WHAT WENT WRONG?

“And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.” (Luke 9:52-56)

The other night I was flipping through the channels with my remote when I stumbled upon a local cable access program which was featuring clips of Fred Phelps and his “Westboro Baptist Church” of Topeka, Kansas. If you’re not familiar with this group, they preach a message of hate, and in my opinion, they cause confusion and dissension and give true Christians a very bad name. (I had a friend who pastored a Baptist Church in Westboro, Massachusetts who was constantly having to explain that he was NOT part of that group!) The Westboro Baptist Church group goes around the country picketing. They hold up signs which state vile messages of hate against homosexuals. They also hold up signs which read “God Hates America”, “God Hates Jews”, and even “God Hates Israel”. Possibly the most controversial viewpoints of this group are that 9/11 was a WONDERFUL thing and that soldiers who die fighting for the U.S.A. DESERVE to die. These hate mongers have been known to show up at the funerals of servicemen and servicewomen holding up disgusting anti-American signs and chanting horrible sayings. Fred Phelps had a large family and most of his own children have large families. Thus, MOST of the Membership of this Church are all related to each other.

Among the clips the local cable show ran were speeches where Fred Phelps denounces Billy Graham and (the late) Jerry Falwell as false prophets. One of the little children from this group was interviewed. The kid spewed vile statements against homosexuals and Jews. It was obvious he was just reciting what had been drilled into him, but he didn’t really understand what he was talking about. Another clip showed teenagers from the church doing a parody of Michael Jackson’s “Beat It”.

Halfway thorough the local cable show, the show’s host announced that he’d be showing the “other side” about Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church; about how much GOOD they have done.

“Good?!” I thought, “How can a group so filled with HATE be good?! What POSSIBLE good could they have done?”

The local show then ran clips about the early days of Fred Phelps' ministry in Topeka, Kansas from the 1950s. It turns out he arrived in Topeka shortly after the Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. Fred Phelps was very much involved in the civil rights movement. He had SUCH a passion to help defenseless Black people that he went to Law school, got a Law degree, and defended many African-Americans who’d been discriminated against. Phelps has been recognized by African-American groups for his heroic work during the civil rights movement.

According to the reports, during the 1950s and 1960s, Fred Phelps, and his family and church were real heroes, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, bravely defending the rights of African-Americans and always ready to help the poor and downtrodden. The black & white photos of Phelps and his family from that period show a kind, warm, Christian family preaching and demonstrating the love of God. Videos of the group from the past fifteen years of so show the EXACT OPPOSITE kind of people!

I must say, I was most surprised at Fred Phelps’ background, and I was quite perplexed at what he and his group have become. Here was (apparently) a group of good, decent, kind, loving Christian people that has morphed into a bunch of half-crazed hate mongers. I can only conclude that Phelps’ and his family and church foolishly switched from ministry in the power of God to ministry in their own strength. They likely became puffed up with pride and allowed themselves to become totally deceived by Satan. I Corinthians 10:12 warns about those who are overconfident, unaware they are in danger of falling.

The local cable host concluded that Phelps is exercising his free speech which he viewed as a very good thing. The host obviously missed the real message which is that a good man and ministry have been subverted and perverted into something vile and evil. (Please don’t misunderstand me. I disapprove of homosexuality, but God so “loved” the world [John 3:16] and the homosexuals, like all other people, need God’s message of love and reconciliation, not a message of hate.)
For me, watching this half hour cable show was quite sobering!