A 22 year old homosexual man recently claimed that, in an effort to “help” him, members at a NC church held him down and hit him and screamed at him and locked him in a room after knocking him unconscious. The church denies this and says that they knew nothing of his being homosexual and that they merely gave him a place to stay because he was thrown out of his parents’ house for rebellious behavior. This particular church has faced allegations of harassment and child abuse before. Their founder was even convicted of abusing a congregant once, though the conviction was later overturned. I pray the investigations will disclose the truth, but perhaps there is something we can learn from this sad situation.
When I read of things like this happening, I wonder, what makes someone go from proclaiming the good news to alleged violence? And what is the proper way to evangelize those who don’t want to change their ways? Have you ever gotten so frustrated with someone rejecting Christ that you wanted to scream…or worse? If you have shared the gospel enough, you will experience deep sadness and grief, but violence is never the Christ-like answer. History is full of people who went horribly wrong when good intentions turned to violence.
Christians are to be truth proclaimers, not truth sheriffs. As frustrated as we get with sin, there is no way to force others to love God. Jesus commanded His disciples to shake the dust off their feet if people reject the word (Luke 9:5). Though it broke his heart, Paul obeyed this in Acts 18:6 and elsewhere. Proclaiming the gospel can be very personal and very painful. One of the most challenging aspects of being a Christian is to hate the choices we often make, yet love ourselves and others. We must love others, even in their rejection of the word leading to eternal separation from God.
I pray that isn’t the case with you or your loved ones, but if so, please let me know how I can help. I promise to always try to teach in truth and in Spirit, with love, as we seek God’s guidance.
