Is this even Christianity?

This past Monday I caught wind of a cooky Southern preacher who preached about a plan to exterminate lesbians, queers and homosexuals. I hear a lot of chatter about this kind of thing so I hoped it would just go away.

By Tuesday night this North Carolina pastor was showing up all over Facebook and Twitter. By Wednesday morning he was the ‘most popular’ link on all of Yahoo! world homepage.

If you have not seen this video, be warned. It is in no way understated. Here is the link: NC Pastor

I have 3 main thoughts about this:

I know tons of people who are not for ‘same sex marriage’ who would not speak of electric fences. Anytime you are suggesting some tactic that the Germans used in WWII you may want to take note.
This is a different TYPE of Christianity – one that is the concerned with governing morals. We going to have to address why the church is even doing State sanctioned marriage in the first place. So often we try to have the second conversation without the first – no wonder it doesn’t go anywhere.
My church and 50 others that I know of and communicate with on a regular basis do kind things and say loving words all the time and no one press covers it. That is the nature of the modern media. Deal with it.

Nothing thus far is that surprising – save the actual sermon by the NC Pastor. Here is my concern:

At what point is some pastor so deep in the Constantinian compromise that he is more Roman than Christ-like? At some point do we say ‘that is not even Christian’ ?
OR is this just one branch of Christianity and it is our obligation to treat this man as a brother who has simply lost his way?
OR is this Preacher doing more harm than good and actually crippling the gospel message – and in that sense he is an enemy of our cause? And at that point, what do we do with Jesus’ admonition to love our enemy?

Admission: I have been re-reading Stuart Murray’s Post-Christendom and … while that is admittedly probably not the best idea … I have to admit that this whole ‘legislating civil unions and marriages’ thing in North Carolina could not come at a worse time for me.

For what it is worth, here is my 2 cents.

This is not Christianity. Well, it might be Christendom but it is not whatever Jesus was after.
This guy is my brother (in humanity even if not christianity) and has simply lost his way.
Whether he is my crazy cousin or my enemy – Christ compels me to love and respect him as a person even as I wholly (and holy) disagree with his inhuman and immoral speech.

I’m not really sure what other course of action I have in this situation. I spent last week in the woods with no technology and unless I want to perpetually retreat away from all this ugliness, I have got to address this kind of craziness at some level. What else is there in the face of hate except to love?

Steve Knight

good thoughts, Bo, as always. Thanks for weighing in. A number of us here in NC will be participating in a non-violent protest at this man's church this coming Sunday. Please pray that it will truly be non-violent (on both sides) and that love will win over fear and hate.

Jeremy R

Whether he is my crazy cousin or my enemy – Christ compels me to love and respect him as a person even as I wholly (and holy) disagree with his inhuman and immoral speech.

Isn't it also loving to wholly denounce this man because he is an enemy of Christ? Christ does not mince words with his enemies. He critiques them publicly and quite viciously. What about prophetic anger and righteous rage? Christ doesn't go into the Temple and ask people to stop. He raises hell and runs people out with a whip (nonviolently?). The enemies of Christ are not those who attend church or claim to be Christian but those who stand in DIRECT contradiction to the work of Christ. I always get so uncomfortable with the ways that nonviolence and "love" are used to police people's reactions/speech, sometimes simply functioning to silence/shame radical angry voices.

BoSanders moderator

@Jeremy R Yes. yes. But where does that leave us? In a media age ... do we have to handle this differently? It's an honest question -Bo

Jeremy R

I think you're right to raise the question. There needs to be a structural critique as well. For example this what I would say if I were interviewed, "This man's words do not represent the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is obvious that this sort of vile hatred has nothing to do with the God of Christianity who casts out all fear and who urges us to love the world, especially those the world oppresses. However, what troubles me is that any pastor or citizen who says something patently ridiculous (e.g. Terry Jones/Qur'an burning) and offensive garners all sorts of media attention for no particular reason. This is not even a story, but the media jumps on anything that will begin a controversy. We have become addicted to sound bites that do not adequately represent someone's beliefs (Jeremiah Wright) and histrionics. Why is someone this idiotic and vile even given such a platform? I would like to live in a world where people who say awful and uninformed things do not get media attention because it only serves to encourage their awful ideology along with the typical persecution complex that tends to accompany fundamentalism."

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@DennisThurman I'm gunna go out on a limb here - but I think that you are trolling ;p The post is a month old, you did not click on the link about the preacher to find out what he said - and you are regurgitating 'clobber passages'. I vote troll.

