Christian author Josh McDowell steps away from ministry after comments about minority families

He spoke the truth

This is the “controversial” comment:

“I do not believe Blacks, African Americans, and many other minorities have equal opportunity. Why? Most of them grew up in families where there is not a big emphasis on education, security — you can do anything you want. You can change the world. If you work hard, you will make it. So many African Americans don’t have those privileges like I was brought up with.”

I’ve followed the work of Anthony Bradley for a while, and the key sticking point is the word “most”. The trick is that in reality, most African-Americans are middle class or above, and hence they get really, really irritated when the “pigmentally impaired” say things that imply that almost all blacks are living “in the hood” in a stereotypical way. Imagine our response if our African-American friends assumed we all ate a lot of baloney sandwiches while drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon in the back of our jacked up pickup trucks with a gun rack and the Confederate battle flag.

You want to end your ministry to African-Americans, just work from a “hood” stereotype. Now there certainly are significant cultural issues in certain locations among African-Americans, just as there are among caucasians or any other ethnic or racial group. The trick is the difference between “some” and “all”, along with the reality that very little is going to be achieved “when the white man comes in and tells us all our problems and how to solve them.”

Bert that’s interesting. I hadn’t heard that. Happen to have a link?

Part of it is going off memory, but here’s the Census Bureau on the matter. Less than 20% of African-Americans qualify as outright poor. Probably weighted a bit towards the young and all, but there you go.

According to US census date for 2020, the poverty rate for African Americans was 18.8% while the national average was 11.4%.

This is the “controversial” comment:

“I do not believe Blacks, African Americans, and many other minorities have equal opportunity. Why? Most of them grew up in families where there is not a big emphasis on education, security — you can do anything you want. You can change the world. If you work hard, you will make it. So many African Americans don’t have those privileges like I was brought up with.”

JM’s comment here goes against every study that I’ve seen https://www.pewresearch.org/fact- tank/2016/02/24/hispanic-black-parents-see-college-degree-as-key-for-childrens-success/ including this one, and my 32 years of doing full-time mission work among the urban poor. The fatherless urban youth (mostly African-American) that we disciple may come from broken families, but their single moms are working 50+ hours a week to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. The overwhelming majority of these moms are pushing their kids hard to get an education. Valuing hard work and education are part of the DNA that almost all of our students have.

My frustration is that how he twists privilege into blaming blacks as if they have this common cultural deficiency and it’s really a racial stereotype. So much for not “judging a person by their skin but by the content of their character!” I’ve even seen drug dealers and gang members on several occasions beat up their younger siblings because they had a younger brother who started skipping school, dropping out of school, or quitting a job because they were trying to keep them away from the street life.

[Joel Shaffer]

This is the “controversial” comment:

“I do not believe Blacks, African Americans, and many other minorities have equal opportunity. Why? Most of them grew up in families where there is not a big emphasis on education, security — you can do anything you want. You can change the world. If you work hard, you will make it. So many African Americans don’t have those privileges like I was brought up with.”

JM’s comment here goes against every study that I’ve seen https://www.pewresearch.org/fact- tank/2016/02/24/hispanic-black-parents-see-college-degree-as-key-for-childrens-success/ including this one, and my 32 years of doing full-time mission work among the urban poor. The fatherless urban youth (mostly African-American) that we disciple may come from broken families, but their single moms are working 50+ hours a week to keep a roof over their head and food on the table. The overwhelming majority of these moms are pushing their kids hard to get an education. Valuing hard work and education are part of the DNA that almost all of our students have.

My frustration is that how he twists privilege into blaming blacks as if they have this common cultural deficiency and it’s really a racial stereotype. So much for not “judging a person by their skin but by the content of their character!” I’ve even seen drug dealers and gang members on several occasions beat up their younger siblings because they had a younger brother who started skipping school, dropping out of school, or quitting a job because they were trying to keep them away from the street life.

So he’s wrong. Blacks in America do have equal opportunity. I’m glad to hear it. Why does what he said necessitate JM stepping away from ministry?

