PASTOR MIKE CEPELA
If the name Westboro Baptist Church doesn’t ring a bell, I’ll give you a couple clues. Westboro Baptist protest the funerals of soldiers who have been killed in the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They hold up signs that say things like “Thank God for Dead Soldiers” and “God, America‘s Terror.”
Just recently, they were in Illinois at the funeral of one of the victims from the Lane Bryant shooting in Tinley Park, Illinois. The signs they held at this particular event were of the same old material. However, some of the new ones read “Thank God for Dead Shoppers” which I must admit seemed a lower reach than I thought possible.
I do not want to look at how offensive it is or isn’t or how it strikes me emotionally. Rather, I want to look at whether what they are doing is from God or not, because I have a deep yearning to see the move of God as well as hear the voice of God in the midst of His people.
The first thing I want to do is understand the claims that they are making and I want to list just a few.
1. They say that American soldiers are being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan
because the Military allows homosexual to join under the don’t ask don’t
tell policy which is now in place.
2. They say that the Lane Bryant killings which were a robbery gone bad were
from the Lord because Lane Bryant sells to cross-dressers.
Before we go on, we need to look at what it is this church is claiming. Westboro Baptist Church is claiming to speak as the mouthpiece of God as well as to hear the voice of God in these modern issues as to the direct reasons these particular events have happened.
They are not claiming that they have a sense about the current events that have transpired nor are they saying that they are discerning. But with a confident boldness, they claim to speak for God in these issues.
Who does the Bible, according to their Sin, have the greater gripe with?
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
As the Apostle Paul clearly states that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God and he goes on to name a list of different sins of unrighteousness. It’s true that Homosexuality is one of the listed sins, but it’s also true that Paul equally lists other sins such as Fornicators, Adulterers, Drunkards, and Idolaters. In Scriptural truth, all stand as sins against God and all will keep a man from the Kingdom of Heaven. This means that all these types will lead a man into Hell for all Eternity where the worm dies not with unquenchable fire burning forever.
Here is a fair question; if I go along with Westboro’s belief, then shouldn’t the Lord be causing the death of shoppers because Lane Bryant also employs people who are in Idolatry (which could be defined as those having a faith other than Christianity), who are in relationship involving fornication, who get drunk on alcohol, who more then that are what the Bible itself calls “The Unrighteous”
The Scripture states two things:
1. 1st John 5:17 says, All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.
2. 1st John 5:19 says, We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
According to the Scripture, all unrighteousness is Sin, so to claim a particular Sin being able to be the cause of why God’s wrath has been evoked would seem both unscriptural and quite frankly a serious stretch of the imagination.
1st John 5:19 states clearly that the “Whole world lies in the power of the evil one,” so it’s a given that the businesses of the world are already both sinful and unrighteous. So are we to believe that the Lord looks upon an already sinful and unrighteous corporation according to the Scripture and demands that they refrain from a particular Sin while not demanding that they refrain from other Sins or else He’ll judge them by causing the death of shoppers who may not have a clue of their company policies instead of killing the President and the Vice President who actually have a say in the very policies that they say God is punishing them for.
If you look at similar situations such as in the Book of Daniel it was King Nebuchadnezzar as well as his grandson who paid a direct price for their Sin.
You see, the Lord is omniscient and knows exactly who designed these policies as to selling to cross-dressers so again it’s totally out of Biblical Context as to this reasoning.
Paul says something very telling in 1st Corinthians 6:11, Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.
Saints of God, the entire Church is made up of people who were once Sinners, Idolaters, Drunkards, Homosexual, Fornicators, and now they have been cleansed by work of the Cross through the Blood of Jesus Christ and are no more the things and kinds of people they once were.
Keep in mind that Wal-Mart, Lane Bryant, Sears, Carson Pirie Scott, Kmart, as well as a list of others have no policy banning the sale of clothing to cross-dressers and in truth their policy states that they cannot refuse service to anyone, including transvestites.
The Sign “Thank God for Dead Shoppers” moves me in my Spirit to ask this question: What about the issue of lawless iniquity?
The man who killed the shoppers was committing a robbery which can be defined as a lawless act so is it Biblical to as they say “Thank God for Dead Shoppers” when unrighteousness is exactly the description used by the Apostle Paul to show the very state that will send a person to Hell for Eternity. So in truth, what is being said is “Thank God for the Manifestation of Lawless Iniquity and it’s furtherance.”
The truth is that the Love of God is aimed at the Sinner and the Lord has a desire to see all come to repentance and none to perish. So to rejoice or to thank God for a sinful, lawless action goes against the very Word of God and would seem to contradict the very fabric of the Word of God.
This man who committed this act is now furthered in his Sin and has five murders that he has to account to God Almighty for if he doesn’t accept Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior.
Will I thank God for that? No, I will not, because it goes completely against all that the Scripture says and ends the possibility of those five to have one more minute so as to hear the Gospel so as to be saved.
In fact, if I was to simply use the theology of Westboro, I would stand self-condemned because I would be offering the fruit of the lips which is thanking God for the very lawlessness and iniquity that they claim has brought about these deaths as a supposed tool in the hand of God. It doesn’t make sense when viewed through the eyes of Scripture.
If the Westboro Church wants to be consistent to their own theology, then the following rules must be adhered to:
1. No active Westboro member can work for an employer who lacks a policy defining a complete prohibition on the hiring of Homosexuals, Idolaters, Drunkards (People who drink Alcohol), Fornicators (People who have [Premarital Sex), People who are Immoral, People who Covet, and such.
2. No active member can practice law because it’s very well known that our country’s laws and regulation prohibit any kind of Discrimination based upon Sexual Preference which clearly compromises the very institution itself which would call for all lawyers connected with Westboro to surrender their Law Licenses immediately.
3. No active member can watch T.V Shows that are aired by networks who have affiliations with the porn industry because their viewing directly affects that network’s ratings which causes it to make more profit which would put the viewer in league with the Network itself (This includes Cartoon Networks of all kinds) as well as seemingly innocent shows.
Remember when we read Old Testament books that deal with the wrath and punishment of God, we are dealing with Israel who for all purposes was a Theocracy where God Himself was the Leader and their Civil Law was shaped and held accountable to their Religious Law, and when the Lord did punish secular nations such as the Hittites, Amorites, Jebusites, He was usually judging them as to how they dealt with Israel.
Now it is true that Sodom and Gomorrah was judged. But even then, the Lord sent the Angels to get Lot (A righteous man) out of their midst so as to not face the punishment.
How does this stack up against the current situation to where one of the employees was a minister of many years working at Lane Bryant who I might mention was shot first as she tried to restore lawfulness by calling 911 because remember in the Book of Romans it states clearly that the sword of the Law comes from the Lord.
In closing, I think it’s very clear and evident that Westboro is another case of cherry picking a certain truth while ignoring another.
This is indicative of the eclectic behavior we see in the American Church and is part of a spiritual problem and not a solution. As noble as it may seem, it’s nothing more than self-inspiration filled with an emotional flurry sticking the Name of God upon it so as to validate the very Theology they preach.
As you can see, I didn’t have time to even get to the issue of their views on the Military because their error in this alone is so large and consuming, that I simply ran out of time and paper space. But if you desire to see another article on this issue, please drop us a line and let us know because we want to hear from you.
