They Did Not Really Belong To Us . . .

Whatever the Supreme Court might decide to do with him, I think the Apostle John would consider Fred Phelps of Westboro Baptist Church to be an anti-christ.  Not the big Anti-christ, mind you, but an antichrist all the same.  I say that knowing that the Apostle John knew Jesus first hand.


Sadly, from early on in the history of Christianity, people have claimed to be followers of Jesus when they are in fact anything but that.  John speaks to it in his first epistle:

Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.  I John 1:18-19

People who had once been associated with John and the churches he shepherded, have now departed the faith and begun to preach a faith of their own making.  Most commentators agree that John is talking about more than a matter of geography here.  These people may still be in town, but they have departed the faith.  They have a different message, much like Paul's warning to the Galatians about a "different gospel." (Galations 1:6)

Perhaps they had Bible verses, followers and whatever outward trappings were associated with Christianity in that time.  They had developed a different faith though. And make no mistake, these people were to be avoided and renounced publicly.  No doubt, John had pursued these people personally and directly to try and resolve differences and guide them back to the apostolic faith that is the Gospel of Grace.  Paul did that with Peter in Galatians, and Jesus teaches that in Matthew 18.  But once that has failed, John was public and clear in his denunciations: These people are antichrists.


I think Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church represent the Antichrist, not Jesus Christ.  Sure, they have Bible verses and call themselves a Baptist Church.  But hardly any of the few members are not blood relatives of Fred Phelps.  They are affiliated with no Baptist organization of any sort.

But most of all, their message is so contrary to Gospel of Jesus that it is appalling. 

Their protests at military funerals are heartless, rude and potentially illegal.  Their speech regarding homosexuality is provocative and hateful.  I could go on and on here.

In it's most distilled form, their message is: The United States is behaving badly, so God is causing bad things to happen to the United States.  Their rudeness comes from their "in-your-face celebration" of that judgment.

I'm willing to grant that the United States, or better, the citizens of the United States, are behaving badly in all sorts of different ways.  But count me in as one of those.  I TOO AM A SINNER!  (Romans 3:23)  And bad behavior - sin in all its forms - does in fact bring about judgment.  But the good news of the Gospel is that God Himself, Jesus on the cross, has taken that judgment upon Himself and offered me - and everyone else - new life in exchange.  Frankly, that's the deal of a lifetime!  The righteousness of Jesus given to me in exchange for my sin and brokenness.  That is the Gospel, and it is offered to everyone - homosexuals, Marines, me, you and even - in an amazing offer of grace - to the members of Westboro Baptist Church.

Until the protesters from Westboro Baptist Church turn from their current message and begin to live in light of the Gospel though, they will be like those who "departed from us" in John's day: one of the many anti-christs.

The distinction between their message and the Gospel has to be made clear lest there be any confusion about what the Gospel itself is.  I do not have personal access to this group to seek reconciliation in a private way.  Their public profile is such though, that even without personal contact with them, I cannot remain silent.  I'm convinced that anything short of a thundering denunciation of the message presented by these people allows them to tarnish the Gospel by way of a confused guilt by association.  They do not really belong to us!

I'll defer to the Supreme Court regarding the legal status of their behaviors.  But of this I am convinced, their behaviors come from a view of God that is contrary to everything that Jesus gave His life for.  They are anti-christs.