BUT incase you are actually interested (I am a sucker for the possibility) I just want to point out that 'abomination' is not what you may think! please check out this link for all of the things that the OT calls an abomination http://glow.cc/isa/abomination.htm You may be surprised :) -Bo

MarkDizzle

I was going to leave a message of sarcasm... however, being someone who grew up under similar thinking, I can't help but rejoice in the response to this pastor and his "church". It wasn't that long ago, that I had a similar stance or understanding (or best said, ignorance) of homosexuality and equality in general. I often sit and reflect on my ignorance, and cry out for grace with the loudest voice. It is in my humble opinion that people like this "pastor" and anyone who buys into the things he says, have believed what they have believed for so long... there is no turning back (in their mind). I often think of it this way; if you spent your entire life doing your best to prove that aliens exist, and the majority comes along and says, "There is no alien life out there"... chances are, you will not stop believing in alien life. You have spent so much time and effort trying to prove your way of thinking, there is no way that you are going to stop believing in extraterrestrial life. The time you have spent trying to pass along your message will not be considered wasted!

Again, in my opinion, this is in some ways what people like this pastor believe and show... desperation. They are not and will not give up, because they have spent their entire life pushing this agenda or way of thinking. An agenda that they call "god's". My hope is that their message does not spread anymore than it has. Instead, I hope that their message of "restricted grace"... falls flat... because after all, if I truly believe that "love wins" in the end (and I do), that hope (their message falling flat) is more than a wish or a prayer... it is and will continue to be a reality... especially for those who have been cast out to a gated area.

Jesse Turri

Thanks for posting this Bo. As I was reading this I kept thinking about a quote from Shane Hipps' Flickering Pixels, which I think is pretty great:

You cannot separate the medium from the message. The church is simply an expression of the gospel. The church is a direct reflection of Jesus, God’s chosen medium sent to be–not just to proclaim–a message of healing and hope to the world.

We are the message.

We are the message, in all our hypocrisy and fear, in all our giftedness and hope, in all our brokenness and bitterness, in all our faith and love, in all our gossip and self-righteousness, in all our grace and gratitude.

This is a great mystery.

Why would God choose such a frail, failing, and inconsistent medium to embody his abiding message?

Is it possible that God chose a collection of bent and bruised hearts to bear the message of redemption and reconciliation because that is a message in itself? Maybe God chose a medium of weakness to reveal his stunning ability to reach through human failure, sin, and sadness to grow new life.

NelsonThurman

#s 2 & 3 in your 2-cents list are going to be hard, but if we want people who say they follow Christ to show brotherly love for those who are different than they are, it has to start somewhere. I strongly disagree with that preacher and believe what he says reflects a world view that is not Christ-like. But there won't be any common ground (and I'm hard pressed right now to see where I would have common ground with him) if I don't reflect the love of Christ I wish he would reflect. Gonna be hard.

Kimberly Hogg

Bo- loved the comment about how to love this man, friend or enemy, is compelling. It's a hard question to answer, and one (on the flip side) this pastor and his supporters should be asking about how they interact with "those queers." I think I've found my meditation for the week. Thank you.

John Ager

Good response: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2012/05/23/charles-l-worley-seems-to-be-training-others-to-be-just-a-awful-as-he-is/

NaomiPassarelli

Wow. I wish I could say I am shocked by this display...but I'm not. It makes me very sad to see someone like him living with so much hate for other humans. I hate to think about what that is doing to his own humanity and spirit. My comfort in all of this is that I KNOW Jesus advocates for the oppressed and his anger is one I would rather not cross. I will let God be the judge about this man and will continue to pray for this man's heart towards human beings.

@NaomiPassarelli there is a part of me that is afraid that is ALL we can do :(

I appreciate your thoughts a lot. My heart is with yours on this one -Bo

Steve, I can not imagine being in NC at this point in history. I will keep ya'all in prayer this Sunday and in your preparations. -Bo

Father Josh

@BoSanders I am in NC, here in history. It's a little surreal and altogether unsurprising at the same time. I'm dealing with issues related to limiting the speech of ministers; folks attempting to dull the prophetic edge

The Crazy Gay-Hating Minister, Generational Hating, & Tony Jones' Love of Nothing says:

May 28, 2012 at 1:01 am

[...] 1. The Crazy Gay-Hating Minister, Same-Sex Marriage, and ChurchState battles. This conversation kicked off with the rumble Rev. Charles L. Worley stirred up with his hate speech & Bo’s big question post ‘Is This Even Christianity?’ [...]

Living the Questions

Is this even Christianity?

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