Do you like the title of this blog post? I am sure that most of my readers don't. If that is all I said, you would probably fill my comment section, Facebook page, and Twitter feed (_brad_Gilbert_), berating me otherwise and trying to "set me straight." Before you skip the rest of this post to do so, understand this: I don't think all Baptist are like Westboro Baptist. They are a very, very poor representation of what a church is supposed to be, and what we as Baptist believe. Truth be told, I don't even like using the word Baptist or Church when talking about them.
So then, why would I say it? My goal is that some who read this may open their eyes and see that blanket statements made about other religions and people groups can be just as hurtful. As the situation in Boston unfolds further, it did not take long for the anti-Muslim posts, tweets, pictures, etc. to make their way around. Which is interesting, because as of now (4/19/13 11am EST) no specific detail as to what, if any, group they belonged to, and motive, has been revealed. Now, it may come out that there is some connection to a Muslim extremist group, but it hasn't yet - but those facts don't stand in the way of what many post, share, or promote.
It is easy to sit behind a computer, or smart phone, and make a bold proclamation about an entire people group without ever thinking through what you are saying. Just as we would agree all Baptist are not like Westboro Baptist, not all Muslims are here to take away your freedoms and kill you. As my wife could attest (she volunteers with a missionary family to work at a local Arab American Friendship Center teaching Muslim women English), many who come to America do so to escape the violence and live the American dream - just like our ancestors did not so long ago.
When I read these blanket statements that are filled with such smugness and vitriol, whether the issue is homosexuality, Muslims, etc., it reveals to me that the person saying it and posting it has never actually tried to reach out with the Gospel to that person. Truth is, most people who make these types of statements live their life in a vacuum with people who believe, live, and act just as they do. As someone who comes in contact with people of the Middle East all the time, and someone who has personally spoke with and counseled with those who are caught up in the homosexual lifestyle, I know that these kinds of statements do not help. In actuality, they often reveal that we are more like those who attend Westboro Baptist Church, whether we want to admit that or not.
So, all I ask is that you think before you post, share, say, etc. Think about who may read it. And think about how that may harden their heart for the next person who actually wants to share with them the love of God and sacrificial death of His Son Jesus for their sins.
The Westboro radicals are fundamentalist Anti-Christ, as bad as Muslim Radicals without weapons. Their doctrines are not historic Baptist, but independent Congregationalist who broke from the historic Congregationalist Church. In the 1840's these liberal Congregationalist broke from their historic roots to hire renegade Presbyterians who like Charles Finney lied (wolves) about their acceptance of the Westminster Confession to get Ordained. In Finney's 1850 memoirs, he said Finney never accepted those teachings in his youth and his Presbyterian school teacher said Finney argued and fought with him against those teachings.
ReplyDeleteAll the Presbyterian and Congregational churches that invited Charles Finney to preach in their churches over and over, quickly departed from their historic teachings to become Unitarian's within a few years of Finney's death. So there it is, to identify yourself with Finney is to align yourself with a false Gospel of cheap grace and easy-believe-ism; equating church membership and right doctrine with salvation. The apostate congregations and liberal Presbyterians who turned Finney into a great evangelist, loved him for his ability to fill their churches, calling it a revival. The 2nd Great Awakening did produce church growth results, causing many new churches to start giving renegade Presbyterian preachers the opportunity to split organized churches which proclaimed a Gospel that transformed lives.
The truth is from the 1760's through to the 1830's all historic Christian Churches of whatever denomination involved with the 1st Great Awakening experienced steady church growth with no evidence of their churches loosing members or becoming backslidden, to justify the lie produced with the name 2nd Great Awakening. The reality was a new message with a false Gospel was splitting good churches with 2nd and 3rd generation Christians who opposed the 'Ole Time Religion' of their grandparents, which produced true and lasting transformations. The fact is the majority of these new churches with no statement of faith or Confession produced the Mormons, the Campbell-ites, Miller-ites, who produced the Churches of Christ, 7th-Day Adventist, Independent Congregational Baptist and Unitarians, which produced the Christadelphians and the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Honestly who knows what kind of radical Funda Bapta war with Islam church will come out of the Westboro cultic congregation and it would not surprise me if many of them are already in Idaho right now.
They are LEGALISTS not fundamentalists. They give fundamentalism a bad name.
DeleteAfter reading Brad's post again let me also say that God has sent the mission field to America and the majority of Muslims from Iraq are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and like Mormons have been seduced by the Angel Moroni into following one of two false prophets some 1300 years apart. We have a responsibility to proclaim the true Gospel to these people. It is not our responsibility to convert them. All we have to do is proclaim the truth that they are sinners and need Christ to save them. God the Holy Spirit can even reveal Himself to them and if we share the Gospel with the love of our Lord, not the hate of Westboro, then they will seek you out when God comes a knocking.
ReplyDeleteI really feel bad for the oldest Boston bomber who said he had no American friends, I can only guess nobody shared the love of Jesus with him and look what he became to the shock of his family members who except for one uncle could not believe these boys were capable of doing such a horrible thing. I have started my conversations with several Muslims saying I have no desire or am I able to convert you to Christianity, but I do want them to know what my Jesus can do for sinners and how He transformed my life. If God has any plan to convert a radical Muslim as He did the radical Christian killing Saul of Tarsus, then He could have turned that Boston bomber into another Apostle Paul to proclaim the Gospel to his people. I honestly think it would be easier for a radical Muslim to get saved than a radical from the Westboro Cultic Congregation.