This video started out as a response to another video about Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church. As a Christian it angers me to see folks like Fred Phelps use Jesus to harass and attempt to intimidate others by lying -- yes, lying -- about the Gospel. There is not a fiber of my being that believes that Jesus feels glorified when the folks who follow Phelps' teachings are marching, or picketing, or making their little songs. It's ugly and embarrassing to those of us who actually DO follow the teachings of Christ, which are, in a nutshell, "Love God, love others."
And I thought "What's changed about the people of Westboro Baptist Church? What about them would be attractive to an unbeliever that would make them come to WBC and ask about God?" And this song, by Steven Curtis Chapman came to mind. And I decided I would put together a video denouncing and deriding everything WBC stands for. And so, in a fervor bordering on obsession, I began.
But as I began to work on the piece I realized that while Fred Phelps and WBC present a hideous and distorted view of Jesus and Christianity, at least they're right out front about it. Some of us, while not openly hateful, are much more devious with our sin. We welcome a newcomer to our church while mentally insulting their clothes, or skin color, or accent, or car, or whatever. What about OUR change?
The way I understand sin is that, while Deuteronomy may list harsher punishments for some sins than others, to God a sin is a sin is a sin. Whether I murder 200 people or steal a nickel, but for His grace and Christ's death, that sin will keep me from His presence. I think that, in terms of sin, God equates the hatred of the gay lifestyle with the practicing of it. And I believe when I call someone an idiot on the freeway (even if they are one) He equates that with robbing a bank. According to scripture, the only people Jesus ever condemned were the hypocrites -- those who praised God with their lips and denied Him with their actions.
So this project, as so often happens, has been cathartic and eye-opening for me. As I went to pluck the splinter from the eye of another, I became painfully, and shamefully, aware of the log in my own. I pray that if you have a log, you'll become aware of it as well. And I pray that if you haven't experienced the love and grace of Jesus Christ, that this will prompt you to seek Him out.
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