Joshua Harris was Al Mohler’s “dear friend for many years.” Mohler spoke at his New Attitude conferences and had Harris on the Albert Mohler Program in order to commend his work and promote his book, Dug Down Deep – Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters. Mohler was a fanboy.
When Joshua renounced biblical Christianity, Al wrote a piece titled, “The Tragedy of Joshua Harris.” Al never mentioned his long standing friendship nor his zealous promotion of Josh over the years.
Instead, he distanced himself from Josh as though he never knew him. His silence was altogether disingenuous. I decided to write this article when I read this statement by Shannon Harris in her book, The Woman They Wanted, released in August 2023.
“They so wish to avoid being identified with the appearance of failure. Leaders scoot away from the fallen as fast as they can manage. He must not have been one of us, they say.” (p. 225)
I immediately remembered Mohler’s words in his article about Josh’s apostasy.
“If persons do continue in their repudiation of Christianity, then we have to remember the text 1 John 2:19, where we are told that, “They went out from us, because they were not of us,” which is to say they never were truly Christians. They were pretend believers.”
Al Mohler has a history of face saving actions that lack integrity. That was the case when he covered up his severing of ties with C.J. Mahaney. He was forced to go public because of my interaction with Robert Downen from the Houston Chronicle.
The Inside Story: Al Mohler Severed All Personal Ties With C.J. Mahaney & Sovereign Grace Churches Because Mahaney Deceived Him Into Believing An “Independent Investigation” of Abuse Was Done
Thursday, February 28, 2019 at 4:54PM
Here’s a brief history of Mohler’s promotion of Harris. The underlining is mine.
Al Mohler preaching at Harris’ New Attitude conference in 2006.
New Attitude Conference
May 30, 2006
I had the privilege of addressing the New Attitude 2006 conference in Louisville Monday, leading a session on a Christian understanding of sexuality in light of contemporary challenges. It was a tremendous experience -- just seeing all those highly committed Christian young adults was inspiring.
The theme of this year’s conference is also encouraging. “Save the Wheel” calls this generation to receive and embrace humble orthodoxy -- not to attempt to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.
From the New Attitude Web site:
So what’s with all the fuss about saving the wheel?
Savethewheel.com was our tongue-in-cheek attempt at stating the obvious: certain things shouldn’t be reinvented. The wheel is a perfect invention; its tried and true design has held up for thousands of years. The packaging may have changed (we don’t use wheels carved out of stone anymore) but the concept has stayed the same.
Like the wheel, Truth never changes. You can’t reinvent or improve on Truth. This is the Wheel: unchanging Truth established by God.
It’s truth that He has established about Himself, His Word, His church, and His plan for our redemption for His glory. Our role shouldn’t be to remake these truths in our own image, but to rediscover and recommit to them. We don’t show up and change Truth. We let Truth change us.
Forget reinvention. Embrace a humble orthodoxy.
Really good stuff. Joshua Harris and his team are doing a great work with this movement. I pray that it will prosper.
Most of those highly committed Christians have fallen away from Christ due C.J. Mahaney’s hypocrisy and the coverup of his sin by Christian leaders. This proved a temptation for these young adults to reject biblical Christianity. They stumbled (Matt. 18:6).
The article above was written in May 2006. Joshua had 18 pastors and around 28 support staff on his team. The “movement” (i.e., Sovereign Grace Ministries) was in its heyday numerically speaking but behind the scenes I’d been raising serious issues with C.J. Mahaney for years. Joshua was well aware of these issues and involved but capitulating to C.J. every step of the way. This “great work” was shot through with sin which was growing.
Two years later, Mohler speaks again at New Attitude. Here’s his description. All the links have been disabled.
New Attitude 2008
May 28, 2008
I was highly honored by the opportunity to speak to the young people at that event, and to be with Joshua Harris (the visionary who birthed New Attitude), C. J. Mahaney, Mark Dever, John Piper, and other speakers.
This year, Josh asked me to answer questions from the crowd. I was impressed by the questions and thankful to be in the presence of thoughtful and evangelistic young Christians who share a commitment to Humble Orthodoxy.
Thanks to the folks at New Attitude, the audio of the session can be heard here and a helpful summary is provided here.
Joshua was on the rise. He had the pick of the liter for speakers with C.J.’s connections. Mohler was “highly honored.”
Josh doing a 9Marks podcast with Jonathan Leeman (green shirt), Al Mohler (blue shirt), and Mark Dever (brown shirt) in the Sovereign Grace recording studio (Mar. 24, 2003). His 2000 book, Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship is on the floor in front of him. I Kissed Dating Goodbye is on the floor in front of Dever. These men loved to promote Josh, his books, and his ministry.
On January 19, 2010, Joshua released his fifth book, Dug Down Deep – Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters. Mohler interviewed him on the Albert Mohler Program two months later.
I’ve transcribed pertinent parts of the interview below and added notes in brackets. The underlining is mine.
