The Lord, through the prophet Malachi, warned the priests of Israel that their continued disobedience and disregard for Him and His truth would bring swift destruction upon their heads. God will not be mocked. God was so infuriated by the false shepherding committed by these priests that he threatened to smear animal feces on their faces and curse their offspring for generations to come.

Behold, I will rebuke your offspring, and spread dung on your faces, the dung of your offerings, and you shall be taken away with it. –Malachi 2:3

Nothing could be more clear than this depiction of God’s disgust with the supposed shepherds of His people being led astray by self-seeking spiritual leaders. Yet, today, we have a perfect parallel of this passage taking place right before our eyes in the Southern Baptist Convention and God’s wrath is being poured out among it.

The president of the Southern Baptist Convention, the highest office in the denomination, has been embroiled for several months now in a scandal of epic proportions. Ed Litton, who also pastors Redemption Church in Saraland, Alabama, has been exposed as a serial plagiarist of whom even Al Mohler, president of the denomination’s most prestigious seminary, has referred to as a poor example for his students.

For undeniable examples of his plagiarism, see our YouTube channel where we’ve documented it extensively.

After Litton was elected the president in June it soon became common public knowledge that he had parroted his presidential predecessor, JD Greear, in many of his sermons at his church. The similarities between the vast majority of Litton’s and Greear’s sermons on the book of Romans were so obvious that to deny that this was blatant plagiarism would be more difficult than denying that the sky is blue.

Despite this, Litton continues to be platformed and embraced by the denomination’s most prestigious academic institutions. Both Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary have given their pulpits to him to preach and both seminary heads, Danny Akin and Adam Greenway, respectively, have run cover for him.

And despite the growing frustration from the average Southern Baptist layman, seminary student, and small church pastors and elders, the denomination’s elite class continues to platform Litton. Small, conservative Southern Baptist churches are leaving in droves while the elite class simply mock, laugh, and scorn. The only prominent Southern Baptist leader to even publicly acknowledge that Litton’s plagiarism is a “bad example” — at least for seminary students — is Al Mohler, who lost the presidency to Litton by a wide margin at the annual meeting in 2021.

Now, another prestigious Southern Baptist seminary is giving its platform to Litton for him to continue his charade while refusing to repent of his plagiarism and lying. New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, which is presided over by Jamie Dew, has Litton scheduled to preach chapel on Thursday, February 3. The continued refusal to acknowledge this massive gorilla in the room will only lead to further destruction of the denomination.

Perhaps that is the best thing that could happen? We will see; God will not be mocked.