[JD Miller]

According to US census date for 2020, the poverty rate for African Americans was 18.8% while the national average was 11.4%.

I’m hoping that we remember that 18.8% is still a minority of the entire black population. This is why African-Americans get rather touchy about saying “most” or “all”, as it simply isn’t true. Let’s remember what we learned in middle school math, brothers.

And let’s listen to what Joel said as well….I’ve not done ministry in poor African-Americans nearly as much as he has, but I’ve seen a lot of the same things, but I do remember the interactions I had while trying to serve at a mixed black/Hispanic church in Compton…..what he says rings true.

18.8 is definitely not most. At the same time it is more than 11.4. The challenge is trying to figure out how to help the 18.8% without making the situation worse. As a country boy who has seldom been to an inner city, I have really appreciated Joel’s insights through the years. My black neighbors in our small town are really no different than the rest of the community, so it is enlightening for me to read of the observations of other areas.

So he’s wrong. Blacks in America do have equal opportunity. I’m glad to hear it. Why does what he said necessitate JM stepping away from ministry

So you automatically assume that valuing hard work and education = equal opportunity in America? I wish I could say that is true for all Americans, no matter what color skin they have. On a side note, I believe that America is a place of many more equal opportunities than most countries but that’s not an ideal standard to judge equal opportunity by.

Although 2021 is better than 1961, and especially 1861, a black man still has more obstacles to overcome than his white counterpart because of the racialized society that he lives in. Over the past decade or so, on many occasions here on Sharper Iron, I’ve shared the results of several empirical studies that demonstrate these facts, and I’ve shared many many stories from our ministry, but is often met with pushback and skepticism here on Sharper Iron.

As for Josh McDowell stepping away from ministry, he definitely needed to because he was spouting major racial ignorance on a public platform. What I’ve seen over the past 2-3 years is that the CRT backlash (which was the main context of his talk) has exposed so many people’s sin of racism. Those who are trained in Apologetics or self-proclaimed Christian apologists are the worst. They have no expertise about social, cultural,& legal issues as they relate to race & racism, but rather quite unknowledgeable and sadly, unteachable. Thankfully JM stepped away to actually get some perspective and become a learner. JM falls into the same trap as the Founders Ministry group, Voddie, and etc… They realize that there’s something seriously wrong with CRT, but end up with a serious misdiagnosis.

By the way, after reading about 50 or so primary sources on CRT, I am more convinced of the Scripture’s sufficiency and the gospel’s answer to the problem of racism.

I moved from Omaha to Philadelphia in 2013, from a virtually monochromatic homeschooling church to an ethnically diverse church. There’s lots of every kind of person, everywhere.

So my first respond to the statement in question is that it simply doesn’t work as a generalization even with the word “most” thrown in.

My second response is that it doesn’t work as much of a diagnosis either. There is no lack of “work-hard-get-an-education” messaging in the community, regardless of ethnicity. There’s plenty of rah-rah pep talk to go around, plenty of organizations with glitteringly optimistic names.

The bigger question of the gospel and a transformed heart aside, and looking at the level of “common grace” alone, if I had to make some generalizations when diagnosing troubled situations, the #1 issue I find is the lack of a man with character (i.e., no committed husband and father). The women left in a situation like that are bearing an incredible load, sometimes in very godly ways, sometimes in the best-they-can ways. Without the gospel, it’s easy for women in situations like become pretty fierce trying to maintain order. But without a man in the picture who is himself accountable and bearing the moral authority to (1) model accountability; and (2) hold others accountable and teach them how to be accountable….all that “hard-work-and-education” messaging seems to “float” and not connect to day-to-day life.

For example, the “hard work and education” message, in and of itself, doesn’t model a proper response when your employer does something that seems outrageous and you need to work through the issue somehow without losing your job. It’s a wisdom issue to know that employers occasionally do outrageous things, and the first instinct should not be to walk away or to burn bridges, and that stable employment requires a person to develop a sense of proportion and a determination to resolve problems when possible.

