Book Review: Shepherds For Sale

Shepherds For Sale by Megan Basham is a book that every Christian leader should read. The ‘Church’ has been deceived. I’ve been writing about this massive problem for many years, so I’m pleased to see someone of Megan’s stature writing about it in such a powerful way.

I first learned about Megan’s new book through an interview she did with Alisa Childers. [Here’s where you can watch the interview.] The full title of the book is, Shepherds For Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded The Truth For A Leftist Agenda, (Broadside Books, HarperCollins Publishers, 2024).

The Evangelical ‘Agenda’

It may be hard for Christians to believe that many leaders of Evangelical churches and denominations have sold out to a leftist agenda. However, Jesus and His apostles warned us this would happen. Jesus warned about ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing,’ and the apostles warned about enemies of God ‘secretly’ making their way into positions of church leadership. Since that was true in the 1st century AD, should we be surprised that it’s still true in the 21st?

Megan Bashan is a journalist – technically a ‘culture reporter.’ However, I can spot a good investigative journalist when I see one. That’s what I did for a living for several decades and am still teaching young journalists how to do it. Megan does it extremely well. She puts in the long hours, asks the tough questions, gathers the facts, confirms the facts, and reports the facts. Megan ‘follows the people and the money.’ That’s what investigative journalists do.

What comes from that kind of investigation are ‘names, dates, quotes, documents’ and other materials that support a journalist’s investigation. I believe the vast majority of Christians in the pews (and some church leaders) will be shocked to learn how easily Marxists, Communists, Socialists, and other radical leftist groups have ‘secretly’ slipped in the side door of churches, denominations, and seminaries and taken control of Evangelical views on several topics that Megan Bashan addresses in her book –

Climate Change: Sneaking Past the Watchful Dragons
Illegal Immigration: Strangers, Neighbors, and Aliens
Hijacking of the Pro-Life Movement
Christian Media and the Money Men
Gracious Dialogue: How Government Used Pastors to Spread Covid-19 Propaganda
Critical Race Prophets
#MeToo, #ChurchToo, and an Apocalypse
None Dare Call It Sin: LGBTQ in the Church

How could these things take over the Evangelical ‘Movement’ when Jesus clearly stated that He wanted Christians to ‘preach the Gospel’ and ‘make disciples?’ A lot of it has to do with money – LOTS of money – coming into Evangelical churches, denominations, Bible Colleges, and seminaries. Money talks and Megan shows us the ‘radical leftist’ sources of the money and how many Evangelical leaders have been ‘bought’ with that money.

We should not be surprised that the ‘enemies’ of Jesus Christ would target His Church. It’s not like Jesus didn’t warn us. The Apostle Peter warned that false teachers “will secretly bring in destructive heresies” and that “many will follow their destructive ways” (2 Peter 2:1-2). Peter also wrote that “By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words” (2 Peter 2:3). The Apostle Paul warned church leaders that after his “departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves” (Acts 20:29-30). Jude, the brother of James, wrote – “For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ … But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit” (Jude 1:4, 17-19).

This is from the Introduction to Megan’s book –

The question is: Why have so many well-known evangelical institutions and leaders in recent years started promoting causes that no plain reading of Scripture would demand, like lobbying for fossil fuel regulations or dismantling white privilege, which issues that unequivocally call for Christian clarity find them silent and stymied? When the guy who created the Christian children’s program VeggieTales starts arguing that evangelicals should take a more “nuanced” position on abortion, and when two successive presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention say the Bible only “whispers” about sexual sins, something is badly off in mainstream evangelicalism.

Are they dupes or deceivers? Is it organic or orchestrated? Certainly money is playing a role in some of these evolutions, and there is no doubt, as we’ll see, that once-trusted evangelical leaders and institutions have yoked themselves to left-wing billionaires and their pet projects. Shepherds For Sale, pp. XXI – XXII

Naming Names

Megan Bashan is not shy about naming names in her book – and that can be a good thing. Christians need to know the leaders who are taking money from left-wing organizations and deceiving church members into believing that the radical left agenda is a good thing for Christians to embrace.

When the National Association of Evangelicals took money from a pro-abortion foundation that also funds Planned Parenthood as part of a program to promote contraception to teens, a former board member put the compromise down to a desire for worldly status. She felt the NAE leaders were just foolish, naïve people whose craving for wider respectability made them susceptible to political influence. It’s true the savvy, cynical world is always eager to seize on Christians who fail to follow Christ’s command to be wise as serpents, but I have my doubts that NAE leaders were quite the innocent doves the woman believed, for reasons we’ll explore. Shepherds for Sale, p. XXII

And ‘explore’ she does in this excellent book. Megan names names and backs up each truth claim with facts – including details, quotes, and documentation that support her claims.

I believe Megan summed up the problem well in her ‘Conclusion’ –

Many forces are trying to claim American churches for many agendas, but ultimately there’s only one force, one agenda. We do not battle against flesh and blood. Satan’s wolves in sheep’s clothing secretly slip into the church for one reason: to prevent it from snatching more souls out of the fire. But while their number certainly their advantages can seem overwhelming, we often discover that when we face them with the courage of Christ, is doesn’t take much strength or wealth or cunning to overcome them. Shepherds For Sale, p. 237

I highly recommend Shepherds For Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded The Truth For A Leftist Agenda and hope you will buy it, read it, and share it with other Christians – especially your pastors. There still may be time to pull some of them away from the ‘ungodly fire’ that is burning its way through the Church.

