A few weeks ago, a podcast featuring Tobias Riemenschneider critiquing Joel Webbon disappeared almost as soon as it appeared. Let me explain the context a little, at the very real risk of your eyes disinterestedly glazing over. If you do lose focus and nod off, just skip to the next paragraph where I rise above the details. The podcast contained references to a private conversation between both men, and it has since been taken down. The curators of the podcast, Eschatology Matters, have made multiple comments on the fiasco, so many that I haven’t had time to track them. Riemenschneider’s podcast was in response to an earlier Joel Webbon podcast that remains online. That podcast is itself a response to Riemenschneider’s even earlier public statements about Webbon. It all stems from a conflict over a man who transferred his membership from Riemenschneider’s church to Webbon’s and a holocaust meme that the man forwarded to Riemenschneider. Details about the private conversation between Joel Webbon and Tobias Riemenschneider are in question. Both pastors have publicly referenced that conversation, and I have no way of verifying what took place between them, aside from a private recording circulating in the netherworld which I have not accessed. Frankly, while the interpersonal dialogue is relevant to a degree, my own eyes glaze over at the thought of sorting it all through. I trust that in God’s time and way, the truth of the matter will surface.
I initially authorized the subsequently erased Riemenschneider podcast to be shared on our social media feeds. I regret that, and I consider it a lapse in my own better judgment, in which I typically attempt to avoid weighing in on private matters, at least until giving a fair hearing to all parties. My lapse was in part due to a few beefs I have with Joel Webbon’s public ministry. The podcast in question delineated some of those beefs, but it unfortunately, in what ensued, became a beef stew spiced with the interpersonal allegations from their private conversations. The beef absorbed the spice, as happens in a stew, so much so that the meat of the important issues has largely been lost in the brewing mishmash. All the attempts to vindicate and discredit the two characters have so multiplied, that the beef stew is more of a spice stew. When you mix half a pound of stewing beef with 20 pounds of spice, the spice tends to dominate the concoction. I fear the meat has been lost with the spicy takes.
It is unfortunate that the details of the private conversation have become the centre issue and were featured so prominently in the podcasts. That private conversation, which should be relegated to private arbitration, ought not eclipse what were, to me, matters of serious interest. I myself perceive at least three matters, of public record, that should be noted and discussed:
- Joel Webbon publicly said something to the affect that the young men will flock to him, his name will be remembered, but Tobias Riemenschneider’s name will be forgotten. It reminded me of an earlier Joel Webbon podcast about John MacArthur (see here), in which I sensed a similar attitude, just not as overt that time. The Bible warns against pastors who exalt themselves, and it also warns against men who tailor their ministries to itches that want scratching. Boasting that one’s teaching is earning a great following is prideful, as is tailoring one’s ministry to itching ears. Some have alleged that Webbon was quoting from a movie, as if literal hypocrisy (ie. acting) justifies his statements. This is Gospel ministry, not Hollywood.1
- While Webbon might disavow bigotry and hatred, he is drawing a cadre of blatantly unrepentant bigots who gravitate within his orbit. Eating and drinking with sinners can be excused, but when those sinners remain comfortable and blatantly unrepentant in their sin it should give us pause. For example, if a pastor had a cadre of blatantly unrepentant porn stars or sodomites increasingly in his orbit, concerns would hopefully be raised. The duty of a Gospel preacher is to bring about the conviction of specific sin while pointing sinners to Christ, like an aroma of life unto life or an aroma of death unto death. When sinners are comfortable or even emboldened in their sin in the presence of a preacher we are justified to question the preacher’s message. You will recognize them by their fruits.
- Joel Webbon peddles fanciful and mythological stories about the Nephilim, Greek gods, etc. (see for example here). How a Gospel-minister can possess certainty about such speculative ideas is anyone’s guess. Teaching like this, while not dispensationalist, is just as sensational as Jerry Jenkins’ Left Behind series. It creates a splash, but it’s fruitless. Beyond that and as an observation, certainty about vain myths coupled with uncertainty about documented events surrounding WWII strikes me as an odd, if not convenient, inconsistency.
The first two items were obvious in the podcast, and I throw the third in as an added observation. All of this is why I desired to highlight a critique of Joel Webbon. No matter the facts of the private correspondence, we should not be distracted from matters of serious importance which are on public record. This is a pastor who boasts that large amounts of young men do and will follow him, many of whom are blatantly unrepentant bigots, while simultaneously peddling speculations a lá Left Behind. He deserves some public criticism, and it’s a shame the substantial criticism is being drowned out by the private feud.
Footnotes
- After posting this, a brother helpfully directed me to a post in which Webbon offered an apology and requested forgiveness for his statement about Tobias and his names (see here). One might hope this is a change of course that will bear fruit in time.
