Weekly briefing: the problem with 'Christian elitism,' megachurch leaves UMC, evangelical backlash

We've compiled the top stories of the week. Here's what you need to know:

Editorial: Christianity Today and the problem with 'Christian elitism'

Christianity Today editor Mark Galli’s “lofty” op-ed last week calling for President Trump’s removal from office touched off a firestorm of criticism and dissent from scores of evangelical leaders, and the backlash and debate have reached “critical mass” since its publication. Meanwhile, secular media immediately seized upon the CT editorial to argue that evangelical support for the president was finally crumbling under the weight of impeachment by the House of Representatives.  

Mr. Galli asks evangelicals supporting Trump to consider how continued support for the president will impede and compromise evangelical witness for Jesus to an unbelieving world. One might well ask Mr. Galli how his obvious elitist disdain and corrosive condescension for fellow Christians with whom he disagrees, as ignorant, uneducated, “aliens in our midst” might well damage evangelical witness to an unbelieving world.

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“CT’s disdainful, dismissive, elitist posture toward their fellow Christians may well do far more long-term damage to American Christianity and its witness than any current prudential support for President Trump will ever cause.” — Dr. Richard Land and John Grano

Nearly 200 evangelical leaders slam Christianity Today for questioning their Christian witness

In a letter to Timothy Dalrymple, the president of Christianity Today, nearly 200 evangelical faith leaders condemned both its editorial calling for the removal of President Donald Trump from office and its editor-in-chief, Mark Galli, for dismissing evangelicals who oppose his views on the matter as being “far right.”

On Sunday, the faith leaders said in the letter that the editorial “offensively questioned the spiritual integrity and Christian witness of tens-of-millions of believers who take seriously their civic and moral obligations."

“We are, in fact, not ‘far-right’ evangelicals as characterized by the author. Rather, we are Bible-believing Christians and patriotic Americans who are simply grateful that our president has sought our advice as his administration has advanced policies that protect the unborn, promote religious freedom, reform our criminal justice system, contribute to strong working families through paid family leave, protect the freedom of conscience, prioritize parental rights, and ensure that our foreign policy aligns with our values while making our world safer, including through our support of the State of Israel.” — the letter states

Texas megachurch votes to leave UMC over homosexuality debate

Grace Fellowship UMC of Katy, Texas, a United Methodist Church with approximately 2,800 members, has voted to leave the mainline denomination because of its divisive debate over whether to amend the Book of Discipline to remove language calling homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching.”

Founding Pastor Jim Leggett told The Christian Post in an interview Monday that his congregation wanted to remove themselves from the infighting going on within the denomination and “devote our energies to fulfilling the mission and vision that God has given to us.”

“At one point, we looked up and noticed that we were spending easily 30 percent of our leadership meeting time discussing the issues of the UMC, and we realized that this was not good stewardship of our time and resources for the Kingdom of God. In the last year, it has become clear to us that despite having biblical standards of morality on paper in the denomination’s Book of Discipline, the leadership of the United Methodist Church is unable or unwilling to live by those standards.” — Pastor Jim Leggett

Pro-life group delivers nearly 380,000 petitions in effort to ban dismemberment abortion in Michigan

The pro-life group Michigan Values Life delivered 379,418 petitions to the state capitol Monday in an effort to ban an abortion procedure known as the dilation and evacuation method, or dismemberment abortion, that's performed during the second trimester of pregnancy. The group surpassed the 340,047 signatures required by state law for the legislature to take a vote on the measure.

If the required number of petitions are certified as valid then the legislature will have 40 days to pass the initiative.  

Pray for

Christians in the Philippines who face ongoing threats of violence from radical terrorist groups

The persecuted church around the world and other religious minorities who face violence, torture and death

New releases

Movies:

Little Women (Dec. 25)

Just Mercy (Dec. 25 in select theaters)

Albums:

The Brilliance Suite No. 2: World Keeps Spinning (Jan. 10)  

Master’s Voice Solace (Jan. 10)

Books:

Created to Draw Near by Edward T. Welch (Jan. 7)

Paul, Apostle of God’s Glory in Christ by Thomas Schreiner (Jan. 7)