An Interview with Josh Harris - AlbertMohler.com
March 19, 2010
Mohler: Welcome back to the Albert Mohler program. In the studio with me now is a dear friend, someone I’ve known for many years. Joshua Harris is now senior minister at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland. That is the church founded by my dear friend, C.J. Mahaney who has often been on this program.
[NOTE: Joshua is a dear friend known for many years. Later, when he falls from the Lord and Mohler writes about it, he doesn’t even reference his friendship with Joshua. Covenant Life Church was also founded by Larry Tomczak whom C.J. blackmailed. Mohler is a fanboy of Mahaney too.]
I guess like many Americans I probably came to know Josh Harris first through his book, I Kissed Dating Goodbye. It is described as a runaway best seller and it was but let me tell you, it is a runaway conversation starter. It’s actually had a positive impact on many, many lives. And a lot of my young people on my campus here at Southern Seminary and Boyce College will tell you that book had a determinative influence on how they were trying to figure out how dating and courtship scene and all the rest.
[NOTE: Mohler has nothing but praise for I Kissed Dating Goodbye. In fact, he is more radical than Josh in his convictions about dating versus courtship. More later.]
We will talk about some of this on the program in just a few minutes but what I have in my hand is his new book, Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I Believe and why It Matters by Joshua Harris. Josh, I’ll tell you, this book, this book is only a book you could have written after you have been a pastor for a while.
Harris: That’s true. That’s true. I think it reflects the fact that I was able to interpret my own spiritual journey and also seeing so many church kids who know a lot about religion, know a lot about Christianity, but don’t necessarily know God. And my heart behind it really is to show them their need to build their life on a true knowledge of God.
[NOTE: I knew Joshua well. By all appearances he had “a true knowledge of God.” His book is excellent.]
Mohler: Okay, now I have to go at one question that everyone is going to ask I think, it is a good question for author talk, okay the title, Dug Down Deep. You’re not talking about putting in telephone poles.
Harris: No, this is taken from the story that Jesus told about the two builders. One built his house on the sand. It got washed away and Jesus said the other dug down deep and he says that the person that’s dug down deep and built on the rock is the one who comes to him, who listens to his words, and who puts it into practice.
[NOTE: Remember, Dug Down Deep came out in January 2010. For over seven years, I and others had been bringing serious charges against C.J. to Joshua’s attention. He agreed with them but would not address them in C.J. He failed to be strong and courageous like his namesake Joshua in the Old Testament. Instead, he was weak and cowardly. He frequently did not listen to the words of Christ or put them into practice. For example in Matthew 18:15-17 which would have led to C.J.’s removal from ministry (cf. 1 Tim. 3:1-6; 5:19-22; Titus 1:5-9; and 1 Pet. 5:1-4).
The problem with Josh has been his selective obedience. He puts into practice some of Jesus’s words, not all of them. He has a history of avoiding hard things and choosing easy things. I base this on close observations of him over two decades. That is why he never disciplined C.J. and refused to pronounce him disqualified from ministry, which was clearly the case. Instead he pronounced him fit to church plant in Louisville even after C.J. divided Covenant Life Church and Sovereign Grace Ministries. People groaned in pain over Joshua’s horrific compromise.]
And I just thought that’s a wonderful simple picture of really what building your life on sound doctrine is all about. It’s all about the person and work of Christ, it’s about his truth, but it has to be lived, it has to affect the way you live your life.
[NOTE: Exactly, it has to be lived. Sound doctrine includes the choosing of leaders who are above reproach and the removal of those who are not.]
Mohler: Polls tell us that an enormous number of Americans, trending younger you go higher; anecdotal evidence tells us it is so, conversation on the culture affirms that is so. There is a substitution of spirituality for doctrine. A substitution of kind of religious moods for religious knowledge and truth and theology. A substitution of experience for conviction. And I do see you really going at that and trying to speak to a younger generation saying, “You don’t know what you’re missing.”
Harris: Well I think it is a good desire to want to be close to Jesus, to have appropriate feelings and feelings and affections for Jesus and yet I think you are absolutely right. So many people separate the pursuit of truth and theology from relationship with the Lord.
And I hope what they see in this book is that you can’t separate those things. If you want to truly have a relationship with the living Jesus Christ, then you need to know who he is and what he has done and the significance of that for your life and so doctrine and devotion are hand in hand.
Mohler: And indeed they are. Doctrine and devotion are hand in hand because there are a certain priority to the Christian faith. If you try to go from devotion to doctrine, you’re going to be in big trouble. So you’re devotional life is actually based upon certain doctrinal presuppositions even if you don’t think you have any.
Harris: Well, that’s exactly right. I think so many Christians especially in my generation, I know it was true of me, we just sought of try to feel our way into a relationship with God. But I love what C.J. Mahaney says, my friend and mentor. He says if you want to feel deeply about the Lord you have to be willing to think deeply.
[NOTE: Josh became lead pastor of Covenant Life Church (CLC) with 2,500 people in September 2004. This interview was done 5 ½ years later in March 2010. During this time interval “there was tension and great difficulty behind the scenes” with C.J. Yet, Josh puts forth his relationship with C.J. on the Mohler program as the epitome of friendship and mentoring. He is a marketer. Not a truth teller. It was not going well.
