How Would Jesus Handle It?

"A North Carolina pastor plans to host a Halloween event at his church to burn heretical books. At the top of the list — the Bible. Pastor Marc Grizzard claims the King James version of the Bible is the only true word of God, and that all other versions are "satanic" and "perversions" of God's word. On Halloween night, Grizzard and the 14 members of the Amazing Grace Baptist Church will set fire to other versions of the scripture, as well as music and books by Christian authors. "We are burning books that we believe to be Satanic," Grizzard said. The list will include books written by "a lot of different authors who we consider heretics, such as Billy Graham, Rick Warren… the list goes on and on,” Pastor Grizzard said. Also on the pastor's list of heretical authors — Mother Teresa…" ("Pastor To Host Halloween Bible-Burning Event," foxnews.com, 10-22-09).

The purpose of this article is not to debate the pros and cons of various versions of the Bible. I'm not here to promote or criticize certain religious authors. I'm more concerned about the message this kind of thing sends about "Christianity" in general. I realize that faithful disciples of Jesus will never totally fit in to their surrounding culture, but can't some care be taken not to give any unnecessary ammunition to critics?

Pastor Grizzard and the members of Amazing Grace Baptist Church are certainly free to express their convictions on these matters in the particular way they have chosen. That is a privilege, at least for the time being, that we still have in this country. I doubt that anything I or anyone else could say would sway them from their course of action. But if given the opportunity, I would encourage them to think carefully about the kind of attention they are attracting. Is this how Jesus Christ would handle it?

By the way, the article does say that "…the book-burning is being promoted as
a social event with a barbecue dinner." And God must shed a tear…

God loves you!
Mike