Westboro Church's Gospel of "Hate"

Hatred can be subtle or "in your face." The vicious accusers of the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) dispense the "in your face" type. But their hate is especially grievous, because it is expressed in the name of a holy and loving God.

Fred Phelps, the patriarchal leader and self designated pastor, along with his family and other lost souls, make up this cult-like clan, known as the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka Kansas.

This groups claim to infamy is they protest at the funeral of fallen soldiers, homosexuals and celebrities pronouncing God's wrath upon them.

In a twist of cosmic justice, not one Baptist convention or association claim this odd band of accusers. For all intents and purposes the followers of WBC are "going it alone." Alone in their corrupted gospel of hate. The followers of the WBC are preaching a false gospel which is the antithesis of the gospel of Jesus.

The Christian Gospel is "good news" and is animated by God's love for a fallen and broken people-sinners who are completely lost and live under the crushing weight of sin's condemnation. With no way out, God comes to our rescue, driven by His love for us, God shows us the way out.

John 3:16, tells us what this "good news" is: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whosoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." But that's not all, we read in the next verse (17) "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him."

These two verses tell a story of a loving God who freely gave Himself, coming to us as in ther form of a man-Jesus-to be condemned and die on a cross in our place.

Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection provided for us a reprieve from God's wrath. Jesus became the "condemned one" in our place-He became our Savior.

Jesus broke the back of sin and for all those who believe, we are saved and no longer live under condemnation-this is the "good news," Jesus came to us not to condemn but to save.

These two verses also tell us that the Christian gospel is both grace-God gave his one and only Son and within that grace is a law-God so loved the world. This is the law of love, which is the believers imperative to "love one another" as God so loved the world. Love then is the driving force that animates the gospel of grace-not condemnation or hate. 

It's important to understand that the Christian gospel is both Grace and Law. Any other teaching where grace or law is left out, is a false gospel.
If a so called "gospel" is grace without law, it would be a "cheap grace"-worth nothing. As Dietrich Bonheoffer says "cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ."

On the other hand if a so called "gospel" is law without grace, it too is a gospel without the living, incarnate Jesus. It would be a cold, condemning gospel that crushes the soul and leads to death.

The "legalistic" moralizer in some of our churches today and Pharisee of the bible, held to this corrupted "gospel." And this is the gospel practiced by the followers of the Westboro Baptist Church.

A gospel without grace leads to hate and condemnation. And then the hate and condemnation become the driving force behind the "protests" of WBC's followers. Just look at the hurtful "protest signs" and ask your self, would Jesus be shouting and carrying signs with the protesters or comforting the grieving family? 

I am reminded of St Paul's warning against those who preach a false gospel:

"But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!" Galatians 1:9

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is a Gospel of grace and love that leads to salvation and eternal life. It is not a Gospel of hate that leads to condemnation and death.

 

Cultivating Curiosity in the Age of Tweets and Twitter

Huell Howser, host of "California Gold" is the only person I know that can get pretty excited about broken glass.

Let me explain. Huell travels up and down the state and discovers some of California's unique and eccentric places like lighthouses, Emu farmers and artisans who make things out of broken glass. 

One episode, Huell visited a man who creates "deco art" using recycled glass. I was listening to the conversation with amazement and I got the sense that Huell sincerely cares about this guy and his broken glass. 

Curiosity is hard to develop, especially if the topic is of no interest. I mean how excited can one get about wall paper design? But being curious requires me to really listen and enter another persons world with empathy.

Curiosity softens my "self certainty" about life and increases my ability to see life with a sense of "wonder." So I became "curious" watching Huell work his magic in getting people to open up about what I thought was mundane topics.

I went on to "youtube" and I watched closely how the great interviewers like Huell Howser, Jack Paar, Brian Lamb and Roy Firestone brought a person to life.

I listened to how each of these conversationalist weaved curiosity into the interview. Soon I began to notice something interesting.  Over the course of the conversation, the interviewer took a back seat and I was focused on the other person and their story-I almost forgot the interviewer was in the room.

