For this post, when I say Christian leaders who are trying to find “middle ground”, avoid “heated disagreement”, form “nuanced” views, and so on. I’m thinking of organizations that want to be “welcoming” and “tolerant”  of the secular left, like Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, the ERLC, etc. Anyway, let’s start with an article by Matt Walsh of the Daily Wire.

He writes:

Recently, I told you about the major victory in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld the ban on child gender mutilation in Tennessee and Kentucky. After that decision was announced, a number of prominent Christian leaders took to Twitter to celebrate the decision. But it was noted by many that most of these leaders, though they were eager to join the party celebrating the win — and to tacitly take credit for it — were nowhere in sight when the battle was raging. In fact, transgenderism and LGBT ideology seized its stranglehold on American culture while most churches, most Christian leaders, most pastors and priests — certainly not all, but most — said nothing at all. They may not have explicitly joined the other side and started waving the rainbow flag — though some of them did — but most of them hid from the fight.

Which is why, of all the people who most prominently led the charge against gender ideology, precisely none of us were church leaders. Some aren’t even Christian at all.

Worse still — and I can say this from experience — while we went to war against this evil, many Christian leaders spent their time lecturing us for the way that we fought, the tone we took, our harshness, our meanness, our supposed lack of grace and kindness. They sat on the sidelines, afraid to get their hands dirty, while lecturing those in the trenches for fighting in a way that they found personally displeasing to watch. This is the story of Christianity in the west, at least in modern times.

Recently, I read an interesting op-ed by the leaders of the Tennessee State House and Senate, talking about how they passed legislation to protect children from LGBT predators.

They wrote:

Tennesseans demanded swift action when, in September 2022, The Daily Wire uncovered that a Nashville hospital was actively promoting sex-changing cosmetic surgeries as “huge money makers.” The reports revealed allegations of discrimination against hospital employees who expressed conscientious objections based on their personal ethical and religious beliefs.

Amid national outcry about these disturbing revelations, Tennesseans were further shocked to learn the hospital was providing hormone and sterilization treatments to children as young as 13. These reports raised nationwide awareness and serious ethical concerns about procedures performed on minors at pediatric transgender clinics around the country.

[…]The absurdity of this practice led us to introduce Senate Bill 1/ House Bill 1. We committed to banning these procedures in Tennessee. Now state law, this monumental legislation bans medical interference that alters a child’s hormonal balance. It prohibits any procedure that removes a child’s healthy body parts for the purpose of enabling them to identify as a gender different from their biological sex. This law provides the nation’s strongest protections for minors against these harmful drugs and procedures.

We are tremendously proud of our Tennessee House and Senate colleagues who stood firmly against intense scrutiny from the woke Left mob this year when we first introduced Senate Bill 1/ House Bill 1.

Of course, the pushback from the radical Left was swift. Liberals from all over the country falsely claimed this law would be “dangerous” and warned it would never hold up in court. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the legality of the legislation, and recently the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals wisely ruled 2-1 to reject their challenge.

[…]Tennessee is a leader in every sense of the word. In our 227-year history, we have accomplished remarkable things. We are a state known for low taxes, small government, prosperous business, and strong, conservative family values. We are the Volunteer State; it’s not in our nature to sit idly by and watch destructive groups of people brainwash our vulnerable youth to believe they have a permanent solution to their complicated struggles. Preserving family values and advocating for the U.S. and Tennessee Constitution means never backing down.

Running and defending Senate Bill 1/ House Bill 1 to protect children in our state was never a question. We knew that by taking ultimate responsibility for this movement, something good would come, and this outcome is priceless. We are hopeful more states will follow Tennessee’s lead.

Those are some REAL Christian leaders. They are not interested in finding the middle ground, or avoiding the culture war, or sharing their viewpoint as “equally valid”. No. They want to use their strength to protect the weak from predators. They aren’t afraid to force their point of view with evidence, and then accept the consequences of being hated by the secular left.

On this blog, and on our podcast, I haven’t chickened out of speaking on controversial issues, like abortion, same-sex marriage, economics, race, and so on. On these battles, I have made sure that my positions were stated and supported with evidence. That won’t be convincing to the feelings-dominated people on the secular left that these equivocating Christian leaders want to please, but I think it is important for God to know where I stand. When the Bible was under attack from the secular left, I defended the Bible. I didn’t try to create a middle ground on controversial issues, in order to please the secular left. That’s more than can be said for these “Christian leaders”. What counts more? Popularity with the world? Or being faithful to the Boss?