On Monday, August 17, 2015, I received an email from a very close friend. He is a street evangelist. He wrote, on behalf of himself and his pastor, to express their concern regarding recent Facebook posts and videos in which I and other Christians referred to those escorting women into abortion clinics as “American Jihadists,” and assigning some of them names such as “Jihadi John,” “Jihadi Jane,” and “Jihadi Sean.”
What follows is the email my friend sent me, which is addressed to me and a mutual friend. I have removed names of persons, churches, and ministries to protect the anonymity of my friend, his pastor, and his church. I have also replaced some initials with full words for those who may not speak the language of open-air preachers. Beyond that, the email appears here unedited.
I have chosen to reprint the email and respond to it in this blog post because my friend asks good questions–good questions other Christians might have.
Here is the email:
Precious brothers:
I want this to be a loving call to examine our ways and seek your guidance to me back. And, for you both to know that I love you dearly and consider you both to be my mentors to whom I am indebted forever for the kindness and patience you’ve both afforded me over the years.
Last night [my pastor] and I had a great discussion around the [my evangelism ministry and our church], discussing our need to be above reproach and reminded ourselves what it is to be an ambassador.
Within our discussion, [my pastor] exhorted me to consider how I portray the OA ministry on social media and mentioned something that was very troubling to him. That is, my sharing of a meme that compared the clinic escorts with ISIS and also the shared video’s that were coming out that directly resorted to (what could be perceived as) name calling of these image bearers of Christ as such. He didn’t (nor do I) think that the comparison or analogy doesn’t indeed hold some truth, however within the context of what you all personally witnessed vs what we the church at large interpret, it comes across as unloving, uncaring and “appears” to be resorting to name calling rather than persuading men to repent and in love compelling them to come to Christ. 1 Corinthians 5:11ff; Therefore knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others…
Yes, even those who are accomplices to murder such as these escorts need to see and feel us preachers as genuinely concerned for their souls. For they could be unregenerate elect whom we need to persuade.
We also are working hard to convince other churches here in our area of the validity of [open-air preaching] which is (as you both know) very hard to do if they’ve been duped into believing or have chosen not to endorse such ministries as ours because of their preconceived notions of what “street preachers” do! And, because of this we see this perceived “name calling”(even though it may not be that, for we know your hearts are in the right place, that is: wanting to honor God) as a catalyst to affirming their (Pastors and Elders of doctrinally sound churches) notions and therefore being counter productive in being able to convince them by scripture of the validity of [open-air] ministry in our day and age.
We will be trying very hard to be different than many of the “street preachers” we see on YouTube, Facebook, etc. and so want you men to be leaders of/with us.
We love you dearly, and simply think that we all need a reminder to take a step out of our [open-air preaching] bubble for a moment now and then, and take a look from the “10,000 ft level” to see how we are really doing in light of our calling.
I really look forward to further discussion about this as I do struggle with “walking the line” in the heat of the battle, and do take my pastor’s words with utmost seriousness.
I hope you receive this in love, my brothers and that this will bear much fruit as we trod the narrow road together.
In Christ…..
I assured my friend that his email was received in the spirit it was written–a spirit of genuine brotherly love and legitimate concern.
The Bible says much about speech–the way a Christian should conduct himself when speaking. Here are some examples:
“Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you” (Proverbs 4:24).
“A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech” (Proverbs 6:12).
“The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate” (Proverbs 8:13).
“The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness” (Proverbs 16:21).
“The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious and adds persuasiveness to his lips” (Proverbs 16:23).
“A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire” (Proverbs 16:27).
“He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend” (Proverbs 22:11).
“But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth” (Colossians 3:8).
“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Colossians 4:6).
“Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).
“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29).
“And sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us” (Titus 2:8).
“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger” (James 1:19).
As a Christian, I am commanded by God, through His Word, to speak judiciously, graciously, lovingly, and with purity. My speech should also edify others, according to the needs of the moment.
As a Christian, I am commanded to flee from all sin, including sins involving my speech. After all, Jesus said, “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).
However, what I just cited was only the second half of Matthew 12:34. Before explaining that our words reveal the condition of our heart, Jesus said:
“You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
A little more context will be helpful.
Matthew 12 begins with the Pharisees challenging Jesus because His disciples had the audacity to pluck grains of wheat on the Sabbath and eat them (Matthew 12:1-8). Jesus answered by explaining that He is the Lord of the Sabbath. He then twisted the Pharisees’ legalistic minds and wicked hearts in knots by healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. As a result, the Pharisees began to devise a plot to kill Him (Matthew 12:9-14).