Here is what Josh told CLC when he resigned to attend seminary in Vancouver, Canada.
Joshua Harris To Attend Regent College
January 25 2015 at 11:45 am
The plan was for me to be the pastor of Covenant Life with C.J. as the apostle over our church and our movement. I’m not going to go into the story of how that plan got derailed. But suffice it to say there were serious flaws in this structure and from the earliest moments of my tenure as Lead Pastor there was tension and great difficulty behind the scenes.]
Here is what he said after I sent out The Documents due to C.J.’s ongoing deception which “frustrated” Josh. This was sixteen months after his interview with Mohler.
Joshua Harris
CLC Member’s Meeting
July 10, 2011
Part of me is mad at C.J. Part of me is frustrated with how this thing has unfolded. We have a real relationship just like any other real relationship you have with any other person. He is a father in the faith but if you ever wanted to strangle your father. Okay? There is a reality behind that and so all of that can be at work.
Seventeen months later in December 2012, Joshua, 19 of his 21 pastors, and the church left SGM due to C.J.’s abusive leadership. For eight years he covered up C.J.’s sins.]
Mohler: And know deeply.
Harris: And know deeply. Know truth. That thinking has to be guided by the Spirit, it has to be rooted in the Word of God.
Mohler: How is it that when it comes to the deepest commitment of anyone’s life [marriage] they can think that their relationship to God is based upon some lesser knowledge.
Harris: Well it is true and the story that Jesus tells about the waves and the wind knocking over the house is something that happens all the time with young Christians who have a superficial knowledge of God and along comes trial or difficulty. And suddenly they are saying but how can God be good if he has allowed this to happen in my life when if they understood God as the Holy One, the Sovereign One, the One who is able even to use trials for our good they would have a more secure foundation.
[NOTE: Josh’s hypocrisy is ever so great! Unlike “young Christians” he doesn’t have a superficial knowledge of God; he has a profound knowledge of God. His book is full of sound doctrine. What he doesn’t have is a wholehearted devotion to God. In his case, the waves (trials) and the wind (difficulties) didn’t knock over the house. It was his rebellion against God that destroyed his life.]
Mohler: Welcome back to the Albert Mohler program. With me here in the studio is Joshua Harris. Pastor of Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Author of the new book, Dug Down Deep: Unearthing What I Believe and Why It Matters.
You may well remember him from his previous books including I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Boy Meets Girl, Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is), and Stop Dating the Church. It is a fascinating experience always having a conversation with Josh Harris and I love his spirit, I love his mind at work, his pastoral love for his people, and the sense he has of speaking to a generation about the realities of the gospel and the power of the gospel in their lives.
[NOTE: Mohler is a Josh Harris zealot. You’d never know when he addresses Josh’s apostasy later. He doesn’t even mention his relationship with Josh.]
Mohler: Someone wrote in by Facebook asking Josh about the word courtship rather than dating. He said he detects kind of a cultish attachment to using the term courtship rather than dating. “There is no biblical command mandating the use of such a term.” What say ye?
Harris: That’s a great question. I would agree. I don’t think that the term courtship is more biblical. I don’t think it is wrong to date or to use the word dating. I think what is most important is the way we live. Our lives define our terms.
[NOTE: When Josh gets push back he will contradict himself and compromise his convictions. Dating as practiced by the world is wrong. It is sinful. You kiss it goodbye. Courtship is a much better model because it is based upon biblical principles. Mohler will correct him and put him on the spot.]
You know one of the reasons I like the word courtship is that it has more of a sense of intention about it. And that is really the heart behind my books. I am seeking to challenge singles to wait until they are ready for commitment to be activity pursuing a romantic relationship. And so that intentionality and the purposefulness is what I think is needed in many relationships.
But I have seen how people have taken the ideas of my book and they’ve made them, maybe a law, a rule, when I think they serve most helpfully when an individual is wrestling with God’s word and asking questions about what it means to honor God with their singleness, what it means to be pure, what it means to love others in a biblical way. That’s really what is most important. These can’t be laws that can be forced on others.
[NOTE: This is doublespeak. Courtship is not a “law” but sexual purity before marriage is God’s law. He commands it. Not only outwardly but inwardly. Mohler asks for a clear answer.]
Mohler: So just define for us the courtship; the way you really recommend as a pastor to your young people?
Harris: Right. I would define courtship as a relationship in which a man is intentionally pursuing a young woman with the intention to explore the possibility of marriage. So there is a clear purpose for it and he at a place where he can actually do something about the relationship. If it works that [marriage] can happen.
If I talk to a 12 year old and he is saying I am doing courtship not dating, I’ll say, buddy, you need some time, you need to be at a place where you can actually allow the relationship to work.
Mohler: Yea, but go tiger. At least he knows he’s supposed to be married one day.
