SBC Pastor at public baccalaureate "tells truth" - gays go to hell
There are just so many wiser ways to approach the topic… and so many better venues… just sad.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
I have no idea what the pastor said due to poor, pathetic reporting. I am told that he said that “if they were gay they would go to hell”. But, I am not given a quote or context of what he said or how he said it other than a reference to a verse he used in the speech. He might have said this message wisely, he might have said it poorly. So, I can develop no legitimate opinion without more information.
Read the article carefully. It was a public, interchurch service for Christian high school graduates at a church. So make sure we’re addressing this as a church service and not a public graduation ceremony.
I can see some of why he would say this in that light. Wise, we can debate. But I can see a place for this kind of warning.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
[Bert Perry]Read the article carefully. It was a public, interchurch service for Christian high school graduates at a church. So make sure we’re addressing this as a church service and not a public graduation ceremony.
I can see some of why he would say this in that light. Wise, we can debate. But I can see a place for this kind of warning.
It was actually for a public high school, not a Christian School. The problem is that this attracted a number of saved and unsaved people to attend. This probably was not the best topic to pick for a mixed crowd. In addition, the message is much more nuanced than to make some statement that they would go to hell. A topic like this really takes a number of messages to work through, than to pepper a crowd with this type of singular message.
Maybe he preached the gospel and listed a whole boatload of example sins and the gay reference was singled out…. Even along those lines though, think about it: unless you’re going to list every sin in the Book, why name homosexual conduct? How many people in the room is that going to apply to? On the other hand, if the aim is the gospel, how about talking about malice, deceit, envy, greed… in four words you have 99.99999% of those in the room, including the preacher, no doubt (that umbrella would certainly include me). The way to preach the gospel is to establish that we all go to Hell unless we’re graciously credited with Someone Else’s righteousness.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
It’s probably not the approach most of us would’ve taken, but I’m not going to criticize him or say he was wrong. He told the truth and who exactly was harmed for him doing so? Why name homosexual conduct? Maybe because gay rights and same sex marriage is in the news almost every day and more people are excepting it as an “alternate lifestyle”. I don’t see the harm in someone making a public statement. We all see the harm of Westboro and if we’re not careful we will go to the opposite extreme.
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