Home Christian News Conservative Commentator Jordan Peterson’s ‘Completely Presumptuous’ Message to the Church

Conservative Commentator Jordan Peterson’s ‘Completely Presumptuous’ Message to the Church

“Once again, to the churches: Protestant—you’re the worst at the moment—Catholic, Orthodox, invite young men. Put up a billboard. Say, ‘Young men are welcome here,’” Peterson said, telling churches to “ask more, not less, of those you are inviting. Ask more of them than anyone ever has.”

“Your church is for God’s sake. Quit fighting for social justice. Quit saving the bloody planet. Attend to some souls. That’s what you’re supposed to do. That’s your holy duty,” Peterson said. “Do it, now, before it’s too late. The hour is nigh.”

Christian Leaders Respond

A number of church leaders responded to a tweeted clip of Peterson’s address, with some questioning how Peterson’s line of reasoning matches up with Christian theology. 

“Young men, it is impossible for you to do this, to build your own ark or ladder to heaven,” said one deacon. “You have no need to fear however for Christ has already done this; he is the true conqueror and will lead you into his ark, up his ladder, united to his Bride the Church.”

“This is not the gospel,” said another. “This is hijacking Christianity for the culture wars.  And the rhetoric is precisely the same as Mark Driscoll used – disastrously – in the early 2000s.”

“Church [is] there, first and foremost, to declare to all that they need a Savior to find them and close the gap between them and their Creator that their own sin created—that their purpose cannot be achieved without Jesus,” said one pastor. “Peterson says some helpful things. But this is just awful.”

Other comments included allusions to John Eldredge’s 2001 book “Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul,” which paints a vision for masculinity similar to Peterson’s. 

Nevertheless, others received Peterson’s words positively. 

“This might actually be the least controversial thing JBP has said,” one person said. Another suggested that Peterson “could be a Paul for our time if he came to full faith in Christ. Praying it happens soon!”

The divide among evangelicals over how to receive Peterson’s words is indicative of a broadening gap among conservative and moderate evangelicals on issues of culture and politics, as well as to what measure church leaders should take cues from cultural personalities outside the theological fold. 

For example, in recent years, a number of prominent evangelicals have aligned themselves with atheist apologist James Lindsay around a shared opposition to Critical Race Theory—a relationship that seems tenuous to some, as Lindsay has publicly told Christian leaders to “repent” of pursuing racial justice, often calling them “demons.”

Nevertheless, the alignment of some Christian leaders with public figures whose religious perspectives contradict their own in pursuit of shared political or ideological goals, over and against fellow Christian leaders, has become increasingly commonplace. Peterson, who often uses biblical imagery to illustrate his points but has not ever publicly identified as a Christian, is representative of these melding spheres of influence.