Harris: [laughter] Well, you know that’s right. I’ve got a 8 year old boy and he is already noticing girls and he is already noticing girls and I said, “Son that makes me happy. I want you to be noticing girls but we have some work to do before you go chase any of them. [laughter]
Mohler: When I talk about courting, or courtship or dating, the word is not irrelevant. The reason I think a lot of us have kind of an allergy to the word dating is because it refers to an entire culture of non-committal, non-directional, non-principled, non-protective romance and often premature intimacy in a hooking up culture of adolescent and young adults.
I would prefer to put it this way, I think the right way is one that is a boundary to process in which a man is taking leadership, a young man in many cases, is taking leadership with marriage as the hopeful end. Which is to say no one should court anyone is he not hoping to marry. Right?
[NOTE: Mohler is much stronger and clearer than Josh. Using the word courtship versus dating is not irrelevant.]
Harris: I think that is accurate. I think one thing that trips people up is they view it as almost a form of engagement. It needs to be a process of growing in friendship, getting to know one another.
[NOTE: Mohler interrupts at this point and effectively corrects Josh.]
Mohler: But he shouldn’t be hoping to have a good time but he should be hoping that what he discovers about this young woman is that indeed she is the one.
Harris: And that really was the conviction for me when I wrote I Kissed Dating Goodbye. I saw that I had been pursing relationships for the sake of romance, for the sake of my own pleasure, and I’d hurt girls in the process and I realized that to honor God I needed to change the way I was living.
[NOTE: Harris removed the book from publication in October 2018. He renounced Christ, announced the end of his marriage, and embraced homosexuality in July 2019 for his “own pleasure.”]
Mohler: You know we are often defined by the things we say and the things we write. I was sitting in a restaurant today with Joshua Harris and the waiter told us he wants one day to write a book, “I Kissed Waiting Goodbye.” You’re going to hear something like that the rest of your life.
Harris: It’s true
Mohler: There you go. Well here is your opportunity to have a conversation with Joshua Harris. The phone number 877-893-8255. Don’t kiss that opportunity goodbye. 877-893-TALK. Welcome back to the Albert Mohler program…. Go ahead Ken.
Ken: I just wanted to ask you if you could just give dads advice in terms of dads with 15 year old boys, how to counsel them about dating?
Mohler: Great question. It could apply to those with 14, 15, 16 year olds, 17 year olds; and I hate to tell you Ken, it can apply to some dads who have 22 year old boys in all the wrong ways defined as boy here. Go ahead.
Harris: Well, I would just say that the fact that you are asking that question, dive in there, be engaged, be consistently talking about these questions. Study God’s word together. Talk about the beauty of God’s plan for marriage. I just think it is so important that you be the primary source of conversation and vision in this area for your son.
[NOTE: I can’t imagine what it will be like for Josh when he stands before Christ to give an account for his words and actions. I hope Ken and his 15 year old son followed Josh’s advice and were not stumble by his gross hypocrisy.]
Mohler: You know Ken I want to tell you I am so thankful you had the question. I’m also thankful you have a 15 year old boy. And I’m thankful that 15 year old boy’s got you as a dad. Okay. So I think we’ve got a lot of good things going here. And I think one of the things, and mom’s as your hearing this, and young girls as your hearing this, it’s probably good you hear it, but it isn’t so much for you but it is for this dad and it is for this boy.
God has put something in that boy that is going to keep telling him repeatedly that he is meant for something. That God has something for him to do. Okay? And you need to help him understand that. That to do is not to have sex. That to do is to get married and be a husband.
Harris: That’s right.
Mohler: And then within that to have all the good things that God will give him. God has put a sex drive in that kid in order to make him uncomfortable until he actually does do what he is supposed to do. And that is to get married. And you’re the guy to help him get there healthfully.
And I’ll tell you Ken, one of the things you need to do is tell a 15 year old boy that he is not going to be dating as a 15 year old boy. He’s just not ready for that. So I would maintain multiple groups of young men and young women, of boys and girls of that age, because I would not allow them to get into a situation of premature intimacy and premature, and that’s not just physical intimacy or the risk of that, but premature emotional intimacy.
[NOTE: Mohler is laying down the law. I happen to agree with him.]
Because the fact is that we don’t, we’re not well-situated for 15 year old to get married, nor 16 years old to get married. If you listen to this program, you know I am a proponent of early marriage but that is outside my margin of early. Because early marriage means as soon as you are an adult you should be ready to be married, you should be moving towards that, a man should be taking the lead in that.
[NOTE: When Mohler spoke at New Attitude in 2006 he caused quite a stir when he encouraged 18 year olds and up to get married and go through college as husband and wife and live on little.]
But you do want him to start as a 15 year old trying to figure out what kind of woman is it that God would have me to marry. And you can help him to be in situations, especially group situations, which are safer especially among Christian young people, with the right kind of parameters in place, where young people can really get to know each other. And he can start saying, you know I really like it when that girl does that and talks that way. It really sounds like someone I’d like to be around. I like the way she relates to her friends. And the way she relates to me. And what we need to avoid is premature bruising of hearts and premature intimacy that they just are not ready for.