As a country boy who has seldom been to an inner city, I have really appreciated Joel’s insights through the years. My black neighbors in our small town are really no different than the rest of the community, so it is enlightening for me to read of the observations of other areas.

I appreciate your humble heart, JD. My previous comment about the pushback and skepticism on race from Sharper Iron was not directed towards you or anyone specifically. And I didn’t see this until several hours after I had made this comment.

In recent months, I’ve pulled back considerably from my usual comments on issues of race, poverty, culture, and the gospel because I didn’t think anyone was listening and I assumed we were all in our own echo chambers. Thank you for proving my assumptions wrong. God uses these conversations on Sharper Iron to love the body of Christ even more.

[Joel Shaffer]

In recent months, I’ve pulled back considerably from my usual comments on issues of race, poverty, culture, and the gospel because I didn’t think anyone was listening and I assumed we were all in our own echo chambers. Thank you for proving my assumptions wrong. God uses these conversations on Sharper Iron to love the body of Christ even more.

I haven’t always agreed with what you have written, but I would like to echo JD’s appreciation of your perspective. In my view, it’s precisely the people we *don’t* completely agree with that sharpen us the most (within reason, of course).

Although not really a country boy, my life has pretty much gone between rural and suburban, with also very little personal exposure to the issues in inner cities. Basically, I see mostly only what is reported from those areas, or hear from those who have direct experience. The people of other races I have dealt with either at work or in my neighborhoods and churches have had quite different lives and perspectives than most of those who live in inner cities, so their experiences, and my perception of them are not at all the same as what you see and experience. Hence, I’m certain that my views are not only shaped by my own experiences and the people I have interacted with, they are also limited in some ways.

I suspect we will always have some amount of disagreement on racial issues and what to do about them (maybe partially due to the fact we inhabit different cultures), but I respect your experience and actually appreciate my views being challenged, even when I push back. I probably do (as I suspect most of us do) live in a bit of an echo chamber, and while having to deal with information and views that do not exactly fit my worldview is sometimes painful, I know it’s good for me, even if it does not cause me to fully change what I think.

[Joel Shaffer]

So he’s wrong. Blacks in America do have equal opportunity. I’m glad to hear it. Why does what he said necessitate JM stepping away from ministry

So you automatically assume that valuing hard work and education = equal opportunity in America? I wish I could say that is true for all Americans, no matter what color skin they have. On a side note, I believe that America is a place of many more equal opportunities than most countries but that’s not an ideal standard to judge equal opportunity by.

Although 2021 is better than 1961, and especially 1861, a black man still has more obstacles to overcome than his white counterpart because of the racialized society that he lives in. Over the past decade or so, on many occasions here on Sharper Iron, I’ve shared the results of several empirical studies that demonstrate these facts, and I’ve shared many many stories from our ministry, but is often met with pushback and skepticism here on Sharper Iron.

As for Josh McDowell stepping away from ministry, he definitely needed to because he was spouting major racial ignorance on a public platform. What I’ve seen over the past 2-3 years is that the CRT backlash (which was the main context of his talk) has exposed so many people’s sin of racism. Those who are trained in Apologetics or self-proclaimed Christian apologists are the worst. They have no expertise about social, cultural,& legal issues as they relate to race & racism, but rather quite unknowledgeable and sadly, unteachable. Thankfully JM stepped away to actually get some perspective and become a learner. JM falls into the same trap as the Founders Ministry group, Voddie, and etc… They realize that there’s something seriously wrong with CRT, but end up with a serious misdiagnosis.

By the way, after reading about 50 or so primary sources on CRT, I am more convinced of the Scripture’s sufficiency and the gospel’s answer to the problem of racism.

It’s really interesting to me how much mileage you’re getting out of a comment by JM which was about 5 sentences long. You apparently agree with his first one, and you object to 1 word in his second sentence from what I can tell. Not exactly sure how you feel about his last one, but I infer from what you’ve said that you feel it is accurate, too.

This is why I question the response to this “controversial” statement. He can be wrong. Fine. But I fail to see why what he said was controversial, let alone cancel-worthy.