Urgent Message
Brothers and Sisters
I write to you now, begging, pleading for prayer for the spiritual wellbeing of our city. For those of you who aren’t aware, Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, KS has targeted Sioux Falls for a potentially detrimental spiritual assault this weekend. The message this group bears is one of hatred and condemnation. They preach the wrath of God, and fail to preach his love, mercy and forgiveness. While the Bible does show clearly that God hates sin, it also shows that he loves people…ALL people.
Take a look at John 4. Jesus and his disciples are on their way to Galilee. Coming upon a town in Samaria, Jesus sits down by a well, tired from his journey. Soon a Samaritan woman approaches. Without hesitation, Jesus asks her for a drink. Now, this may seem insignificant, but keep in mind, Jews did not associate with Samaritans at this time and surely did not drink from the same cup. She responds with shock, asking why he would ask her for a drink. As their conversation progresses, Jesus reveals that he knows she lives a sinful life. The woman not only has 5 husbands, but now lives with a 6th man she’s not married to. Although he does point out to her that she lives a life of sin, he shows her this with love instead of condemnation…and what happens? She goes back to town, tells everyone what happened and more people come to hear Jesus speak. Because he treated this woman with mercy and love, she believed. And because of her testimony, many believed.
Turn to John 8. Jesus is at the Temple. As he teaches the crowd that has gathered, the Pharisees and the teachers of religious law bring in a woman caught in adultery. Standing in front of the crowd, they proclaim condemnation on this woman, saying the law of Moses commands them to stone her. After asking Jesus for his opinion on this, Jesus stoops down and begins writing in the dust with his finger. The woman’s accusers are relentless, demanding an answer, so Jesus stands up and says, “All right…but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he bends down again and continues writing. As his words sink in, her accusers slowly slip away until only Jesus is left with the woman. As Jesus stands again, he turns to the woman and asks her where her accusers have gone and if any of them have thrown a stone. She tells him they hadn’t, and Jesus replies, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” Of everyone witnessing this, Jesus was the only one without sin, and even he did not condemn the woman. He loved her. He freed her. While he didn’t condone her sin, he didn’t condemn her because of it.
The Bible says all of us have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Not a single one of us has the right to condemn souls to hell. This is not to say we should not stand up for what is right. Sin is wrong and I will never say any different. Nowhere in scripture does Jesus excuse it. But he never rebukes sin with protests, hate marches, malicious words or condemnation. He convicts us with truth, redirects us with love, changes us with mercy.
Brothers and sisters, Matthew 7 warns us about false prophets. Scripture says they come to us in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. We can recognize them by their fruits. Does their message line up with the Bible? Are they walking in the footsteps of Jesus? Be on guard.
Our battle is not carnal. We are in the midst of a spiritual war. In Ephesians 6:12, Paul tells us that our struggle is against the rulers, authorities and powers of this dark world and against the evil spirits in the heavenly realms. He then urges us to be strong in the Lord and his mighty power. We are to put on the full armor of God so we can stand against the devil’s evil schemes.
13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.
So rise up, brothers and sisters. Take a stand. We are promised VICTORY in Jesus’ name. We WILL prevail. Speak truth. Walk in faith. Live in light. Love all people. Pray continually. Be an example. Be bold. Be courageous. Our weapons have DIVINE power and strongholds WILL be demolished (2 Corinthians 10). NO weapon formed against us shall prosper (Isaiah 54:17). Evil WILL fall. The devil WILL flee (James 4:7).
In Jesus, we ARE victorious.
This is so well said. And, in my humble opinion, quite accurate. Just a couple days ago, an agnostic friend of mine asked my why more Christian leaders don’t speak out against the hateful rhetoric from certain Christian leaders and movements.
Sadly, my answers were a lack of conviction and a public that rarely wants to hear the arguments and thoughts of rational people.
In this post, you have made a compelling and Biblicaly accurate call for sanity and love. Thank you for your courage and leadership.
Well put. Increasingly one realizes that those who crow the loudest about what fabulous “Christians” they are bear watching the most. Their words and deeds prove that they are in fact the opposite of Christian.
What brings the Westies up here anyway? I suppose somebody somewhere in town is doing something they don’t like…