I just received news that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has put me on their watch list of "30 New Activists Heading Up the Radical Right." Also on the list are White Supremacists, Neo-Nazis, the leader of the New Black Panthers, and some fine Christian leaders and friends. Jesus said, "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:11-12) What an honor to be ridiculed for righteousness!
And what exactly is my crime according to the SPLC? The article states that "Brown has now ventured beyond seminary walls to take on a new, activist anti-LGBT project, selling himself as an expert speaker on the issue of 'cultural revolution.' . . . 'Speak now,' he says frequently when discussing homosexuality, 'or forever hold your peace.'"
I confess that I am guilty as charged! (Interestingly, even in a hit piece article, the SPLC notes that, "Unlike many other voices on the religious right, Brown generally has avoided the kind of slashing rhetoric that often devolves into rank defamation. His work is heavily footnoted and avoids the blanket pronouncements that have gotten others in trouble.") Perhaps the SPLC is also not happy that I have exposed errors and hypocrisy in their so-called "intelligence reports"?
Earlier this year, GLAAD (the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) put me on their list of 36 commentators that the media should avoid. I have also confronted them on their hypocrisy, which probably helped earn me a spot on their list. Yes, I consider this an honor!
Yale law professor Stephen Carter said that Christian believers must form "communities of resistance that are crucial if we are going to have a chance to transform the nation," and it is my calling to serve as a voice of resistance -- going against the grain, swimming against the tide, and standing for righteousness and truth before God and man.
Would you stand with me in this critical hour in American history? It is a time when Newsweek magazine called Barack Obama "the first gay president," when Marvel comic books announced that one of its popular superheroes will soon come out as gay, when California is poised to pass a bill that would make it illegal for someone under 18 years-old to receive professional counseling for help with unwanted same-sex attraction, even with parental consent. This really is a critical hour!
There are two resources that I would love to get into your hands, and they are yours for your gift of any size, postage paid. The first is a message I preached in March at Nyack College in New York City entitled, The Spineless Gospel of Tolerance and Acceptance. The second is my mini-book, The Jesus Manifesto: A Call to Revolution, written at the turn of the millennium, but more relevant today than ever. You will be enriched and informed and ignited as you listen and you read.
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Here's the article I just wrote about this for Townhall. Read it and rejoice with me.
Bless and protect you as you dare speak the truth as the Bible says it. The Land of the Free is supposed to allow freedom of speech. You are not advocating harm to anyone, just expressing your beliefs.
ReplyDeleteWe are admonished to love the sinner (prson) and hate the sin (what they do that is wrong). You can't say that about the other groups on that list.
Thank you for what you do. Todays revolutionaries (when just and right) are tomorrows heros...
ReplyDeleteEveryone should give as they can to your frontline ministry to jews, gentiles, and the gay community. Keep speaking the Truth in Love, pastor. you are surely called as both evangelist and apologist for the Faith.
ReplyDeleteAs one great preacher once said "keep the powder dry and keep firing!"
ReplyDeleteI would be very hesitant to celebrate making that list, if I were in your shoes. It means something in your presentation / action / etc. isn't right. It doesn't necessarily mean that you're doing exactly the right thing and just pushing some buttons. Please seek more guidance and be very aware that the way you communicate about these topics is very hurtful.
ReplyDeleteGod is amazing when he confronts us about our sin: He sets us free. He reveals truth to us. He is gentle yet holy. He helps us realize our own sin. He uses a scalpel, working within our hearts.
We as Christians need to emulate this whenever we feel called to "call someone out." It's critical, as we represent Christ.
What do you think the first thing God would say to your listeners / blog readers if He wrote the copy? What would the main message be? What is his main point? Then, what sub points? Take it from there. Instead of, "What do I think people need to hear?" or "What do I want to say?" it's better to ask, "What do you want me to communicate, God?"
Something's very off. I will pray.
Fruitfly 7, thanks for your comments, but I assure you I am on that list -- as are other colleagues -- for the sake of righteousness. I seek to minister with compassion day and night to the LGBT community and am very careful with my communication, but this is simply an instance of Matt 5:10-12, and I will rejoice at being reproached for righteousness. If you take the time to learn about the SPLC and if you see the quotes they used against me, you'll see the problem is with their ugly stance against believers these days, not our response to that stance. Is it possible that you are actually being judgmental in your comments? Is that something you will pray about? I do hope so, and thanks again for your comments.
ReplyDeleteI understand how you feel. I also know that even in making a comment I have to be careful. It's tough whenever one fallen human feels they need to admonish another fallen human - we're all somewhat blind, even after decades of life with Jesus.
ReplyDeleteIt's so strange to see the wide spectrum of ways that believers do what they think they're called to do (ex: me vs. you, total opposites). We all need to return constantly to Christ and his example. Let's pray for each other and for ourselves as we live and minister in wildly different ways from wildly different perspectives.