But you do want to say, “Hey tiger, God put something in you that is going to give you an itch until you get married. God doesn’t really want you not thinking about this. God is not surprised by puberty. This is his idea.”
Harris: Well, I just know that I wasted so much time in my life in my high school years pouring energy and focus into maintaining that kind of relationship. And if you can give him a vision for what he can do instead and that should include those godly friendships, that should include that brother sister relationships with multiple people in your local church and serving alongside other boys and girls, but give him that vision for how he can use that irreplaceable time in his life for God’s glory and for his preparation is just so important.
[NOTE: Excellent counsel.]
Moher: Josh what is your next project do you think? If not a book in this stage in your life, what are you working on here?
Harris: You know my main focus is learning to grow as a preacher of God’s word, you know, I still feel like a rookie when it comes to being a pastor but just being really being focused on building our church. That is what I want to do. Be a faithful husband and dad to my three kids.
Mohler: You and you wife Shannon have three kids. Tell us about them.
Harris: 10 year old daughter Emma, an eight year old boy Joshua Quinn, and a four year old named Mary Kate.
Mohler: That is wonderful.
Harris: We have a good time together.
Mohler: Yea, I bet you do. And you have a good time with my dear friend C.J. Mahaney who leads the Sovereign Grace Ministries that really gave birth to Covenant Life Church or Covenant Life Church gave birth to Sovereign Grace Ministries.
Harris: That’s right. He’s a dear friend.
[NOTE: No question C.J. was a “dear friend” because Josh was not a real friend. If Josh had held C.J. to account he would have been no friend! C.J. would have cut him off. Josh was riding on his coattails. C.J. planned to turn Sovereign Grace Ministries over to Josh in September 2013 when he turned 60. That is 3½ years after this interview.]
Mohler: Just a wonderful, wonderful witness to the gospel, to the power of God to save, and to biblical Christianity. And in an age in which there is so many things out there we have to warn people against, I am glad to have some things I can encourage people to find out more about.
[NOTE: God graced us in some wonderful ways but at this point in time C.J., Josh, and other compromised leaders had stirred up the anger of God. Sixteen months later, the Lord Almighty would discipline and expose Covenant Life Church and Sovereign Grace Ministries. Josh’s dear friend C.J. cut him off and fled the church in a rage.] ##
What follows is the full length article Mohler wrote after Harris renounced Christ. He does not acknowledge his long standing friendship with him or promotion of him. That is why I’ve titled my article “Al Mohler’s Disingenuous Distancing from His “Dear Friend” Joshua Harris. It is all so face saving. “Josh who? I never knew the man.” Remember the words of Shannon Harris. She has Mohler in mind.
“They so wish to avoid being identified with the appearance of failure. Leaders scoot away from the fallen as fast as they can manage. He must not have been one of us, they say.” (p. 225)
The underlining below is mine. I’ve also added notes.
The Tragedy of Joshua Harris: Sobering Thoughts for Evangelicals - AlbertMohler.com
August 1, 2019
The evangelical world has been roiled by the headlines concerning Joshua Harris. First came the news of his divorce, and then came the news of his departure from the Christian faith. It’s hard to imagine more sobering news.
We have to go back to 1997 with the release of a book entitled, I Kissed Dating Goodbye. The book was by Joshua Harris and it became an evangelical publishing phenomenon, eventually selling 1.2 million copies. The central thesis of the book is that evangelicals have been flirting with disaster by their involvement in the dating culture. Harris spoke of his own experience and prescriptively began to outline a shift from dating to a model of courtship.
This represented a significant evangelical cultural pushback in the 1990s to the sexual licentiousness of the culture in general and the fact that a very loose dating culture had indeed brought a great deal of sin and grief to so many young people. Harris effectively called for an end to the entire system of dating among adolescents and young adults. Instead, he pointed to a more ecclesial and family-based model of courtship.
And of course, one of the issues we have to face here is that when you have a popular book with this kind of influence, you sometimes have people who take the argument even further. The push-back against the dating culture grew radical, and many evangelicals reveled in the radicalism of the movement.
[NOTE: Mohler took “the argument even further.” He was one of the radicals. What dishonestly! What hypocrisy!]
It’s helpful in this case to go back to the biography of Joshua Harris. He is one of the seven children of Gregg and Sono Harris, and they were very influential long before Joshua Harris emerged as a young author. They were mostly influential within the burgeoning homeschool movement of the 1970s and ‘80s and beyond, and they and their movement were located in the Pacific Northwest.
That’s not an accident. The homeschooling movement in the United States in its modern phase really is traceable to that part of the United States and to a very interesting duality. The homeschooling movement took root within the cultural left and the cultural right at almost the same time, although the cultural left really beat the cultural right to the movement.
