This incident has taught me two things:

1. Look into the pastor's history; see where he studied and what his writings say about the Gospel (first and foremost) AND how he addresses the current zeitgeist
2. Look into the connections the congregation has with other organizations; I also just learned that the congregation I left is a part of a larger organization primarily funded by pro-immigration and pro-black "charities"

I've been listening to Corey J. Mahler's Stone Choir podcast, and he mentions "the genealogy of ideas". If a "pastor" is using Marxist rhetoric or Marxist talking points, that should raise some red flags.