Lane Douglas

Founder of ThinkDepth.

[Beth Moore @BethMooreLPM]

I share this post in earnest and (what may prove a naive) hope that a few people caught in the situation I’m about to describe will hear instead of rushing to the usual tropes, criticisms and caricatures. For what it’s worth, I offer this in good faith.

Between 2016 and 2022, I faced a test of the genuineness of my faith so large and consequential, I’m almost at a loss to think of the right adjectives to describe it. It might not have been so big to someone else but it involved so much of my Christian identity, it was all but existential. Well more than that. It was a dying.

It is this test that helps me understand why people who seem deeply devoted to the Lord Jesus and hold the scriptures in highest esteem also hold to a system, institution or leader no matter what they do and defend a side or individual to a degree that is baffling.

I can tell you why because I had to face every bit of it. Identity, community, camaraderie, what we’ve known and loved, what part of it we still love, the people we loved, the people we still love, reputation, what people will think, how you will be judged and condemned and thrown over to the other side who doesn’t want you either. And to whom you also do not align and would not belong. Friendships. How you will be misunderstood and misrepresented. How adrift and alone you will feel. How disliked.

And then there’s this and it would be a mistake to minimize it: your JOB. Your source of income. Your vocation.

This is the part of the crisis I most write these words to convey because I think they are most in play for many right now, whether in media, ministry or politics.

Let me try to put this in the words that were constantly resonant in my spirit in those years. And to this day.

Though you have no other place to go, Beth, and no place to fit and it not only MAY have financial repercussions but WILL have financial repercussions to the ministry and to your family and will also make them targets and none of it will ever look the same or be the same, will you choose what you believe to be right and put everything else in your vocational life at risk?

This is what is at risk for many people whose professional reputations and positions are tied up with leaders, institutions and political parties. Mine was, too. The cost is enormous and the options are often untenable. And so there we are.

Having to cast ourselves on the mercy of God. Not for a third way. But as THE ONLY WAY. The only truth. The only life.

I’ve made multiple errors in judgment. Jumped too quickly to condemn. Spoken wrongly. Remained silent wrongly and confusingly. I never get it completely together.

But what I will tell you is that I believe we are meant first and foremost to call out our own house, our own side, and our own identity group for its mind-boggling hypocrisy. These were my people. Evangelicals. Conservatives.

Claim what you will but I know who I am:

I am pro life from conception to casket.
I am pro small government.
I am pro godliness and the pursuit of a holy life.
I am pro marriage and family and pro-those God calls to remain single and sanctified and I’m deeply thankful for them.
I am pro traditional sexual ethics.
I am pro love of God and love of neighbor and the dignity of every person as an image bearer of Christ.
I am pro love all.
I am pro church. I believe in the community of the saints.
I am pro Bible study to the death and believe the aim of all discipleship is to know and love and follow and emulate Jesus Christ.
I am pro gospel. Dear God in heaven, I am pro gospel. I believe there is one name by whom we must be saved. Jesus.

What I am not is pro Trump.

Wasn’t pro Clinton. Wasn’t pro Biden. But those were not the candidates many in the world that I loved so much were cheering on.

I accept that Donald Trump is my president. I pray for him on a regular basis. I’m a law abiding citizen and pay my taxes. But I believe Trump fosters something in people that makes them lose their way.

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

@madamspeaker Absolutely amazing. Congrats.

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

It dawned on me today… #Starbucks has officially sacrificed the “Third Place” dream on the altar of the drive-through religion. In-store customers are the now, ironically, the outsiders.

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

It might actually be fun to tweet again...

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

5 of 5 stars to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens https://t.co/1SGd3OhfFQ

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

@madamspeaker I agree we can tell a better story... but it needs to be honest. Driscoll may not have formally been Pentecostal, but the stories described this week have LONG been charismatic experience. Without formal renunciation and better discipline.. we own what we do not rebuke.

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

@WPaul Agree. It’s the theological equivalent of the gold/blue dress debate. People see it as they want to see it. For some, it’s a logical defense. For others, it’s an attack. You say misogyny… I say misandry. Tomato/Tomahhto.

[Timothy Keller (1950-2023) @timkellernyc]

If your god never disagrees with you, you might just be worshiping an idealized version of yourself.

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

@WPaul PDF Expert

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

The amazing and clear guidance of her website means an average baker can come off like a rock star and be the hero on Valentine’s Day. Thanks to @ChelsweetsNYC for the constant perfection in your work! #chelsweets

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

@madamspeaker @georgepwood Agreed. We’ve openly spoken against these individuals in our church. The absence of accountability in the charismatic world has always kept me with one foot out of it for a long time.

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

@madamspeaker @georgepwood Not saying that's good or right... that's just my read on where we are.

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

@madamspeaker @georgepwood The complexity is that a Biden replacement is being celebrated as the moral swing from a Trump removal. If Trump’s loss is God smashing an idol, the notion is that He is installing an abortion-activist as His “right” choice. That won't inspire repentance.

[Ben Shapiro @benshapiro]

No matter who wins tomorrow, let's all remember the most important thing: The Last Jedi is a terrible movie.

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

The question isn’t whether Biden or Trump will accept the outcome of a fair election... the question is whether YOU will. Take ownership for yourself.

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

No @Garmin ... I think you're the one lost. Which is ironic for a GPS company...

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

Dear @Garmin ... I think you’re missing that the damage from the attack isn’t hurting you at this point as much as the self-inflicted wound of radio-silence.

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

My week on Twitter 🎉: 1 Like. See yours with https://t.co/V18pvdR8Sg

[Lane Douglas @LaneDouglas]

@jfwilson How much have you personally donated to the crisis? Tweeting from the deck of your swimming pool as others file for unemployment?