We're all familiar with Westboro Baptist Church. They're the guys who protest soldiers funerals, and claim that natural disasters are God's punishment on America for accepting our homosexual population.
Regardless on your view of homosexuals and gay marriage, it's pretty easy for all people to agree on one thing - Westboro's message is hardly congruent with Scripture, and crosses a lot of lines.
When they show up to soldiers funerals, the police are typically able to create some distance between the funeral ceremony and protesters. But what if there was no barrier between the people who speak hate, and everyone else?
"As a follower of Christ, how do we react when we see this?"
One of my mentees sent me the above question a few weeks ago, along with the below video of a guy who refers to himself as Brother Dean. Dean brings a Westboro-ish message to the campus of Arizona State University. You're invited to watch as much of it as you'd like, but as a fair warning, after about 15 seconds you've seen pretty much all there is to see.
Warning: If this video had a rating, it would be rated R for language.
If you're having trouble viewing this video, click here to watch it.
Typically this video is the sort of thing I would simply ignore. I believe paying attention to guys like these just encourages them. However, since the question came up, it seems like an opportunity to talk about how to respond to guys like these.
Below is my response to my mentee, but what I'm interested in is your take on this video. How would you respond to these guys?
Question: Remembering that our goal is to spread Jesus' love, what's your prescription for this situation?
Leave a comment with your thoughts in the space below.
Below is my response to my mentee, but what I'm interested in is your take on this video. How would you respond to these guys?
"Great question. There are a lot of ways to respond to this. In the video, you can see a guy walk up to the protesters with his Bible, and attempt to have a conversation with them. Maybe you could make an argument that that would be a good idea, but not a very strong one. If you want to go the biblical route, you might consider Proverbs 26:4 "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him."
Those two guys were speaking hatred, and the guys who were hilariously making fun of them, really just drew more attention to them. So your best bet as a (not completely insane) Christian is to seek to live a life that is consistent with Scripture, honoring to God, and respectful to your fellow man.
And always remember that God keeps all accounts, and these guys will answer to Him. Ultimately, that is a much scarier proposition than being accosted by a banana and gorilla. And while their protesting is disrespectful and maddening, knowing what is in store for bigots like these should lead us to feel bad for them."
Question: Remembering that our goal is to spread Jesus' love, what's your prescription for this situation?
Leave a comment with your thoughts in the space below.
I think that I would start out by cautioning the individual about our natural, but unnecessary, need to defend God's glory and holiness. We are quick to jump into arguments and confrontations in order to prove something, but in the end it is important to remember, and have faith, that God's glory and holiness cannot be affected one way or the other by the actions of man. His glory and holiness are perfect regardless of how those speaking in His name represent him.
ReplyDeleteThis is not to say that we can be flippant about our own lives, on the contrary we should be diligent to live our lives in a manner that God's perfect glory shines through us. We don't speak for God. He speaks through us. How well he speaks through us is wholly impacted by our personal relationship with Him.The closer we are to Him the clearer He can shine through our own life, our own words. Again, this is more to our own benefit than to God's. He doesn't need to speak through us. He chooses to. We are blessed to be allowed to be His tool.
This perspective can change the motivation that we enter into these confrontations. It makes it harder to focus on the faults of others when we know that our own faults trip us up from the full experience of God's plans for us. We can take the instruction of James, then, and look into the Bible as a mirror for ourselves instead of something to see, and point out, the faults in others. How can you see to remove the speck in your brother's eye when you have a log hanging out of your own.
So, my advice would be to take the opportunity to have some introspection. You have an extreme example in front of you of how the words and actions of a person can impact someone's view of God. Your own life is no less impactful, and there are glaring faults pushing others from God. Turn inward and work on your own relationship with the Bible as a mirror. If we, as millions of Christians, all do this daily. The outrageous actions and words of a vocal few will be drowned out and their foolishness and non-Christlike actions will be easily recognizable by the world; because they will see Christ daily, everywhere, in us.
Dave, I think you nailed it. I certainly feel the "natural, but unnecessary need to defend God's glory and holiness." And the introspection you recommend is warranted for all believers. Spot on. Thanks man.
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