In one sense, it was conservatives who learned from the liberals about the model of homeschooling. Among liberals, the movement really began as an extension of the radicalism of the 1960s, a pushback against institutionalized forms of learning and a basic anti-authoritarianism. Conservatives began to observe the liberal homeschooling movement and recognized there was a real opportunity here for conservative Christians especially. This was a part of the Jesus People—that youth revival that began on the west coast in the 1970s. The Christian homeschooling movement was a blend of Jesus People grown into parents, celebrating the Bible’s radical vision of sex, marriage, and parenting. The movement was marked by a simple Biblicism and grew into very clear prescriptive principles.
Conservative Christian parents were also consciously rejecting the liberalization and secularization of the public schools, and the liberal sex education agenda that marked public education. Joshua Harris was born into this movement, was incubated within it, and was raised by parents who were already influential within it.
[NOTE: Mohler should tell the audience he is an ardent supporter of homeschooling.]
I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Joshua Harris’s 1997 book, became one of those very important signal moments in American evangelical culture. It represents, like the explosion of homeschooling itself, a rejection of the dominant model, whereby young people began to develop romantic relationships. It was also steeped in concern about the danger of the hyper-sexualized culture. He followed up I Kissed Dating Goodbye, with another book entitled Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship, published in 2000. He became lead pastor of a Maryland mega church in 2004, and he continued in that role until 2015. He also established a series of conferences that were known as New Attitude.
[NOTE: This is where Mohler should make clear he was a “dear friend [of Joshua] for many years” and heavily promoted I Kissed Dating Goodbye and everything else he was doing. He should also make clear the “Maryland mega church” was Covenant Life Church which C.J. turned over to Josh in 2004. Mohler is distancing himself from Mahaney too. He also conceals the fact he spoke at New Attitude conferences.]
In 2015, he resigned from the church and indicated that he was moving back to the Pacific Northwest, in this case to Vancouver, British Columbia, to study at Regent College and to give attention to theological education. He said in a statement at the time that he had been living effectively backwards. He had gone into ministry before his theological education. He said that he was going to resign from ministry, and the very fact that he made that announcement the way he did indicated that perhaps even more fundamental changes were afoot.
[NOTE: Mohler doesn’t mention all the upheaval caused by Mahaney fleeing Covenant Life Church in July 2011. This was a major factor that contributed to Josh resigning and relocating in 2015. Mohler also makes no mention of his “dear friend C.J. Mahaney.” This article is carefully sanitized.]
In 2016, he released a statement in which he apologized to those he described as hurt by the purity culture and the approach that was taken in I Kissed Dating Goodbye. Shortly thereafter he had a leading role in a film which was released, also critiquing the book that he had written and effectively withdrawing its argument. The obvious question that arose from the film and from his statement in 2016 is what was left of Harris’ understanding of sex, and for that matter, of Christianity?
But then came the blockbuster social media posts of July [2019]. First, in the middle of the month, Harris and his wife Shannon jointly released on their own Instagram accounts this statement: “We’re writing to share the news that we are separating and we’ll continue our life together as friends. In recent years, some significant changes have taken place in both of us. It is with sincere love for one another and understanding of our unique story as a couple that we are moving forward with this decision. We hope to create a generous and supportive future for each other and for our three amazing children in the years ahead. Thank you for your understanding and for respecting our privacy during a difficult time.”
[NOTE: If Mohler were human he’d express the great sorrow he felt for this terrible development.]
The news was eventually clarified that the couple is divorcing. The announcement simultaneously made on Instagram follows a recently developed form, especially when it comes to celebrity, high profile divorces. The announcement seemed to be orchestrated in this way in order to make the announcement, and then as quickly as possible to move on.
[NOTE: Mohler acts like he doesn’t even know “the couple.” They are high profile celebrities not dear friends.]
“But moving on takes a whole new significance when just a few days later, Harris also posted on Instagram, “My heart is full of gratitude. I wish you could see all the messages people sent me after the announcement of my divorce. They are expressions of love, though they are saddened or even strongly disapprove of the decision.” He continues, “I am learning that no group has the market quartered on grace. This week, I’ve received grace from Christians, atheists, evangelicals, exvangelicals, straight people, LGBTQ people, and everyone in between. Of course,” he says, “there have also been strong words of rebuke from religious people. While not always pleasant, I know they are seeking to love me. There have also been spiteful, hateful comments that angered and hurt me.”
The next statement is most important, “The information that was left out of our announcement is that I have undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus. The popular phrase for this is deconstruction, the biblical phrase is falling away. By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian. Many people tell me that there is a different way to practice faith and I want to remain open to this, but I’m not there now.”
The next paragraph was also very important: “Martin Luther said that the entire life of believers should be repentance. There’s beauty in that sentiment regardless of your view of God. I’ve lived in repentance for the past several years,” he wrote, “repenting of my self-righteousness, my fear-based approach to life, the teaching of my books, my views of women in the church, and my approach to parenting to name a few, but,” he continued, “I specifically want to add to this list now. To the LGBTQ+ community, I want to say that I am sorry for the views that I taught in my books and as a pastor regarding sexuality. I regret standing against marriage equality, for not affirming you and your place in the church, and for any ways that my writing and speaking contributed to a culture of exclusion and bigotry. I hope you can forgive me.”