The interviewers had to be ok with backing down and allowing the other person to come alive. The ego sure can get in the way of being curious, especially in this current age of "self obsession.

Conversation is becoming a lost art in the land of tweets and twitter. It's time bring curiosity back, dust it off and learn "conversation" all over again.

God Is...

"God is"
This is the genesis of the believers faith.
God is the initiator of making himself known-God revealed himself to me-I cannot reveal myself to Him.
No human endeavor-no belief-no philosophy-no theology-no political party can claim God-"God is. "

Theology is thinking God's thoughts AFTER Him not the other way. 
God is separate from all works of man-God is not in the Tower of Babel, the Golden Calf or any shrine or temple-"God Is."
God cannot be scientifically studied, analyzed, rationalized, categorized or put in any box. 

He is a covenant God and we, a covenant people-God with us-"Emmanuel"
God reveals His covenant with us in the creation-in covenant with Israel-in the incarnation-in the cross and subsequent resurrection-and He will reveal Himself at the consummation. 


God is the incarnate God-God took on human form and walked among us-in Christ Jesus-"God is."
And we who are found "in Christ Jesus" are in right standing with God-we answered YES to His covenant

"God is"-this is where I walk in faith and along the way God reveals Himself to me.
"God Is."

First Understand-Then be Understood

The 5th habit of Stephen Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" says "Seek first to understand then be understood." Our conversations would be more meaningful if we nurtured this habit.

Consider this common situation: Two people communicating and both want to be understood at the same time-so no one is understood. I walk away from this type of exchange unsatisfied and not really learning anything about you. Covey calls this interaction "dialogue of the deaf."

The way we communicate today, I can tell you, we are not suffering from a deficiency in "getting our point across." We prefer monologues to dialogues. Watch any of the reality shows and you'll see people obsessed with getting there point across.

But under this obsession of "attention seeking" and "self grandiosity" is a silent cry of people truly wanting to be understood. Underneath the narcissistic noise I hear the cry "please understand me." 

My natural inclination is to be understood first-then, if I have time, to understand you. So I've set out to reverse this "dialogue of the deaf" in my own interactions.

The first thing I needed to do was develop my listening skills-I mean to "actively listen" or as Carl Rogers would say  "to listen unconditionally with empathy." This is a type of "deep listening" which requires discipline.

It's not just the words I'm listening to, but the meaning behind the words. When I listen with empathy, I am trying to understand life as you see it-to walk in your shoes. And as I begin to listen this way, I start out by understanding your point of view-your experience.

To "understand first" opens up the conversation to a deeper and meaningful conversation. At first this approach feels unnatural but as you practice "empathic listening" you're conversations becomes deeper and more meaningful.

We all desire to be understood so give someone the gift of "understanding" in your next conversation.

Keepin it Real

I tweet! On Twitter that is.

I can condense a thought into 140 characters-not bad. Twitter is not for the "chatty Cathy" types. I also do "Facebook" and can post an incoherent opinion in 420 characters. As I sit here in my favorite bagel place, I see about 7 other people tweeting or facebookin' or having some type of e-Conversation on their fancy iPads, laptops or Blackberry's.

We are so connected yet, at times, we're so alienated from one another. Now don't get me wrong, I like the new stuff. I'm a boomer and I tweet with the best of the Gen Xrs' or Millennials'. And Facebook has connected me with people I may never see again this side of heaven, so I am thankful.

But are we loosing something here? One cannot be "Together" online. This is a new phenomenon in which we give up intimacy for a virtual relationship. I want to balance my eChats with the timeless intimacy of relational "togetherness" that only takes place in the face to face-physical presence of the other-something we miss in our eWorld.

I'm Keepin it real and enjoying my eFriends at the same time. We could do both and be real.

