What does the Bible say about sin, and hate, and how Christians are to respond to persons outside of the church? Part of apologetics addresses the mistaken views of non-believers about the Christian faith. Unfortunately, non-believers can have a mistaken view based on those who claim to act in the name of Christ, but do things that have no basis in scripture. When the media have a field day with these groups and their activities, people are bombarded with a false form of Christianity and they may think all or most Christians are that way. It isn’t a matter of being “liberal” or “conservative,” and in most cases it is not a matter of biblical interpretation, either. Let’s look at the Westboro “Baptist Church” (WBC), which is in the media often for very disrespectfully disrupting funerals of homosexuals and military personnel, but which also just hailed the young Arizona man who killed and wounded a number of people in Tucson.
Does the bible (and thus God) condone the hateful tactics of WBC? For example, telling everyone loudly that “God Hates Fags” (is that even true?), or saying as they now are, to “Thank God for the shooter – 6 dead!” (and this includes an innocent child) or to “Thank God for dead soldiers.”
First, God does not say in the bible that He hates homosexuals. The bible lists homosexual acts as sinful (Gen 19:1-3; Lev 18:22; Rom 1:26-27; and 1 Cor 6:9), along with a lot of other things. Homosexual sin is no greater or lesser than other sins. If WBC wants to hate homosexuals (and politicians, and soldiers, and . . .), then they need to look to themselves first. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23). All of us sinned before we came to Christ, and many had lived outwardly sinful lifestyles; none of us are perfected yet either, and we will continue to sin at times.
Second, does God want us to hate sinners, or hate our enemies, or represent Him in this way? Are we not supposed to be representing God’s offer of grace in this world? Does God want us to have this kind of attitude to the lost: “WBC prays for your destruction—more shooters, more dead carcasses piling up, young, old, leader and commoner—all. Your doom is upon you! Praise His Name!”? No!
On the contrary, God tells us to love our enemies and to pray for our persecutors! That is, pray for their blessing – not their destruction. Jesus, in Matthew 5, said: 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?”
Also, we are to speak to others with respect: “speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ” (Eph 4:15), and “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil” (1 Pet 3:15-17).
We cannot judge who will be saved, either, so how can we condemn anyone, as WBC is doing? “Therefore don’t judge anything prematurely, before the Lord comes, who will both bring to light what is hidden in darkness and reveal the intentions of the hearts” (1 Cor 4:5a). “God did not send His Son into the world that He might condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned” (John 3:17-18a).
Comments
Amen sister! Very good article . We christians are about love not hate.
Hello sister,
Great article! I'm so glad to read a Scripture based argument against the Westboro Baptist Church. I had the opportunity to debate Shirley Phelps on the radio once and it was quite the experience. My hope is that WBC eventually fades into obscurity and the media provides less and less coverage for this group. I wish we had so much press for the great things that the Lord is doing in communites across the globe.
Continue to serve, Vicki. I would be greatly encouraged if you visited my Examiner page if you have the time. Great work you're doing.
In Christ,
Stephen
Will gladly share this article
Thanks so much, you all! You are very encouraging and I will visit your pages. All good things come from the Lord!
Thank you for writing this article. The WBC are not Christians. They are all about hate, and we true Christians are all about compassion.
God Bless!!
Well said Erika for the WBC are not Christians. As you say they are all about hate -- not love, nor compassion -- and ignorance which is both inbred and taught. Sadly they put off such a stink it's hard to ignore...it's a stink that'll only be eliminated when it is burned off in hell.
Very impressed with this article. I WILL be sharing. I feel very strongly that this group of people is just creating a worse environment for those who truly do try to follow the Word of God. Baptist could not be their actual denomination. I grew up attending a Baptist church and I know people from another Baptist church, as well. These people are not hateful and they do not persecute those who don't follow God's Word. They pray that God will find His way into their hearts as He has found His way into ours.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anti-Westboro-Church-Movement/146070268780...
Thanks so much, Erika, Jeanetta, and the Movement founder; the Lord bless you all! I just can't express how foul their activities are - I can't believe they plan on going to the girls' funeral. I hope and pray that people do not take Westboro's words and actions as coming from Christ. And Stephen, if you see this note, it would be neat to read of your experience with Shirley Phelps.
I would like to know were it is in the Bible that says, go out and protest against a 9 year old girl getting shot and killed for the sins of others?
God is not going to punish some one else for the sins of others,look at Sodom and Gomorrah, they were punished for there own sins, not the sins of other.
I don't see how this Church is of God and believe in protesting the funeral of our fallen soldiers and of a little girl.
