions of the kidneys, but should be grateful that the kidneys apparently like doing it. And as the events of the last several years have demonstrated, what the kidneys remove from the body is kind of necessary. Evangelicalism is in the bad state it is in because the fastidious among us have insisted that kidneys learn how to do something more high-minded and edifying than produce urine.”
Like You Were a Beetle to be Stepped On
“They don’t mind that kind of language so long as it is being transgressive and is undermining Western civilization. But speak that way in defense of what is pure, noble, lovely, or virtuous, and they stare at you through their lorgnette.”
Which Is a Problem
“The besetting sin of pietism has always been that of wanting to be holier than the Bible.”
Was There a WIder Context? Why, Yes
“So let me tell you what this symbolism really means. This is what they are saying. They are shamelessly declaring to the world that they are just a couple of cunts. And in response to this horrifying declaration . . . if you are worried about about the impending degradation, you should be worried about the reality first, and the description of that reality second. That is not my position, nor my language. It is their position, their language, their degradation, their impurity, their sin, their shame, their logic, and their wormhole destination.”