Just an Ordinary Guy

The more I live, the more I long for the ordinary life. Everything seems so specialized-I don't like that. Maybe it's my age. I'm going through what my psychologist friend calls a "Life Passage"- Whatever.

But that's not what's bugging me. What really rubs me the wrong way are people who believe they have certain "specialness" that make them superior to me. You know how you can tell if they're special? Just ask them.

I don't know, maybe I'm growing weary of all the hand wringing and posturing going on among the "special" people out there. Like the Gnostics of old, these precious folks believe they have the hidden secrets on truth.

On TV I hear the special men and women wax eloquently on how pure they are. They pontificate how their political or "culturally-hyphenated" group is untainted by corruption like those other rascally groups are. Either you're a victim or an oppressor. It's all smoke. Their "specialness" is an illusion-an escape from the ordinary.

A friend told me of a cocky, braggadocios Mixed Martial Arts fighter he knew. One night this guy was "trash talking" and got into a heated altercation that ended up in the parking lot-the smug fighter pulled a punch and the other guy pulled a gun and shot the MMA warrior dead. His "specialness" couldn't save him.

The story is a reminder that there are certain things in this life that are bigger than us mere mortals-like death. Death is a great equalizer. Whether you're a (D) or an (R) or a "This-American" or a "That-American"-we all face death the same way.

Authenticity is another equalizer that chips away at our sense of "specialness" and forces us to face the stark realization that we are "ordinary." Just once it would be refreshing for someone to say "I'm just an ordinary guy, don't look to me for your needs."

There's freedom in the "ordinary." But many people do not want this freedom-so they hide behind their "specialness" and continue to be burdened down by the weight of the illusion of "specialness."

Hey I'm just an ordinary guy and I like it that way. And by the way, ordinary people do special things every once in a while.

Throwing Rocks

A group of men dragged a woman to the front of temple steps, to where Jesus was speaking. They proudly proclaimed her guilt: "this woman was caught in the act of adultery and the law say's to stone her, what do you say, Rabbi?" 

The accusers were lawyers just itching to catch Jesus in a legal trap. Their question smacked of self righteousness dripping with an insincere moral superiority. Would Jesus support the law or would he dismiss it and be regarded as a zealot? This was the biblical version of the political "gotcha" question.
 
The litigants picked up rocks to execute the sinner and showcase their "righteousness." But Jesus remained silent-he knew their intent. "How do you rule, teacher?" they demanded. Jesus knelt down beside the women and scribbled something in the dirt. "What will it be?" they pushed for His verdict.
 
Then Jesus stood up, faced the men and said "All right, stone her, but let those who have never sinned throw the first stone." Jesus words hung in the air for what seemed like eternity. And for a moment He rendered the "rock throwers" impotent. He flipped it on them. He ruled on the accused-then went inward to the heart of the accusers.
 
The rock throwers judgment was made in bad faith-an insincere, self righteous condemnation. They appointed themselves judge, jury and executioner-a position only reserved for the one true Judge-God-who is the "maker of heaven and earth who will one day judge the living and the dead."
 
Jesus knelt back down and finished writing in the dirt and one by one, beginning with the oldest; they dropped their rocks and walked away. Only Jesus and the woman were alone. He looked in her eyes and said "where are your accusers-did even one of them condemn you?"
"No" she said quietly.
Jesus replied "Then neither do I, go and sin no more."
 
Jesus made two judgments-one for the woman and the other for the "rock throwers." His judgment of the woman was animated by the law of love. This is operational law for those who live in the kingdom of God-followers of Christ.
 
Love governs my every action. Love first-then proceed with correcting, discerning and making a judgment-the New Testament word for making this "judging" is "krinos."
 
Jesus' condemnation of the rock throwers was not in the outward act of making a judgment, but the inward condition of the heart in which the judgment is made.
 
As the rock throwers lifted themselves up on the "bema" seat reserved only for the one true judge-God, they picked up their rocks. And in doing so they walked right into their own condemnation.