“So sad to see this. Thabiti has affirmed all sorts of woke ideology, and now affirms women pastors. Please God: bring this man to repentance,” Strachan said. “How we all need the Lord.”
A number of Twitter users piled on with criticism, while others were supportive of Anyabwile. Later in the day, Anyabwile responded directly.
Retweeting Strachan’s comments, Anyabwile said, “Hey @ostrachan, first, keep my name out your mouth. Second, at least learn to ask a question before you take an impromptu pronoun and wrongly ascribe an entire theological position to someone. Third, stop playing with God and his name and get the log out of your own eye.”
“This goes for you, too, @TomBuck,” Anyabwile continued. “You clowns [are] out here ravaging the Lord’s church with made up controversies and the slander of faithful Christians. You need to take a moment to attend [to] your own souls. For Titus 3:10-11 describes your warped, self-condemned ways well.”
Tweeting critical remarks aimed at fellow evangelical leaders is a common practice for Buck.
In a separate thread, Anyabwile clarified his stance on gender roles within church leadership.
“Just so people are clear,” Anyabwile said. “1. I happily accept the *Bible’s* teaching regarding qualified male leadership in the church. It is our practice at our church. 2. I am *not* a misogynistic, culture-warring ‘pastor’ who thinks women preaching and pastoring is ‘a gospel issue.’”
“I understand and accept that faithful Christians with genuine conviction and even scholarly understanding of the Bible may arrive at different positions on the issue,” Anyabwile continued. “Some of them have even written your favorite commentaries and books. Are even [heroes] to the theobros.”
“So, get over yourself and get off my [timeline]. I will gladly acknowledge a woman pastor in a room that has them in the audience and on stage. Not only because they kindly accepted the invitation to a debate. But because they are my sisters, having a human experience, making their way,” Anyabwile said. “If you can’t muster at least that level of courtesy, then YOU are the problem no matter how ‘correct’ [your] theology. And if you think it good to attack someone being respectful, then YOU are the one poisoning the unity of the church.”
“Gird your loins and prepare for God’s accounting,” Anyabwile concluded.
This article has been updated to clarify that Thabiti Anyabwile is not a current Council member of The Gospel Coalition.
