There's a lot going on in the world right now. Heck, just America is a stressful place right now. But among the confusion and chaos, I want to look at something that pops up ever so often nowadays: Westboro.
When they first came out of the woodwork, you knew about it. Drawn signs of "God hates fags.," or "Pray for more dead soldiers.," flooded the media channels and stations that would continuously play the same clips of protestors at soldiers funerals.
And I must admit, I jumped in the bandwagon of "Anti-Westboro." But before I go any further, I must make it explicitly clear that I, in no way, agree with them or the message that they express. Now continuing on...Like the rest of America, I became infuriated with a people who would take the name of God, His Son, and His Spirit and drag them through the mud, using them to claim their own message instead of the story, life, and love of Christ.
But while in my storm of fury and fist shaking, there was a different thought that crossed my mind: Pray for Westboro.
And over time, that transformed from praying for them, to love them. And in that exact moment, God took everything He is, was, and will be, and smacked me across the face with it. In all my anger and fury I had built up towards them, I had forgotten the one most important lesson that I was taught for so many years before Westboro: Love the Lord your God; and *love* thy *neighbor* as *thyself*.
Love.
Yes, they have misdirection. Yes, they distort everything Christ. Will I be in their face given the chance I ever see them in person, absolutely! But if I forget to pray for them and live them like Christ loves you and me, then I'm not really any better than who they are.
There's the challenge. Is it accepted?
I love this. I am reminded of the story of Jonah in which God told His prophet to go and preach to the people of Nineveh. Jonah refused to because he believed that if he told them to repent, they really would and God wouldn't pour out His wrath on them. Jonah allowed his hatred towards those people to block God's ministry and it took a nasty storm and a giant fish to bring him to a place of speaking to those people.
ReplyDeleteIn this situation I can easily see us as Jonah and Westboro as the people of Nineveh. Westboro is wrong in their approach, their motivation, and their doctrine, but they are still pronouncing themselves as the body of Christ. We, as true believers, have a duty to restore them (Galations 6:1). I really like the approach you're taking on this one, Brother. Don't stop being sensitive to God's voice.
For one thing, I "enjoy our conversations.".
ReplyDeleteTwo, something else I thought of yesterday might peak your interest. People will call Westboro an atrocity and whatnot; but to dig deeper into the problem: I believe Westboro is a distraction. Clearly somewhere in the world, the Word is being heard and understood because the devil now has to start using the church to keep the church from spreading the Word. Just a thought.