Syndicated Radio Host Janet Mefferd Says Russell Moore "Needs to Apologize"
Baptist Leader: Christian Talk Radio Makes People "Hate" Christianity
By Ingrid Schlueter
Friday, April 25, 2014
The president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission was called out Thursday by syndicated radio host Janet Mefferd over controversial statements he made at an ERLC gathering last week.
On Tuesday night April 22 Dr. Russell Moore delivered a lecture titled, "Walking the Line: The Gospel and Moral Purity.” In the speech, Dr. Moore took a critical view of the church's handling of homosexuality and same-sex attraction, saying, “If all you and I are doing is standing and speaking a word, including a truthful word, about sexual immorality and sexual impurity, the world doesn't need us for that. The devil is able to do that on his own. We have not been called simply to condemn, we have been called to reconcile."
Dr. Moore went further and targeted Christian talk radio for criticism. During the address, he remarked, in part: "I listened on the way back up here from my hometown to some Christian talk radio this week -- against my doctor's orders. And, honestly, if all that I knew of Christianity was what I heard on Christian talk radio, I'd hate it, too. There are some people who believe that fidelity to the Gospel simply means speaking, 'You kids get off my lawn.' That is not the message that has been given to us."
On April 24's radio show, Mefferd responded to Moore's remarks and defended the Biblical fidelity of Christian talk radio, especially on the issue of so-called same-sex marriage.
Mefferd called on Dr. Moore to apologize, calling his remarks "over the top" and saying, “I think he needs to apologize for what he said here. I don't think there's any Christian radio host who is telling the truth about homosexuality that does not want sinners to come to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, and I would challenge the idea that there are Christian talk radio hosts out there who don't have that in view."
When asked about Moore's remarks after the show, Mefferd said: "It was unfortunate to hear Dr. Moore impugning Christian talk radio for delivering content that would make people ‘hate’ Christianity. Rather than following his ‘doctor’s orders’ not to listen to Christian talk radio, I think Dr. Moore would do well to listen to a lot more of it. If he did, he would hear what I hear on the shows of my many friends and colleagues in the industry: faithful presentations of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, love and compassion for individual sinners, and, yes, and Biblical and bold proclamations of truth to a dying culture.”
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Ingrid Schlueter worked in Christian radio for 24 years and was assistant producer for the Janet Mefferd Show.
