Overcome Evil with Good - Romans 12:21

By now you have probably heard that the lawsuit against the Westboro Baptist Church has failed at the Supreme Court. Amazingly eight justices supported the right of this church to picket funerals and other events with outrageously hateful and offensive signs. I wasn't totally surprised they won, but the Supreme Court rarely is in this much agreement about anything.

Of course, a lot of people are disappointed and are expressing some very strong emotional responses online and on the air. Some of the responses to this decision and to this church are as hateful as anything they have ever done or said. I expect that from people who do not know Christ, but I hope we as Christians can be more careful and measured in our response. Romans 12:21 comes to mind:

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

Christians are not supposed to be haters. We are lovers, not by nature, but because we have been loved. God is not a hater (see this post) and He teaches us not to respond to hate with hate, but with love (see Matthew 5:44). There is a genuine temptation for us to join the chorus of hate against a group that claims to speak for our God, but does so in a manner that grossly distorts His message (where is the "good news"?), and puts all of us Christians in a terrible light. What I am saying is, don't hate them! That puts you on their level and makes you as guilty of misrepresenting our God as them.

Having said that, there is a positive aspect to all this. I am not excusing the hateful behavior in any way. Nor am I saying that I want it to continue under the guise of free speech. But the truth is that if the Supreme Court can allow this kind of hateful speech to be protected, that is good for pastors like me and churches like mine.

I have been concerned for some time that publicly saying, "Jesus is the only way to God", will at some point be considered "hate speech". Of course, I don't believe that it is. It is in fact the most loving thing we can do. We are helping people to understand and come to grips with the exclusive claim of Christ (see John 14:6). Until people realize that Jesus is not just another path to God, they cannot make an informed decision about who he is and what they are going to do in regard to Him. Many churches and pastors are either waffling on this or have become entirely silent about it. But I believe it is the most important issue of the twenty-first century. I intend to keep talking about it, and I am pleased that I will be protected in doing so, at least for a while longer. For that I am thankful, in spite of the other extremely negative aspects of the court's decision.

In case you are wondering, this is the essential Christian message for today and every day until the Lord returns:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." (John 3:16-18).

This is our message of God's love, and it is genuinely one of love. But it is also a message that Jesus, the Son of God, is the only way for every man, woman and child to experience that love forever. I will continue to proclaim this message of love as long as I live, protection or not, but I am thankful that at least for today, I am free to proclaim it! Thank you, Jesus!