This is so sad,
I was raised in a pentecostal Church but also went to a baptist church to and non of them thought the way this so called church that is supposed to be a god fearing church is doing..
What a wonderful article. This is true Bible. How can we reach the unsaved if we as Christians propagate so much hatred to others. Was Jesus ever like this? The Bible says judgement shall start from the house of God. As Christians, we need to be very careful. Because, "to whom much is given, much is required."
I would like to add 1 John 4:20, "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"
Your article is a good rebuttal to much that has been bandied about by the Westboro Baptist Church and those who support/disagree with them.
No matter how despicable someone's actions may be in my sight, God still loves them and myself, I am commanded to love them as he loves them. We do not have to approve of their actions, that is not our place.
Of course these people are so twisted that they are convinced that to love their neighbor, they must berate them for their perceived 'sins'. I would also like to point out to all those who support the WBC (but not their tactics) in their hatred of homosexuality and those Christians who need to put anti-homosexual commentary at the forefront of their vitriol: Jesus Christ himself never said a single word about homosexuality. It wasn't on his agenda. ~What is it doing on yours?~
Titian, Jesus didn't talk about a lot of things! He was a Jew, and it basically went without saying that homosexuality was a no-no. It didn't even need to be talked about. This is just my opinion at the moment, but I think if Jesus wanted to change the thinking about homosexuality he actually would've talked about it. He lifted women up during His ministry, which was a change from the status quo; He didn't do this with homosexuals. I provided verses about homosexuality from the NT, and, the NT is the Lord's Word (He inspired all of it). We do take all the bible in context as much as possible while believing that the Word of God is in fact the Word of God. We don't cut any out to make us feel better. God loves each one of us, but each one of us also needs to believe in the Lord individually - to believe not only in His love and grace, but in his Lordship.
Christ did say he was not here to change his fathers laws but to enhance them, to uphold them,,
even though we as Christians know it is not right and they know it is not, it is still there choice,
being homosexual is a choice not a disease, it is some thing they choice to be,, but when it is pushed down our throats we will fight back, but not the way this church is doing,,
our own gov't has tied our preachers hands so they can't preach on certain parts of the bible or people can get up and walk right out of church and have the preacher arrested (johnny on the spot)(so to speak) right off the pool pit,
God did not create Adam and Steve, or Eve and Ivette,,but did Adam and Eve,man for woman and woman for man,,but he also tells how a man should treat his wife,
I am not only a Christian but am also 3/4 Cherokee and we have always believed in god,,
Vicki,
You've written a very rationale response to this issue, and a great perspective for those who are confronted with these false-representations of the Way.
Many blessings,
Joel
Thanks Joel! Blessings to you as well.
Good job Vicki,
As with plenty of other cults WBC takes some little cores of truth and then adds layer upon layer of lies to it.
Yes, if one does a biblical word study on "judge/judging" they will find that we ARE allowed to judge. We can judge sins because in most cases the bible clearly points out what things are sinful (homosexuality, adultery, fornication, lust, murder, etc.). What we CANNOT do is judge anyone's eternal destiny; that is us to God alone. God can save homosexuals, adulterers, fornicators, the lustful, murderers, etc. So let us make judgments on sin and never excuse it, but let us also offer grace to everyone, loving them, hoping and praying they come to repentance.
What WBC is missing (besides the glaringly obvious: LOVE) is the latter half of this verse: "with the measure you [judge], it will be measured to you" (Matt. 7:2).
Stephen J. Drain
Philadelphia Christian Perspectives Examiner
Thanks for adding that, Stephen! There is truly so much more that could be written on this subject. And don't ya just love how we can't edit these comments?
In a middle sentence above I meant to say, "that is for God alone" but somehow have the nonsensical "that is us to God alone". Sorry!
All religions are just a lot of bull designed to control shepeople
More hate and war has resulted from religion than anything else in history. The destruction of entire peoples are carried out in the name of God.
Wake up people, take responsibility for yourselves and quit blaming some ghost in some imaginary place...
This simply is not true. Instead of worrying about what we believe, you should delve into some more in-depth history, like how Hitler used religion at first to gain support, and then refuted it and went against believers. As you can see from the example of Westboro, some people use religion for their own purposes - like to gain power. That does in no way reflect on God, who is not making them do it. God's enemies love for this to happen, and apparently persons like yourself simply follow along.
This comment is for Jim:
Your first line there seems more like a comment by a sheeple of a different color. I would almost bet that you didn't come up with that yourself.
Truth be told: More people were killed by secularists in the 20th century than have been killed by religionists in human history:
Josef Stalin (anti-God Communist): Wikipedia says his killing estimate between 3 and 60 million.