About the Author

Megan Basham is a culture reporter for the Daily Wire and the author of Beside Every Successful Man: A Woman’s Guide to Having It All. She is a frequent contributor to Morning Wire, one of the top 10 news podcasts in the United States. She has also written for the Wall Street Journal, the Telegraph, First Things, National Review, and World Magazine, where she worked as a film and television editor.

From Broadside Books

Publisher’s Description

“This may just be the single most important book on modern Evangelicalism in recent years. It is bold, clear, and very well-researched.”—John MacArthur

How deeply have leftist billionaires infiltrated America’s churches?

In Shepherds for Sale, Megan Basham of the Daily Wire documents how progressive powerbrokers —from George Soros, to the founder of eBay, to former members of the Obama administration— set out to change the American church. Their goal: to co-opt evangelicals for political purposes. She exposes:

·        The left-wing billionaires, foundations, and think tanks that deliberately target Christian media, universities, megachurches, nonprofits, and even entire denominations

·        The celebrity megachurch pastor who secretly encouraged a group of pastors to change their views on sexuality

·        The revered Presbyterian theologian who backed a congregation rebelling against his own denomination

These are just a glimpse into the compromises and astroturf campaigns Basham uncovers. Many evangelical leaders are pushing their members to “whisper” about sexual sins, reconsider the importance of abortion, lament the effects of climate change, and repent of “perpetuating systemic racism.” And in exchange for toeing a left-wing line, many of those church leaders and institutions have received cash, career jumps, prestige, and praise. Basham brings the receipts, and names names.

A rigorously reported exposé, Shepherds for Sale is a warning of what happens when the church trusts the world’s wisdom instead of Scripture.

From Broadside Books

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Editorial Reviews

“This may just be the single most important book on modern Evangelicalism in recent years. It is bold, clear, and very well-researched.” — John MacArthur, Pastor of Grace Community Church, and Chancellor of the Master’s University and Seminary

Megan Basham is an indispensable voice in a chaotic time. Shepherds for Sale is a clarion call for churches to return to the faith of their ancestors —and to reinvigorate our republic by reinfusing it with eternal truths. — Ben Shapiro, host of The Ben Shapiro Show, #1 New York Times bestselling author, and co-founder of The Daily Wire

Anybody paying attention to the current state of the culture can see that things are in disarray. And many have wondered where Evangelical elites have been. Well, Megan Basham has the answer. She reveals that many of them have served as puppets and pawns of the enemies of the Gospel, and she provides receipts! This book is riveting, and, at times, difficult to read because of the deeds it uncovers. But we must read it. And those exposed within its pages must give an account. — Voddie Baucham, bestselling author of Fault Lines and dean of the School of Divinity at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia

Over the past several decades, the political left has taken a long march through America’s most important institutions. While the political takeover of the media, universities, and the bureaucracy has been examined by many, the coordinated takeover attempt of Evangelical Christianity is one of the left’s most insidious and least-discussed schemes. With her keen journalistic eye, rigorous investigatory skills, and riveting storytelling, Basham is finally dragging this plot out into the light, exposing how corrupted and vainglorious leaders tricked Evangelicals into betraying their doctrines to help accomplish left-wing political goals. — Mollie Hemingway, bestselling author of Rigged, Fox News contributor, and editor-in-chief of The Federalist

Shepherds for Sale offers an urgent wake-up call for all faithful Christians, exposing Big Eva’s programs and players, sugar daddies, and slogans, which are selling out faithful Christianity for cultural capital. Megan Basham puts together the pieces of this Devil’s bargain and exposes how the mighty have fallen. With brave reporting and translucent writing, she reveals that some of our most trusted ministry leaders have proven to be liars and charlatans, bought by the world’s filthy lucre and flattery. It’s not too late to repent and believe in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and drive out the wolves. — Rosaria Butterfield, bestselling author of Five Lies of Our Anti-Christian Age

Shepherds for Sale is a devastating book. Through careful research and lucid writing, Megan Basham exposes the scams that have been foisted on Evangelicals by leftists, and shows how pastors, seminary leaders, professors, theologians, and Southern Baptist Convention presidents are complicit. If such leaders have any integrity at all, they will confess of their sins, resign their positions, and resolve to live out their days in quietness and peace. Anything less will only further multiply the harm they have done and dishonor the Lord whom they profess to love. Every Evangelical—especially every Southern Baptist—needs to read this book. — Tom Ascol, President of Founders Ministries and The Institute of Public Theology

There is literally no one in the world more qualified than Megan Basham to write about how the left has infiltrated the Evangelical church in America, nor is there a single subject more centrally connected to the myriad evils rising around us. — Eric Metaxas, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bonhoeffer and Letter to The American Church

Finally, a courageous Christian conservative has done a deep dive into the left’s insidious infiltration into the church. Megan Basham’s Shepherds for Sale meticulously traces the sordid money trail, and highlights the tactics these secular forces have employed in their systematic assault on biblical truth within the church and among Evangelicals, including co-opting former conservative Evangelicals to do their bidding. This important book is a long overdue call for the church to stand firm in the Gospel and expel false teachings that dilute Scripture to please man rather than God. — David Limbaugh, lawyer, political commentator, and New York Times bestselling author of Jesus on Trial

There are few people whose work has been more integral to my own the last few years than Megan Basham’s. Her reporting on the infiltration of the church has been crucial, which is why I’ve amplified it whenever I could. — Steve Deace, Wall Street Journal best-selling author of Faucian Bargian and Blaze talk show host.

From Broadside Books