"These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics or sandals or a staff, for the laborer deserves his food. And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. As you enter the house, greet it. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town." Matthew 10:5-15 ESV.
While the Bible talks about severe punishment upon those who commit immorality of any kind, I never realized that the punishment for the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah would be lighter than the punishment for those who reject the Gospel.
When Jesus was living on earth, He did many wonderful things. He did things that no other person had ever done before His coming, nor after He was resurrected and ascended back up to heaven. People knew there was a difference. In fact, many looked forward to encountering Jesus because they knew He could heal them, or miraculously feed them. It was when Jesus started teaching people that they turned away from Him, and ultimately rejected Him.
All sin is serious before God. In Proverbs 6:16-19, there is a list of things that God hates. They are; 1. a lying tongue, 2. haughty eyes, 3. hands that shed innocent blood (this applies to abortion as well), 4. a heart that devises wicked plans, 5. feet that make haste to do evil, 6. a false witness who breathes out lies, and 7. one who sows discord among brothers. In Revelation 21:8, we read of a list of people who will be thrown in the Lake of Fire for all eternity. They are listed as, the cowardly, the unfaithful, detestable and murders, the sexually immoral, idolators, sorcerers and liars. And finally, although the list is not exhaustive, we can read in 1 Corinthians 6 a list of people who practice certain things that will keep them out of heaven. These things are; immorality, idolatry, adultery, homosexuality, theft, greediness, swindling, drunkenness, and those who practice reviling (not really sure what that is). So we have some listings of what God hates and will punish. Included, among many other things, is homosexualism. Homosexualism is one form of immorality. Committing adultery, as well as flirting in a sexual, lustful way are acts of immorality as well. In the Old Testament, God also prescribed punishments for certain acts, such as stoning for blasphemy. God is angry with sin and will ultimately punish all sin, One Day.
What does this have to do with Westboro? For those of you who are not familiar with who Westboro is, you have probably seen them on T.V. when the news is on. This group of Primitive Baptists are known for their protests at funerals announcing God's hatred for Gay people, who they refer to as 'fags'.
There are a number of things wrong with what Westboro does. If you look at the Scripture passage at the top of the page from Matthew 10, you will see that Jesus has something interesting to say to the people about God's judgments. He is telling us that God is going to judge people more severely who reject the Gospel, than those who are Gay. I have to wonder why Jesus said that the people who lived in Sodom and Gomorrah would have repented in sackcloth and ashes if they had seen the miracles that Jesus did, and heard His message of salvation. Can Gay people really repent and be saved? Jesus seemed to indicate that they could and they would have. Westboro doesn't preach a message of repentance and hope. They only inform people that America is going to be destroyed because of the Gay people who are here. If you were a Gay person, and you heard or watched Westboro's activities, would you feel like there is hope for you to repent and be saved, or would you feel like just throwing in the towel and responding by believing that God hates you because you are Gay?
Another thing wrong with Westboro and their message, is that they fail to represent what God is like. One of God's characteristics is love. Does Westboro's activities manifest God's love? God's love provided the Ultimate Sacrifice that paid completely for our sins. Does Westboro preach that? I haven't heard it yet. All I have seen is their signs indicating that God hates people (I also saw one of their signs that says 'God Hates Islam'). It's true that God hates sin, but if we left it at that, we would have no hope. God loves us and wants us to experience salvation and a new heart. Westboro does not offer that.
Here is something else wrong, seriously wrong; When Jesus confronted the Scribes and Pharisees on their hypocrisy, He had some hard words for them. For one thing, they would receive the greater condemnation. The judgment upon them was going to be greater than on other people in other generations. These people really tried hard to perfectly keep the Law, yet they missed the heart of the matter. We see this too, with Westboro. Westboro focuses on mainly one type of sin, and, because they do not practice that particular type of sin, they think they are off the hook. They don't realize that their sins go even deeper than those of homosexualism. They are the ones who need to repent. In Proverbs 6, as listed above, one of the abominations that God hates is 'haughty eyes'. Haughty eyes are a description of pride. Do a search at http://www.biblegateway.com on the word 'pride'. See what God thinks of that. The opposite of pride is humility. Humility admits that we don't know everything and that we don't have everything perfectly in order in our lives. It makes room for love and servanthood. Pride goes before a fall, and God resists prideful people. We certainly don't see humility in Westboro, but pride. There is no power of God behind them. They act like a cult, and if someone were to leave, they would not make it easy for that to happen.
There were a couple of girls, from families who were the main people heading up this organization called Westboro. These girls, which I believe were cousins, were able to escape. Their families cut them off. This is exactly what cults do when their members try to leave. It is a form of manipulation to get the person to do what the leadership wants them to do. In organizations like Westboro, people do not respond because they are envisioned with what the movement is doing, but because they have been brought in and they will obey the leaders out of being controlled by them, rather than by being loved by them.
Finally, in Matthew 7, the first several verses talk about judging people. At first, Jesus warns not to judge others. He goes on to explain that we will be judged in the same way we judge others. Then He continues to explain that we need to look first at our own hearts and sin, before we can help others to see their own sin. Once we do that, we can judge others, because we will show mercy and compassion, and our motives will be right. Westboro doesn't do that. They would be like the Pharisees and think they do not have any sin to deal with. Our own sins are invisible to us, many times, but others can see them. That is why we need fellowship, relationships, and accountability. These can help us find our sins, and we can serve others effectively in dealing with sin. Westboro doesn't look at their own logs. They are trying to make notice of the splinters in the lives of other people, yet they totally disregard the logs in their own eyes, and think they are doing God's will.
So let's recap. Westboro focuses on one type of sin, and disregards other sins. Westboro doesn't offer repentance to the sinner, but just the announcement of judgment without hope. The main characteristic of Westboro is pride, which God is opposed to. The sin of Westboro, which is similar to the Scribes and Pharisees, is more serious to God, than the sin of Sodomy. Westboro deals with the splinters of the Gay community, without removing the logs in their own eyes. Their sin is invisible to them.
If you are a person who has mistakenly thought that Westboro is a group of Christians doing evangelism, take heart. The story of the Gospel is beautiful. God's love is manifested in the Gospel. Westboro doesn't represent the God who loves and sent His Son to pay the price for sinners, so they don't have to be damned. This group totally misrepresents the true and living God.
If you are Gay, and you have listened to their message, take heart. God doesn't desire for anyone to perish, whether you are Gay, or a murderer, or a liar, adulterer, and so on. Yes, God will punish sin. No one is good enough for heaven. We all deserve to die and go to hell. God has made a way out. We don't have to face His judgment. If you want more information on this, please visit http://thegospelconversation.blogspot.com, http://test4gp.wordpress.com, or, http://thecolorfulstory.blogspot.com There is hope for the worst types of sinners in the Gospel bathed in God's love.
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