Bible Reading, Gay T-Shirts & Jesus’ Message

What does a Calvary Chapel Pastor in California have in common with a gay teenager in Ohio? If your first guess was, “I can’t think of anything that they would have in common,” no one would probably blame you for giving that answer. You see, both the California Pastor, Mark Mackey, of Hemet and Maverick Couch, a gay high school student in Ohio, were persecuted — and in the case of Mackey, prosecuted — for sharing a message about Jesus. Looking at it through our own biases and our own beliefs about who Jesus is, we might be tempted to support the Pastor in the one case and be indifferent to the plight of the gay student in the other case, or vice versa. However, if we want to stand for truly conservative principles which protects free speech — even that speech which we might personally disagree with or find offennsive or annoying — then I think we must have sympathy for both Mackey and Couch.

Both appear to be the victims of overzealous authorities using strained arguments to trample their First Amendment rights. Douglas Neidermeyer would be proud.  Mackey was arrested for reading the Bible in public near a DMV office in Hemet, California. The arresting officer is seen on video telling Mackey that he could not preach or read his Bible because he was violating the doctrine of a “captive audience.” A simple definition of this doctrine says:

Captive-audience doctrine refers to a legal principle prohibiting a person from making intrusive speech. . . . However, the captive-audience doctrine does not apply when the unwilling audience is located on a public street or sidewalk because they can avoid the unwanted message simply by walking away or averting their eyes.

It should go without saying that the crowd waiting to get into the DMV office that morning should have accepted whatever spiritual help they could have gotten for the excruciatingly painful journey that lie ahead. But, were they truly a “captive audience?” To say they were would be to give a fairly broad and expansive reading to that doctrine. However, it should be pointed out that folks who are at the DMV, even on the best of days, don’t really want to be there. I can think of 100 better ways to spend my time than hanging out at the DMV. But, once you are there, you really have no choice but to stay until your business is finished.

If people did not want to hear Pastor Mackey reading his Bible, could they simply walk away? I suppose they could, but this situation is different than a passer-by on the street who truly has a choice as to whether to stop and listen or just keep walking. I don’t know whether or not Mackey, and fellow Pastor Brett Coronado, believed that they did have a “captive audience” at the DMV that day. Regardless, I’m not sure that the particular passages of Scripture Mackey read fulfilled the stated purpose of why these Calvary Chapel pastors were at the DMV that day. According to Coronado,  the reason for the church’s public evangelism, including the public Bible reading, is “all for the purpose of spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” (see video here)

To start your Bible reading from Romans 1:18, which speaks of God’s wrath toward sinners, seems to be a curious choice to use to “spread the Gospel” to a bunch of strangers who you have no intention of personally relating to. But, hey, maybe that’s just me. Don’t misunderstand. I fully believe in God’s wrath and coming judgment. There is a real place called hell where those who reject Christ will spend eternity. But, that’s not central message of the Gospel or of Scripture. The Bible’s message is one of love and redemption for people trapped in sin.

The Gospel, which literally means “Good News,” is the message that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, died on the cross for sinners and rose victoriously the third day, conquering sin, Satan, and death! It is a message of hope and forgiveness and grace and mercy and, most of all, love. It is John 3:16-17 (and Romans 5:8 and Romans 6:23 and Romans 10:9-10 and Ephesians 2:8-9 and so many other verses) which proclaims God’s love for sinners:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”

And it is God’s love for sinners which brings us to the message of the gay Ohio teenager, who wore a shirt proudly proclaiming, “Jesus is not a Homophobe.” For wearing his T-Shirt:

Maverick Couch, a junior at Waynesville High School, claims in the suit, which  was filed by Lambda Legal, that school officials told him the T-shirt was  “indecent and sexual in nature”. (full article here)

Truth is a defense. Did Jesus have an irrational fear of gay people? Not anymore so than tax collectors, adulterers, gossips, liars, thieves, religious hypocrites, or any number of sinners in His day. Which is to say that Jesus was not afraid of sinners, no matter what their sin. In fact, Jesus hung out with sinners. Why?  Because He loved them. He loved them enough to leave His home in heaven so that He could ultimately die on the cross for sinners like Mackey and Couch and you and me.

Conservative Christians might be tempted to side with the school principal in Maverick’s case because they don’t like the message emblazoned on his T-Shirt. Maybe it’s because we view homosexual sin as somehow different than the sin we commit.  Maybe this T-Shirt — deemed to be “indecent” and “sexual in nature” — would have been better if, along with the fish symbol, simply read, “Jesus Loves Homosexuals.” Still too offensive? How about, “Jesus Loves Sinners.” That one would be better. Perhaps we could get even more personal, “Jesus Loves Sinners Like Me.” Now, I have stopped preaching and gone to meddling. However, that one makes us even more uncomfortable than seeing a kid wear a “pro-gay” T-Shirt. We don’t like the last one because it causes us to look at our own sin first before we start pointing out the sin in others. After all, isn’t that Biblical?

What is the message of Jesus? That, regardless of our sin, Jesus came to die on the cross to take the penalty for our sin. That He was crucified, dead and buried, but He arose the third day, ascended into heaven, and one day will come again! That is the message of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. That is the message of Jesus that needs to be proclaimed. That is truly good news for sinners.

Perhaps the next time that preachers read the truth of God’s Word to an audience at the local DMV or at a Sunrise Service on Easter morning, they will remember this wonderful news:

“but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.” (Romans 5:8-9)

God’s wrath is real. But, His LOVE was demonstrated on the Cross to sinners like us. Maybe we should proclaim God’s love to audiences who are truly captive before we shout God’s wrath. In the end, only the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ and His love for sinners will be able to set any captive free. That’ll preach!