Shepherds for Sale

Megan Basham’s latest book, Shepherds for Sale, has caused quite a stir in the world of broad Evangelicalism. Just hop on the social media platform “X” if you don’t believe me (and do it quickly, while free speech is still somewhat tolerated). Basham herself is a Christian of the Reformed and Baptist variety, and she works as a journalist for the conservative news outlet, The Daily Wire. Her book is an expose, meticulously researched and fervently quoted, that is given toward answering a question she poses in her introduction:  

“Why have so many evangelical institutions and leaders in recent years started promoting causes that no plain reading of Scripture would demand, like lobbying for fossil fuel regulations or dismantling white privilege, while issues that unequivocally call for Christian clarity find them silent and stymied?” (Basham, xxi).

In other words, why are conservative Christian voices promoting a left-leaning agenda while neglecting biblical teaching?

Basically, Basham has been living the past decade with her eyes wide open, and she has put into print what so many run-of-the-mill, normal Christians have been wondering silently, if not out loud: what is going on with so many Christian churches today? Personally, I have felt this shift taking place in my own circles, whether those be through actual relationships or content I’ve consumed via books or podcasts. Basham’s book is timely and gives clarity of the facts to the average Christian in an accessible way.  

My purpose here is not to do a full review of the book. You really should go read it, and I do give it my wholehearted recommendation. Here, I want to highlight four of my key takeaways from the book that are helping shape the way I think about the world.  

An excellent prevention against illness is a good immune system. To put it plainly, American Christians had weak immunity against many of the philosophies and lies sold to us since 2020. For example, most Christians had not given much thought to the boundaries of the civil government and the COVID restrictions imposed across states and counties. Many Christians had never seriously thought through what an “essential” service is and allowed the unbelieving state to decide that for them. Many Christians heard the word “justice” (they remembered that the Bible had something to say about it, but couldn’t remember what exactly), and before they knew it were far down the road of Critical Race Theory. Similarly, when a pastor told his congregation that loving their neighbors meant affirming their sexual identity, many professing Christians simply didn’t know any better and nodded along.  

So many Christians were complicit because so many Christians are biblically illiterate. The Holy Bible is the best-selling book in human history. We have it on our shelves and on our phones. It’s immensely accessible to any human in the Western world, and somehow the people who claim to love the God who wrote it have never read it themselves. Corrupted leaders knew this, and took full advantage of the illiteracy. We were caught listening to Taylor Swift more than God Almighty, and we were taken for a ride. Did you know that the Bible in fact does talk about the different spheres of government and their respective boundaries? Did you know that the Bible does reveal that the gathering of God’s people to worship him is essential? Did you know that God has spoken definitively regarding human identity and sexuality? Did you know that God does speak to nations and ethnicities and gives instructions for harmony among people? Christians don’t need any other source of authority than what God has already revealed on these issues and others. And here’s the deal – if you think the lies and manipulation will stop any time in the near future, then I’ve got some oceanfront property in Kansas I’d like to sell you.
Shepherds for Sale is a call to biblical literacy.

Megan Basham has been given the gift of functioning like a bell tower – one that’s loud enough for hopefully the whole nation to hear. She’s helped us to see what time it is. 
When David was ramping up to become king, he started building his team of advisors, warriors, and the like. You can read about it in 1 Chronicles 12. In that chapter, we read very interesting details about the sons of the tribe of Issachar. Verse 32 tells us that they had “understanding of the times” and that they “knew what Israel ought to do.” The sons of Issachar were like that one person you know you can take a good, hard look at the world around him and say with a fair amount of accuracy what we can expect next.  
Like the sons of Issachar, American Christians need to know what time it is. The opposite of this would be to bury our heads in the sand and chant, “There’s no place like 1955.” Take a look around. Be realistic. Don’t sugarcoat the rampant wickedness taking place around us, and don’t hope it will magically go away without serious effort (see the final point in this blog).  

Real change can’t take place until we face those pesky things called facts. Here are several of them:
 
- Elections have consequences.
- Neutrality is a myth.
- Everyone has an agenda, either good or bad.
- The world hates Christ and his Kingdom.
- If you give Satan leeway, he’ll barge in and take what he can.

Our nation’s culture is not neutral. It never was. Neither is it up for grabs at this point. It’s been grabbed by the scaly, slimy hand of evil, and Satan is seeing how much damage he can do in and by it. These facts are not meant to cause us to despair – not at all. God has given us the punchline, and Satan loses. What this should do, though, is cause us to wake up and take a sobering look around.  

Shepherds for Sale is a call to know what time it is.

I graduated from a seminary that seemed to be working hard to find the fine line of idolatry regarding their promotion of Tim Keller. Rarely did I take a class in which Keller was not heavily quoted or appealed to for a deeper understanding of the content. Make no mistake – Tim Keller had a very sharp mind and made helpful contributions to a number of areas of theology and practice. In recent history, however, he was one of many who, though normally trusted, proved to be part of the problems described in Shepherds for Sale. Never in my adult life did I anticipate second guessing men like him. These guys were the steady ones, the bulwark of conservative evangelicalism! Though it can be a hard pill to swallow, now is the time to take a deep breath and admit that some of our mentors/heroes/favorite teachers participated in deception, and most of them knowingly.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not making a case that we “cancel” everything these men ever said or wrote. To continue using Keller as an example, I find his writing on suffering to be exceptional and will continue to recommend it. I will, however, also offer the caution that his leadership and theology are poor in other areas (his missiology and bad understanding of justice and government, for example).
 
We should always be cautious to name names, but I believe now is an appropriate time to do so. We can’t simply talk about bad ideas. We need to identify the mouths that promoted them. Why? Because the people pushing these philosophies and agendas are not the usual suspects. Satan isn’t holding a press conference at Planned Parenthood with Hitler and Marx to communicate these thoughts to people. The ones espousing harmful doctrines are people who have historically been within our own ranks, thus the need to identify them and urge discernment and caution. As I read the book, I underlined every name (person and organization) so that the next time that entity came up, I could reference what role they played in recent shenanigans.

Shepherds for Sale calls us to rightly name names.

Lastly, I want to warn against a temptation. It would be easy to read Basham’s book, be stirred first to anger, and then to fear; fear about what is coming next. We might fear trusting anyone ever again. We may even be tempted to turn our backs on the church in general because, after all, it was church leaders that took us for a ride in recent years.

The conclusion of the book does not end on a note of despair, but of action and hope.  

“Now is our moment -- ‘Laymen as well as ministers’ -- to stand in defense of the Gospel against foreign doctrines that have come into the Church. It is our moment to pray that the Lord will strengthen our hands and embolden our hearts for the task” (Basham, 241).
 
Like I mentioned earlier, Christ has told us how things will turn out in the end. He will win. More than that, he has told us the blueprint for victory, and the play is being run right now. We are to go into all the world and call the nations to repentance, starting with our own (Mattthew 28:18-20). As this happens, God will, by His Word and by His Spirit, soften the hard hearts of his enemies and welcome them into his family. His rule and reign, like a mustard seed, will only increase (Matthew 13:31-32) and his church is unable to fail, since he is the one building it (Matthew 16:18).  

So when you read the book (and you really should), let is stir you not to fear, but to prayer and to action as you seek to obey King Jesus faithfully in your place.