Hate in the Name of Jesus

I confess that I am not currently what you would consider a "religious" person, though at times in my past I have been.  I do still consider myself to be a Christian, but I have also read a bit of Buddhism.  Even though I no longer consider myself to be a religious person, I do have a great deal of respect for those who are dedicated to their faith.  It offends me to see the lack of respect for the Judeo-Christian foundations of this country, and what can be perceived as attacks against Christianity.

Likewise, I take offense at those that pervert the message of the Gospel of Christ.  Instead of a gospel of love, they preach a gospel of hate.  Now, I am not talking about those mainstream churches that preach out against sin.  As one pastor I was associated with used to say, "Love the sinner, hate the sin."  I do believe that you can be against certain acts that religious groups would consider sinful, and still be respectful and loving to those who engage in those acts. 

Instead, I am talking about people like the folks at Westboro Baptist Church who hold up signs saying "God Hates Fags" and protest outside of the funerals of our fallen soldiers.  I once heard the late Rich Mullins jokingly say in concert video made a few months before he passed away, "I know that vengeance is mine thus sayeth the Lord, but I just want to be about the Lord's business."  Unfortunately those of the WBC and their ilk, take that as more of a calling.

The reason I bring this up today, is that I was driving home from work this evening when I saw a truck similar to the one pictured here.  The only difference is that the one I saw had a picture of the twin towers from 9/11 instead of the two guys kissing.  My first reaction was that I wanted to drive up next to the guy and flip him the bird.  Not a very Christian impulse on my part, I admit.  Instead, I was fortunate to be in a fast moving lane and motored on ahead of the offending vehicle.

As I continued on my merry way thinking about the truck, I wondered to myself if it was the folks from WBC.  I don't think it was, but it is hateful nonetheless.  After a few minutes, the radio was reporting an overturned vehicle had just been reported around the area where I left the truck in my dust.  Immediately, I wondered if the truck was somehow involved in the accident, and thought, if so, they got what they deserved.  Again, not a very Christian thought on my part.  It turns out the accident was heading in the other direction.

In closing, I want to quote Rich Mullins once again from the same video, "This I know will go against the teachings of all the popular evangelical preachers, but they're just wrong.  They're not bad, they're just wrong.  Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can live with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you.  Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved, and Jesus loved the poor, and Jesus loved the broken."  The whole monologue is below and is worth spending the 10 minutes to watch it.

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