Aware of what the Pharisees were planning, Jesus withdrew from the synagogue. Jesus healed every sick, injured, and handicapped person who followed Him (Matthew 12:15-21). The Pharisees got wind of what Jesus was doing and accused Him of being empowered by Satan, thus blaspheming the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:22-32).
This brings us to the passage that contains the before-mentioned verse:
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Matthew 12:33-37, emphasis added).
Jesus called the Pharisees a name, an unflattering name, a rather judgmental name. And he did so without sinning, for Jesus was not a sinner (2 Corinthians 5:21). Here are some other examples of what we could reasonably refer to as “name calling”:
John the Baptist: “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come’ (Matthew 3:7, emphasis added)?
Stephen: “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you” (Acts 7:51, emphasis added).
Paul: “But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, ‘You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord'” (Acts 13:9-10, emphasis added)?
Jesus: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness” (Matthew 23:27, emphasis added).
We know that Jesus never sinned with his mouth. His speech was always pure. What about John the Baptist, Stephen, and Paul? While all three were fallible men, did any of the three sin in their speech, in the above-passages? I say, no.
It is also worth noting that when Paul dressed down Elymas the magician (Acts 13:9-10), Scripture tells us that Paul was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” Paul clearly engaged in name-calling while filled with the Holy Spirit.
I believe there are times when name-calling is appropriate. I believe Scripture supports it, under certain circumstances.
It’s important to note, here, that there are undisciplined, unscrupulous, unqualified, and likely unsaved men on the streets today who, under the auspices of serving Christ as open-air preachers, have made name-calling a sport. If they see a woman dressed inappropriately, they will not say:
“Young lady, you shouldn’t dress inappropriately. Your clothing should be a frame for your face, and not a means of drawing the attention of men to your body, causing them to stumble and lust.”
Rather, they will say:
“Whore!”
If they see a man who appears to be effeminate, they will shout:
“Hey, homo!”
There are other examples, but you get the picture. Such unrighteous men judge by appearances. They do not judge with right judgment (John 7:24).
So, if it is not obvious already, what is the difference between judging by appearances and judging with right judgment? In each Scripture reference above, Jesus, John the Baptist, Stephen, and Paul used descriptive terms to righteously call out the visible sinful behavior, past or present, of those being addressed. “Brood of vipers;” “stiff-necked people;” “hypocrites;” “white-washed tombs.” They did not judge by appearances. Their name-calling was not an attack on a person’s character with no evidence to support the belief that the person was engaged in the sinful behavior referenced.
If someone lies to me and I call them a liar, I am not attacking the person’s character without cause. I am not judging by appearances. I am describing the person in a way that is consistent with their behavior.
If a person picks my pocket and runs away, I am going to yell, “Stop, thief!” I am not going to yell, “Stop, you image bearer of God!”
If while I’m preaching in the open-air someone takes God’s name in vain while they heckle me, I’m going to say, “You are a blasphemer, and you need to repent!”
If while I’m engaged in conversation with someone and they tell me that they don’t need God–that they are good without God; if they assert they are better than God, then I’m going to say, “You are proud and arrogant. God is opposed to the proud. There are no proud people like you in heaven.”
This brings us to my friend’s email–an email, interestingly enough, titled: “Deathscorts Referred to as ISIS.” I say this not to mock my friend. I love him very much. In the title of his email, my friend expressed concern about me calling abortuary escorts a name, while calling them names. My friend referred to the people as “deathscorts.” He called them a name. He didn’t refer to them as “escorts.” He did not refer to them as “volunteers.” He did not refer to them as “image bearers of Christ.” He called them “deathscorts.”
And he’s right!
In the email, in reference to me calling the “deathscorts” “American Jihadists,” my friend said, “[Neither my pastor nor I] think that the comparison or analogy doesn’t indeed hold some truth . . .”
Again, he’s right. It holds plenty of truth.
ISIS has not murdered as many children as the Lovejoy Surgicenter has over the decades it has been in operation.
ISIS has not dismembered as many children as Planned Parenthood has.
Those who stand guard outside Planned Parenthood or any other abortuary wearing orange (or other color) vests are functioning in the same capacity as a guard at a Nazi concentration camp. They are functioning in the same capacity as ISIS fighters guarding prisoners soon to be slaughtered. They are engaged in a jihad.
What is “jihad?”
