Taylor Combs

Pastor, King’s Cross (Nashville)
PhD, Midwestern Seminary
Mostly tweeting my excitements and frustrations with Kentucky basketball and football 🙃

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

Why am I starting a Substack (when the rest of you already have one and it's probably just more noise)?

https://t.co/AAFooiT1Zl

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@RScottClark 1. There is a lot of good evidence here—Ferguson’s work is excellent.

2. Don’t be a jerk. That’s a heck of a lot clearer in Scripture than the appropriate subjects of baptism.

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@DennyBurk That’s not preaching. We have such an impoverished view of what happens in the gathering of the body. Good debate can be had about whether the prohibitions extend beyond the pulpit, but there is just no such thing as “preaching the Bible to the congregation through a podcast.”

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@willspencer Amen. I just preached on 1 Tim 1:3–7 and was struck at the two ways to build a faulty ministry: through false doctrine (of course), but also through speculation and empty talk. We can manipulate the gospel, but we can also marginalize it with fixation on distracting minutiae.

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

I can only conclude that someone who would argue this has no historical understanding of what the social gospel actually is.

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

What is instructive here is how Megan and others in her tribe continue to conflate so political liberalism with theological liberalism. That Keller believed in white privilege (setting aside whether he was right or wrong) does not make him a smuggler of a "social gospel."

[Megan Basham @megbasham]

The consideration of Keller's legacy on broader evangelical thinking is going to be ongoing and those who have a vested interest in maintaining a gloss on his reputation (think TGC or fellows from The Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics) will understandably resist inclusion of those aspects that have come in for strong critique. (I believe for good reason).

It's understandable those who today work in ministries Keller founded or was connected to would resist this part of his review, and we shouldn't leave out the parts of Keller's teaching that were sound and valuable and his ability to gain a hearing with less receptive audiences.

But this discussion must also include the central role he played in trying to make a progressive social gospel palatable to theologically conservative evangelicals.

His promotion of Gustavo Gutierrez and liberation theology, for instance. His insistence, as in the first clip, that black men are incarcerated at higher rates because of white bias rather than higher rates of black criminality.

Or his argument that negotiating for the best price on a car deal is an example of systemic racism and sexism. He calls it a form of rebellion against God. (Never mind there are many scenarios where white people would be poorer negotiators--are minorities taking advantage of them and in rebellion against God then?)

Or his finding of systemic racism in missionaries raising their funding (a practice that applies to missionaries of all ethnicities) because he claims some ethnic backgrounds have access to more wealth. He includes Asians among those who are supposedly at a disadvantage here without acknowledging that Asians have higher overall median household and individual earnings than whites do.

In the third video, he promotes idea of "white skin" being a "historical asset." And he argues white people have a responsibility to be conscious of the fact that this skin color advantage was earned for them through unjust practices of past generations of white people (thus, everyone with white skin bears some guilt for this even if their ancestors didn't personally participate in racial oppression).

And there are many more such examples from Keller, taking ideas from liberation theology and disseminating it to the broader evangelical church.

So I think it's important to acknowledge the part of his ministry that was heavily focused on social justice rather than challenging the views of his urban, progressive audience that would certainly align with that worldview. This part of Keller's preaching acted as reassurance to his minority audience that they have been wronged and are justified to some degree in embracing grievance and envy.

This was some of his most influential teaching that shaped much of the evangelical landscape on how young pastors spoke and wrote about the church needing more focus on becoming champions against this alleged social injustice.

So by all means, let's not throw out the meat that the Keller produced through his ministry. But these bones were a significant part of his influence and we cannot ignore it either.

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@JoshuaBarzon The truly discouraging part is that a quick scroll through your responses reveals this is a complete exaggeration on your part, if not an outright lie.

Some of Keller’s fans (and I’m a big one!) are too defensive of him but saying you got a ton of hate for that post isn’t true.

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@DemarsSean This implies that all pastors have authority over all Christian women, which is totally outside the scope of biblical complementarianism. Women are to submit themselves to their husbands, their churches, and their churches elders—not random pastors on the Internet.

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@Uber_Support I sent a gift card to a friend today and I was charged for it, but it never arrived. The "contact support" button in your email doesn't work, the support number was "not able to be completed as dialed," and there is no link on the app or website directly to support.

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@JosiahHawthorne Dog, you are smarter than this…

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

On my end, there is zero suspense. Have assumed for months he is not coming here, and we have zero reason to think otherwise. Will gladly eat crow if I’m wrong (but fwiw, I’m not 100% sure he’s worth the drama).

[Matt Jones @KySportsRadio]

Biggest UK recruitments with this much suspense on day of decision in last 20 years:

Patrick Patterson
John Wall
Shabazz Muhammad
Nerlens Noel
Julius Randle
Andrew Wiggins
Jamal Murray
Zion Williamson

These are the ones I can remember that were this unknown until decision

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@newstart_2024 @emilyykeller

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@CollanMcCoy @ky__update 4 titles in the last 50 years and we’re in the midst of one of our longest droughts. Once every 10–12 is not an unreasonable expectation.

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@NewBBNMemes Who in that lineup is as good as Oweh?

I think Zoom is Aberdeen level, maybe a slight upgrade. Wilkins < Oweh. Kam = Chandler. Freeman > Jelavic/Mo. Hopefully Moreno is improved. I just don’t see this being substantially better than last year.

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@gavinortlund This looks great, Gavin. You are doing fantastic work brother. Thank you!

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@DavidDark @BenSasse @TGC In any case, how is this not you pestering a dying man to "issue a statement" related to two men he seemingly has little / nothing to do with?

This isn't coming from a DW or Driscoll stan. I imagine we have similar views there. Let criticism of them be our work.

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@DavidDark @BenSasse @TGC David,

I read through this lengthy series of tweets from 8 years ago. What it certainly has in common with your tweets yesterday is that it includes requests of Sasse. What those specific requests related to Kavanaugh have to do w/ Wilson, Driscoll, and TGC in '26 is not clear.

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

“We know you could spend the time talking about Jesus or with your family or getting treatment for stage 4 cancer but you haven’t sufficiently separated from those untouchables, where are we on that?”

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

“Progressive Christians” (aka the new fundamentalists):

“Hey man I know you’re dying but you haven’t sufficiently distanced yourself from people I hate so could you please consider issuing a statement?”

[David Dark Storms Out Of Staff Meeting @DavidDark]

It's true. @BenSasse, please consider issuing a statement. @TGC, where are we on this?

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@DavidDark @BenSasse @TGC Are you asking a man who has weeks to live to “issue a statement” on two people he has no apparent relationship w/ b/c they were affiliated 10–15 years ago w/ something Ben also had a loose affiliation w/?

Politics is your god, man. Enjoy.

[Taylor Combs @combstaylor_]

@DavidDark @BenSasse @TGC What is wrong with you?