The truth, but at what cost? (Brother Jed)
Brother Jed and his sidekicks have kicked up quite a stir as they have been "preaching" the last 2 days on peoples assured condemnation to hell. Many arguements, many debates, many other people standing up to speak on their beliefs. They have been claiming to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Word of God.
There is so much one could comment on about this but I'll try to be somewhat brief. This has brought about many arguments, many discussions, many protestors and the like.. but i'd like to spell out some specific points I believe are important.
1) It is good that he is here.
"What!? Why would you say such a thing", you might ask. "Are you not listening to what he is saying?"
I am listening. He is preaching the Word of God. What he speaks about the Bible is from the Bible, and I want you to consider this:
Philippians 1:15-18 "Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I (Paul) have been put here for the defense of the gospel; the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but to increase my suffering in my imprisonment. WHAT DOES IT MATTER? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice."
-> Those are some pretty powerful words. What Paul says is that it does not matter if Christ is being preached out of love or for other reasons (which seems to be the case), as long as Christ is being preached. It doesn't matter if Christ is preached without love - it says it right there in the Bible.
Also, Dan Reiter expressed it well in his email. We have three distinct choices:
a) We can ignore him completely and try to avoid the situation at all costs.
b) We can argue with him and try to prove ourselves to be right (which you will only talk in circles) OR
c)We can use the OPPORTUNITY that has arised because it draws so many people. We can talk to people INDIVIDUALLY, learn and know who they are and share the message of Christ with them in LOVE.
*If you look at this as an opportunity to talk to people it can be quite a good outreach. The people are already there. You just have to force yourself not to focus on Brother Jed.
2) My second point is that brother Jed is NOT preaching out of love.
This is my biggest objection. If you want to present the "whole" gospel then you must see that you need to do it out of love. What his style of preaching does is automatically create a division between the audience and himself. No one wants to listen because they are filled with hate. They don't like what he is saying, and mostly they don't like HOW he says it. People feel judged and condemned.
While condemnation for sins is a part of the gospel, it is not the whole part. God is love, and God wants a relationship with you. But unfortunately we have this sin that gets in the way. And the only way to bridge that gap, is through putting your faith in Jesus Christ that he died for our sins/mistakes/failures and turning away from that sin.
While speaking with brother Jed he failed to:
1) communicate truth in love
2) admit his own sin (he said he was sinless)
3) communicate the whole gospel (not just the condemnation side).
So to wrap it up, it is good that he is here. It doesn't matter that he does it out of false pretenses. It also allows us the opportunity to talk to people about God individually. So take that opportunity.
Post your replies too. What do you guys think about Brother Jed?
There is so much one could comment on about this but I'll try to be somewhat brief. This has brought about many arguments, many discussions, many protestors and the like.. but i'd like to spell out some specific points I believe are important.
1) It is good that he is here.
"What!? Why would you say such a thing", you might ask. "Are you not listening to what he is saying?"
I am listening. He is preaching the Word of God. What he speaks about the Bible is from the Bible, and I want you to consider this:
Philippians 1:15-18 "Some proclaim Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill. These proclaim Christ out of love, knowing that I (Paul) have been put here for the defense of the gospel; the others proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but to increase my suffering in my imprisonment. WHAT DOES IT MATTER? Just this, that Christ is proclaimed in every way, whether out of false motives or true; and in that I rejoice."
-> Those are some pretty powerful words. What Paul says is that it does not matter if Christ is being preached out of love or for other reasons (which seems to be the case), as long as Christ is being preached. It doesn't matter if Christ is preached without love - it says it right there in the Bible.
Also, Dan Reiter expressed it well in his email. We have three distinct choices:
a) We can ignore him completely and try to avoid the situation at all costs.
b) We can argue with him and try to prove ourselves to be right (which you will only talk in circles) OR
c)We can use the OPPORTUNITY that has arised because it draws so many people. We can talk to people INDIVIDUALLY, learn and know who they are and share the message of Christ with them in LOVE.
*If you look at this as an opportunity to talk to people it can be quite a good outreach. The people are already there. You just have to force yourself not to focus on Brother Jed.
2) My second point is that brother Jed is NOT preaching out of love.
This is my biggest objection. If you want to present the "whole" gospel then you must see that you need to do it out of love. What his style of preaching does is automatically create a division between the audience and himself. No one wants to listen because they are filled with hate. They don't like what he is saying, and mostly they don't like HOW he says it. People feel judged and condemned.
While condemnation for sins is a part of the gospel, it is not the whole part. God is love, and God wants a relationship with you. But unfortunately we have this sin that gets in the way. And the only way to bridge that gap, is through putting your faith in Jesus Christ that he died for our sins/mistakes/failures and turning away from that sin.
While speaking with brother Jed he failed to:
1) communicate truth in love
2) admit his own sin (he said he was sinless)
3) communicate the whole gospel (not just the condemnation side).
So to wrap it up, it is good that he is here. It doesn't matter that he does it out of false pretenses. It also allows us the opportunity to talk to people about God individually. So take that opportunity.
Post your replies too. What do you guys think about Brother Jed?
Is he a jedi or something? Is that the nut from last semester?? Avoid him like the plague.
Just kidding. Not really.
Posted by
MW Rice |
8:03 AM
He's a nut. The only reason its good is because it draws a crowd like no other.
Posted by
Sean Raybuck |
6:28 PM
I really like what you're saying.
One point though...yes he is preaching the "word of God"...but in a partial, incomplete, and self-serving way. And some of what he's preaching blatant is not the word of God. However, I defintely agree that it was good (overall) that he was hear. Good for Christians to be challanged to defend and reach out with love in response...and good for everyone on campus because they were thinking as a result...for the most part.
Posted by
Jordan_Ryan_Stewart |
10:14 PM