Those were the most important sections of the posting, and the most important line is where he said that he had undergone a massive shift in regard to his faith in Christ. He said, again, “The popular phrase for this is deconstruction. The biblical phrase is falling away. By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian." Those are absolutely stunning words. They would be stunning and incredibly troubling coming from anyone, but from the former pastor of a mega-church and from someone who has had a very significant influence in the evangelical world, this is truly a milestone event. It also demands a good deal of thinking and very honest reflection on the part of American evangelicals.
[NOTE: Mohler is singularly focused on theological points. His “dear friend of many years” is “the former pastor of a mega-church and from someone who has had a very significant influence in the evangelical world.” Mohler reveals no personal connections to Josh, whatsoever. That is totally self-serving.]
Many people have obviously wondered, “How did this come out of the blue?” But it didn’t really come out of the blue. There had been troubling signs for some time indicating that Joshua Harris was in a very significant worldview and spiritual transition.
This was also made very clear in an interview that was made with the liberal magazine Sojourners. The interviewer was Sandi Villarreal and this was also published at Sojourners just about the time that he made the announcement of the divorce from his wife. It was before his announcement that he was also divorcing himself from the Christian faith. In this interview, very interestingly, Joshua Harris indicates the extent to which he has separated, not just from the argument of I Kissed Dating Goodbye, but from the superstructure of biblical Christianity and, most particularly, its revealed sexual ethic.
He raised questions about what he called the “purity culture,” of which he had been very much a part. He also raised questions about complementarianism, but these were basically in order to repudiate his previous beliefs. What wasn’t at all clear—and still isn’t clear—is exactly what would replace his teachings of the past. In the interview, one of the most interesting and important moments comes when Villarreal says, “You say in the documentary that there are a lot of people who want you to throw out everything that was kind of the basis for your book.” She continued, “But I’m curious when you say ‘everything,’ do you mean your belief in Christianity as a whole or about premarital sex in general? I’m curious what you include in that.”
Joshua Harris responded, “I think that there’s a push by some people to say being sex positive means — the kind of the historical sexual ethic related to sex outside of marriage, related to homosexuality, is basically laid aside, and embracing a healthy view of sex means just accepting all that as fine within the Christian tradition.”
He continued, “I do think though that, for me, in that change of interpretation of such a fundamental level when it comes to sexuality, it’s just hard for me to ... In a way it’s almost easier for me to contemplate throwing out all of Christianity than it is to keeping Christianity and adapting it in these different ways.”
That’s truly stunning. It’s incredibly revealing. In this interview that came before his announcement of his departure from Christianity, Harris said that when he came to rethink the biblical sexual ethic of historic Christianity, he said he understood then—and this is crucial for us to understand—that at that point it was easier for him to contemplate throwing out all of Christianity rather than transforming Christianity or reformulating it in order to develop a new sexual ethic.
[NOTE: Mohler is correct. Josh knows what the Bible teaches on sexual purity. He wrote an excellent book titled, Sex Is Not the Problem (Lust Is) – Sexual Purity in a Lust Saturated World. It was full of Scripture properly interpreted.]
There’s a basic honesty there we need to recognize. In his statement made in the Sojourners interview and in the lengthy statement he made announcing the fact that he was departing from Christianity, one of the things that does become clear is that Joshua Harris understands that there are two absolutely opposed worldviews and they are basically not reconcilable. There’s no reconciliation possible between the biblical worldview and the modern secular worldview.
[NOTE: Again, Mohler is correct. Harris had to reject Scripture because he knows what it teaches. He didn’t try to reinterpreted it. He discarded it.]
He understands that there is no halfway house, and in that sense, it’s intellectually honest of him to understand that theological liberalism, which seeks to maintain some claim upon Christianity while repudiating its biblical truth claims, is unsustainable. There’s intellectual honesty in that. But there is incredible spiritual and theological tragedy in the announcement that anyone has departed from the Christian faith and that raises basic theological issues. Can one be a Christian and then at some point not be a Christian?
[NOTE: At this point, Mohler should reveal his close personal relationship with Harris and that he never doubted the authenticity of Josh’s faith all the years he knew him and commended him for his life and doctrine.]
Can believers lose their faith? Can one ultimately fall away if one was genuinely regenerate? The answer is no. The Bible is very clear about that. Once one has been regenerated by the power of Christ, once one has become a genuine Christian and been united to Christ, nothing can separate us from Christ, not even our own sin. Reflecting the Bible, the historic Protestant confessions make very clear the biblical truth that, even though after conversion and coming to faith in Christ, after regeneration, one may sin, has been truly regenerated to then fall back away from Christ and to be severed from him.
[NOTE: The implication is Josh was never truly regenerated. That may be true but if true it is a shocking reality to everyone who knew him well.]
There may be even some who sin by repudiating Christianity, but if they ever were genuinely Christian, they will return by repentance at some point, and that is a gospel promise. If persons do continue in their repudiation of Christianity, then we have to remember the text 1 John 2:19, where we are told that, “They went out from us, because they were not of us,” which is to say they never were truly Christians. They were pretend believers.
