Ben J. Ditzel

Jesus did not come to seek social change. He did not come to alter the tax code. He did not come to address economic issues. They were not a concern for Him. Was He aware of them? Absolutely. He had perfect knowledge of absolutely everything. There was no abuse, no inequity that He was not fully aware of. He knew that there was a great need for social reform. He knew that there was a great need for tax reform. He knew that there was a great need for care of the poor and the sick who were believed, even by the Jews, to be under the punishment of God and who were treated with indifference and abused. He knew that widows were mistreated, orphans were mistreated. And yet He never came to bring about a social revolution. His appeal was always to the hearts of men, it was always to the souls of men, not their political freedoms. It was not their social justice that He sought. He didn’t participate in civil rights. He wasn’t involved in a crusade to abolish slavery. He preached the gospel, and He knew that all that is just and all that is equitable and all that is good and all that is noble and all that is elevated will come when hearts are changed. He was not interested in a new social order, He was interested in a new spiritual order, and so He didn’t come to create a new nation, He came to create the church. — John MacArthur

Jeremiah Hayes South Peoria Baptist Church, Peoria, Arizona. “I moved that the messenger of the 2026 Southern Baptist Convention ask the convention to set a standard for the music and songs that are used for the purpose of worship during the annual convention meetings, specifically, but not limited to, not using any music or song that would profit, promote any person’s entities or churches that preach, teach, or anyway promote a false gospel.” #sbc26