Adolf Hitler (Statist, Aryan, pagan) killed over 6 million in the Holocaust
WWII (started by Hitler and the Emperor/ancestor worshiping Japanese): Over 70 million deaths
I could add in Pol Pot, North Korea, China, etc. buty I think you get the idea.
Lastly, if you are an agnostic, I guess I can understand that; but understand that being an atheist is a completely untenable position.
Veritas
Blackout, I've reported this as harassment. I don't lie and misrepresent. Perhaps that is in your ballpark?
Hmmm... Gen 19:1-3; Lev 18:22; Rom 1:26-27; 1 Cor 6:9…It seems to me that you have (conveniently, no doubt) forgotten one very important verse on this subject, Vicki.
“If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.” ~ Leviticus 20:13
It seems to me that this verse is essential in understanding the behavior of groups like the WBC. I would also suggest that like many christians, you are missing the point if think that the problem with the WBC is just that their tactics are “disrespectful.” The PROBLEM is that the assertion that being gay is somehow inherently wrong, evil or “sinful” is an irrational and unsupportable assertion, and the fact that this bigotry is based in a religious belief doesn’t make it any less inaccurate, any less abusive, any less hateful or any less “disrespectful” of the people that are lead by this point-of-view into expressions of the sort in which the WBC excels. To those of us who often find ourselves the brunt of such expressions, the position you espouse is not so very different than that of the WBC.
TTFN,
Blackout
Blackout, you have an extreme misunderstanding of the faith. I understand perfectly well the verses, that they lead to SOME people like those in WBC, etc. You are one of the more disrespectful persons I've run across on the internet, assuming that we don't "get things" after years and years of study using a variety of resources. Sorry, but you are the one who doesn't "get things."
So far as I can tell, you didn't even read my article. Lol. God is God. He knows a heck of a lot more than you. He tells us that adultery is wrong, and it does and can have many bad consequences (like the spread of STDs and cervical cancer, etc.). It's the same with homosexuality.
The one thing that you, and many others that speak like you, never want to admit is that there are persons out there - and there have been since Christianity started - that use our faith for other reasons. Somehow you think that a follower of Christ - that is, a Christian - is someone who actually DOES NOT follow Chirst!!! Just because someone says their a Christian does not make them one. If I said I was your sister, for whatever reason, would that make me your sister? This is a very simple concept!! Sorry, but you are the one that is hating us.
We are to hate sin, but love the sinner. That is what a true Christian does. That also is a simple concept, at least to me.
Blackout, you are the truly intolerant one here. I don't hate.
Let's see if I can say that more clearly. No. "I don't hate" is clear enough. Lol.
You really should look up the word "tolerance" in some good dictionaries and contemplate the meaning. I tolerate, if not love, people who disagree with my morality. I expect the same of others. I disagree with homosexuality because I believe God is our creator, he talks of it, and He knows best. But do I care if people are homosexuals, I mean, on a personal level? Not at all. I have liked a number of them very very much!
You have the problem of trying to tell me I hate, when I don't. Odd . . . And, perhaps worse, you want me to think just like you. That is called brain washing and seems like a power trip. Totalitarians control others and how they think. You are like that to me. What is really hilarious is that atheists (and others) would say, "Don't shove your beliefs on me!!" But, that's exactly what you're doing to me and other Christians!!!!! Ha ha ha! You're the one spreading lies, that I hate, and others who believe in the Lord hate, when we by no means hate. It's all just hot air, but dangerous hot air. Your rhetoric can cause certain people to act just like those at Westboro.
Black out, this is sad, how you can't grasp this. You have little understanding, so I will make it as simple as possible for you. Saying homosexuality is a sin does not equal hating someone who is gay. I have a friend who is gay, and I have talked with him on this, and he fully agrees with me. How is disagreeing with someone hate? I take it then that you are being hateful, only it shows in all that you do. Saying something is bad, doesn't equal hate. I think lying is bad, and is a sin, does that mean I hate all liars? Your logic is flawed sir, and your responses are nothing more than insults and I find no worth while arguments from you, only conjectures and hate. You make no worthy points at all.
There is a great campaign to drown out Westboro Baptist's hate with Christ's love going on at www.godlovesall.org Check it out and help silence their message of hatred.
Let he who is without sin be the first to cast a stone......Love
Yes, we are to love. And, like Jesus told the lady upon leaving, "Sin no more." Jesus didn't say that she didn't sin. On the contrary, he identified her sin and told her to stop doing it. And we are representatives of Christ on earth. But truly, we are to do all in love, not in a judgmental way (since we are all sinners too), but in a way that shows that we care about the person's well-being (in Christ and with God).
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