[NOTE: Mohler seems to hold out some hope for Josh. 1 John 2:19 is about antichrists who deny Jesus Christ is God come in the flesh. They repudiate his full deity and full humanity. Josh moved into C.J.’s basement as an intern in 1997. He left CLC in 2015. He renounced the Lord in 2019. He has not returned to Christ. It has been five years.]
Jesus also speaks to this in Matthew 13 in the parable of the four soils. There are those who show signs of life, but they eventually go away. Jesus makes very clear they never were true Christians, and yet you also have to understand that means there could even be some who had risen to influence in the church—the New Testament is clear about this—who would later fall away, but they went out from us because they were not of us.
Evangelicals should ponder what this tragic headline news tells us about our susceptibility to a consumer culture and also to a celebrity culture. That’s always a danger. It’s impossible to have some level of influence without some level of celebrity, but we must test everything by the Scriptures. And we also have to understand as the early church had to come to know, that there are some who appear to be believers and even have influence, even are pastors, but eventually fall away. That has to be acknowledged.
[NOTE: This paragraph angers me. Mohler should make it clear he is top on the list of evangelical leaders that led the way in “susceptibility to a consumer culture and also to a celebrity culture.” He should tell us what his pondering taught him about his promotion of Harris and Mahaney. I have never seen Mohler voluntarily admit fault. He always deflects it.]
There’s something else of extreme importance in this case, and I say this as president of a theological seminary and a Christian college, but this is just emphatically important. There has to be theological depth. The only way that we’re going to be able to sustain a biblical sexual ethic and the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ is by serious biblical content, serious biblical knowledge, deep theology, apologetics, biblical theology, a deep understanding, celebration of, and embrace of the gospel of Jesus Christ, understanding that gospel, the true gospel, the biblical gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ against all superficial pretenders and also against false theologies, including any form of legalism that can creep in.
[NOTE: Doctrine is vital. Joshua believed and faithfully taught all of the above. He had theological depth. It didn’t matter due to fundamental character flaws. Much like C.J. Mahaney. Mohler should be giving equal time to the godly character qualifications of Scripture that are born out of a sincere love for Jesus, not just doctrine. I know many men who love doctrine more than Christ and it shows in their lives and ministries.]
The purity culture that Joshua Harris says he now rejects is something we have to look at very closely as evangelicals, understanding that there has been a certain legalistic bent in that purity culture among some who’ve made something of a religion of sorts out of I Kissed Dating Goodbye or any form of other legalism. They have sometimes also unintentionally subverted the gospel by elevating that kind of legalistic ethic.
[NOTE: Mohler is a complete hypocrite. He castigates “a certain legalistic bent in that purity culture among some.” Of course, he is not one of them! Now he calls I Kissed Dating Goodbye a form of legalism with a legalistic ethic without acknowledging he fully endorsed all of its teachings even more robustly than Josh!
For the record, the book itself is not legalistic and it does not subvert the gospel. Josh is careful to differentiate between biblical command and personal practice and he proclaims the gospel of grace throughout it.]
But at the same time, the Bible upholds its own purity ethic. The Bible reveals God’s intention for us in our gender, in our sexuality, in marriage, and in all sexual expression, and the Bible also holds up the fact that the only legitimate sexual expression is within marriage as the holy covenant of a man and a woman before God.
But we have to be very, very careful at this evangelical moment that the recognition of the danger of legalism does not turn into some form of antinomianism. The fact is that the original purity culture is found within the gospel itself. It’s found within the Scriptures, within God’s revealed Word, but it doesn’t indicate that we are born pure. To the contrary, it indicates that we are born sinners, and the answer to our sin is not legalism, but rather it is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But once we have come to know Christ as Savior, then we are called to obey all that he has commanded, and Christ has commanded, even as he affirmed what God’s intention was from the beginning, that sexual expression be limited to the covenant union of a man and a woman. We also have to remember that even though the world hates that restriction, it is not only God’s revealed Word, it is also God’s good will. It is his plan for human happiness, human wholeness, human flourishing.
The headlines concerning Joshua Harris—indeed, concerning both Joshua and Shannon Harris—are deeply humbling to American evangelicalism. They should be very sobering. They should make us pray for the Harrises and for our churches. They should lead us to a deeper understanding of the gospel and exultation of the gospel of Christ and simultaneously, an introspection concerning our biblical fidelity and the depth of our commitment to Christ and to biblical Christianity. But this heartbreaking headline also reminds us that we can place our trust in no sinful human being, but in Christ alone, the one who alone is worthy of our trust.
[NOTE: Mohler just can’t bring himself to acknowledge his close friendship with Joshua and Shannon. Moreover, he can’t confess how “deeply humbling” it is to him. No one in American evangelism promoted Josh more. He doesn’t talk about how “very sobering” it has been for himself. He did not see through Josh or C.J. He put his trust in Josh and C.J. He promoted their celebrity and his own. Lastly, no one should trust Mohler because he has clearly shown himself untrustworthy.]
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