According to Matt Slick of CARM:
Among most Westerners, the term “Jihad” (“struggle” in Arabic) often brings up images of Muslim terrorists killing people who disagree with them. Jihad is an emotionally charged word that is heralded by the Western news media in descriptions of Middle East activities. People need not wait long to hear the term used during nightly news and see the affects of present-day Islamic struggles in vivid pictures of destruction beamed to our televisions. But is this a fair assessment of the Muslim community as a whole?
Jihad has been interpreted by Muslims in different ways. The Muslim sect of the Kharijites has elevated Jihad to one of the Five Pillars of Islam–making it Six Pillars. This kind of belief is seen in the extremist Muslim groups we call terrorists. They use the concept of Jihad as a justification for killing anyone who isn’t a Muslim. However, most Muslims disagree with this extremist position of some Muslims and advocate peace. These Muslims view Jihad as a spiritual struggle against evil in a metaphorical sense.
For the most part, there is the Greater and Lesser Jihad. The Greater Jihad is the internal spiritual struggle of the Muslim toward submission to Allah. The Lesser Jihad is Holy War against non-Muslims based on principle of belief. It is this latter that has caused the most concern among Westerners.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “jihad” this way:
1: a holy war waged on behalf of Islam as a religious duty; also : a personal struggle in devotion to Islam especially involving spiritual discipline
2: a crusade for a principle or belief
Those involved in the abortion industry, from paid abortionist to volunteer escort, are most certainly engaged in a religious war. It is a war against their Creator. They offer children as human sacrifices on the altars of convenience, humanism, secularism, and atheism. Human sacrifices in the form of abortions are acts of worship–unholy, blasphemous worship. It is worship of the false god of Self. And those involved in this barbaric form of worship do so out of love for and worship to the creature, rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen (see Romans 1:18-25)!
America is engaged in a jihad against the Lord God Almighty. The victims, the targets of this war are unborn children. And the body count is now over 57 million.
57 million.
ISIS hasn’t come anywhere close to racking up this many confirmed kills.
My friend suggested that such language as calling escorts outside abortuaries “jihadists” might deter churches already nervous about open-air preaching and open-air preachers from getting involved. They might not want to endorse open-air preaching and/or train up their men to take to the streets. They may not want to associate with churches that endorse and participate in open-air preaching.
My friend suggested it might be helpful for me to take a step back and take a “10,000-foot view” of how such name-calling might be perceived.
My friend is a wise man. He is a godly man. And so is his pastor. Neither men are cowards. Let me repeat that. Neither men are cowards. Both men engage in open-air preaching. Both men are courageous, bold witnesses for Jesus Christ and His glorious gospel. I’ve been on the streets with both men. I’m honored and blessed every time I get to serve with them.
What I’m about to say does NOT apply to my friend or his pastor.
Here’s the problem I have with the “10,000-foot view” in this situation.
It’s really safe up there.
I live, as my friend does, in the world of the “ten-foot view.” I sometimes even find myself in the world of the “ten-inch view.” I minister not from an ivory tower. I minister not from a classroom. I minister not from a pulpit where pastors stand every Sunday with little fear of being physically assaulted by people in their churches (although my pastor had a close call last Sunday).
The air is crisp, clear and, for the most part, clean at 10,000 feet. Noise is minimal at such lofty heights. You can barely make out what’s happening on the ground below.
Sadly, many churches and churchmen in North America don’t even live at 10,000 feet. They spend most of their lives and ministries at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. Not only are they not in the fight at that altitude, but most weapons can’t even reach them. And they like it that way.
Then, they see a video or a meme about trench warfare. They hear and see things that make them uncomfortable, that make them wince, that even scare them. Instead of descending for a closer look, they climb higher. They reach for even safer heights so they won’t get dirty. Instead of diving to provide air support for the ground offensive, they simply circle overhead and complain about the marines and soldiers beneath them–beneath them in more ways than one.
With all due respect to my friend and his pastor (and both men are certainly worthy of not only my respect, but also my admiration), I am not concerned about individual Christians and/or churches being so offended or discomforted by something I say or do because they might use it as an excuse not to engage in a fight in which they don’t want to be engaged in the first place. In other words, I’m not going to stop doing what I’m doing to coddle the consciences or soothe the sensitivities of those who aren’t doing anything at all.
Now, this is not to say I am of the mindset that I can say whatever I want, how I want, whenever I want. Every command, warning, admonishment, and encouragement in the Bible regarding appropriate speech is true, applicable, and authoritative no matter what the circumstances might be. Fighting for the lives of unborn children and for the souls of all those bent on murdering them never gives me a license to sin, whether in thought, word, or deed.
