Chamblee54

Last friday night, The Justice House of Prayer went to Castro Street in San Francisco. They do this on a lot of friday nights. They will sing and play guitar, and sometimes they will preach. They are Jesus worshipers
Last friday night was not an ordinary friday night. Ten days earlier, the voters of California voted to pass Proposition 8, which bans same sex marriage. The people on Castro Street were angry. The message of JHOP was seen as a provocation. A mob developed, and the police had to escort the JHOP to their vehicles
There is plenty of blame to go around for this ugly incident. The video shows the police leading some people away from an angry mob. It makes the mob look ugly, and indeed there seems to be excessive reaction here.
But what about the JHOP? They knew what they were getting into. Were they looking to create Goodwill for Jesus, or were they looking to pick a fight? Why couldn’t they just take a couple of weeks off until the passions over Prop 8 cool off?
What does this say about Jesus?
Anyone can read from the bible. Anyone can talk about Jesus. There needs to be trust for the person listening to the message to believe what the preachers are saying. JHOP seems to have forgotten this essential first step. They seem to be looking for a confrontation.
Jesus worship is often seen…with a lot of justification… as preaching hatred against gay people. Many of the Castro residents have struggled with Jesus worship, and come to the painful decision that they simply don’t agree with it. Others agree with Jesus worship, but want to live the way G-d made them.
There are all sorts of ways to take this message, and many of them cause pain for the people being preached to. For a group of people to come into someones home and preach a painful religious message…without gaining the trust of these people…it just isn’t right. It does not speak well for Jesus.
When you preach to people without their trust, you speak in vain. When you do so out of lust for confrontation, you speak in vain. When your preaching causes pain to people , you speak in vain.
The third commandment speaks to this…”exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy G-d in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”