Later on the day of his original tweet, Barber posted a thread containing “a few quick observations” for those who gave him negative responses.
OK, for everyone who reacted negatively to this, a few quick observations:
1. It’s no shocker to discover that the President of the Southern Baptist Convention is a [gasp] BAPTIST! Advocating for religious liberty is a core Baptist belief. https://t.co/VSkPSlZWqO
— Bart Barber (@bartbarber) June 17, 2022
First, said Barber, “It’s no shocker to discover that the President of the Southern Baptist Convention is a [gasp] BAPTIST! Advocating for religious liberty is a core Baptist belief.” He noted as his second point, “If you do NOT support religious liberty and you are a Southern Baptist, you are as far outside The Baptist Faith & Message as anyone in the convention, and you’ll want to be careful about calling for anyone’s ouster for straying from our beliefs.”
RELATED: Are Some Evangelicals Taking John MacArthur’s Religious Liberty Comments out of Context?
Barber reiterated that he disagrees with Warren about complementarianism, but agrees with him about religious liberty. The SBC president requested that others who hold the same position ask themselves, “Why is it that I am angry about a tweet that didn’t actually say anything I disagree with? Why would I object to anyone’s daring to say something nice and true about someone at a time when everyone else is fighting? What makes me angry about someone’s accentuating the positive, especially when he’s already on the record about this question right here on this platform multiple times?”
Barber concluded by noting that the Bible, which is “inerrant” and “sufficient,” includes Philippians 4:8, which says, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
Said Barber, “If your Twitter feed reflects the reality that, given a choice to find something commendable or something condemnatory, you NEVER emphasize agreement—find it contemptible to do so—will raise a stink on Twitter if ANYONE ELSE dares to do so…then isn’t it true that, whatever anyone else needs to do, you need to repent?”
As with Barber’s prior tweet, this thread got its share of positive and negative comments. One user expressed her appreciation for Barber, saying, “You give me hope….thank you for your measured, whimsical and loving way.”