War is hell. The spiritual and physical war outside of abortuaries is hell, metaphorically speaking. It is the most intense spiritual battle in which I have ever been engaged.
One recent morning, while standing outside the Lovejoy Surgicenter Abortuary (Portland, OR), with more than 20 brothers and sisters in Christ, I broke down.
I had just finished preaching a rather intense and long open-air sermon. My dear brother in Christ, Robert Gray, was up next. As we always try to do before a man steps up to preach in the open-air, I put my arm around Robert’s shoulder and began to pray for him.
Within moments, my prayer turned from one of intercession on behalf of Robert to one of repentance on my own behalf. I cried out to God, as I wept bitter tears, asking Him to forgive me for my anger. I told my Lord that I believed I had crossed the line between righteous indignation and sinful anger. I told God that I hated being at the abortuary–that I didn’t want to be there anymore. I pulled myself together enough to finish praying for Robert.
As soon as I walked away from Robert, I found myself bent over with my hands on my knees, heaving as I cried. Pastor Chuck came over and tried to console me with his prayers.
Then I got back into the fight. I couldn’t leave. Babies were being murdered there.
I did my best to speak the truth in love, without pulling any punches or leaving my jihadist hearers with any doubt that unless they repented and believed the gospel they were going to hell for their participation in the murder of unborn children. They are, after all, American Jihadists in need of the Savior.
I will close with this.
“Whoever plans to do evil
will be called a schemer.
The devising of folly is sin,
and the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.
If you faint in the day of adversity,
your strength is small.
Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
If you say, ‘Behold, we did not know this,’
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it,
and will he not repay man according to his work” (Proverbs 24:8-12).
The writer of this proverb begins this paragraph by calling the person who plans to do evil a “schemer.” He engages in name calling. He then describes the scoffer (a descriptive term) by another more negative name–“an abomination.”
Abortuary ministry is battle engagement in a war to “rescue those who are being taken away to death.” Those people are little children–the most defenseless people in the human race. It is also an effort to “hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter”–the parents knowingly and wantonly stumbling toward hell, slipping on the blood of their own children.
Abortuary ministry is a fight for the lives of unborn children and for the souls of those bent on murdering them. That fight requires many types of speech. It requires soft and tender words for those whom God has prepared to hear and receive His truth. At times, it also requires firm, serious, sharp, and even painful words for some of the hardest hearts on planet earth–the hearts of murderous parents, greedy abortionists, indifferent staff, and volunteers who escort women into abortuaries to murder their own children. Keep in mind these deathscorts, these low level American Jihadists, make these repeated death walks for a cup of coffee and a glazed doughnut.
A cup of coffee and a glazed doughnut.
I am very grateful to my friend and his pastor for loving me enough to contact me with their concerns. I am grateful to my Lord and Savior for brothers in Christ who are willing to say, “Tony, we think you’re wrong this time.” My friend and his pastor (also my friend) are wonderful examples of Christ-like brotherly love.
Oh. Rest assured, my friend and his pastor have seen this article before you.
I’ve opted to make my correspondence with my very close friend a blog article–not only to try to respond to him as thoughtfully and thoroughly as I can (my friend deserves that), but also as a response to those who might be silently critical from afar and may currently be doing nothing.
For those of you reading this who are uncomfortable with terms such as “coward,” “murderer,” “deathscort,” and “jihadist,” and have never stood outside an abortuary, I respectfully ask you to descend from 10,000 feet, out of the clouds, and bring flight American Evangelical 101 in for a landing.
Stand outside an abortuary, just a few feet away from screams never heard.
Listen as women come in, one after another, after another, boasting about how many children they’ve aborted. Listen as men and women say, “We already have two kids. We can’t afford another one.”
Watch as women go in the front door, acting like they are going to a party, and then are brought out the back door in a wheelchair.
Come and see the look on the mothers’ faces–looks as if their souls had been sucked out of their bodies, similarly to how the abortionist sucked their babies’ bodies in pieces out of their wombs.
Come and hear as people drive by shouting, “Pro-choice! Kill all the babies!”
Listen and try not to have these words ingrained in your memory, “I wonder what those babies taste like?”
Watch as the deathscorts, heartless and depraved American Jihadists, laugh at all of it.
They laugh. They smirk.
All for a cup of coffee and a doughnut.
When my friends and I call abortuary escorts “American Jihadists,” we are not judging by appearances. We are judging with right judgment.
Still uncomfortable? Still don’t like the term? Still think the language is too coarse?
Then how would you describe these people and what they do?
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