The word on the street...

On Friday 19th March an email started falling into the in-boxes of Christians. I received the message from at least three different sources (and forwarded it on to a few friends myself). The news being circulated was of an American street preacher arrested in Glasgow. The charge was of stirring up homophobic hatred. The exact context isn’t clear (at least to me), one source said the preacher was preaching on Romans 1, another that he quoted it in response to a question. Whatever the exact scenario - he was given a night in the cells before being brought before the Sherriff Court. Despite advice from one Christian legal organization to plead ‘innocent’, it seems that he was advised by the court lawyer to plead guilty. He also felt the additional pressure of a possible eight week delay were he to contest the charge when he had travel arrangements in place for his return home (this is all just what I’ve pieced together from website comments on the incident: http://luketentwo.com/2010/03/19/out-of-jail/#comments).

So he plead guilty to stirring up homophobic hatred, took a £1000 fine (paid for by supporters) and headed back to the USA. As the exact details of the incident are still unclear, and bearing in mind the real sense of intimidation that arrest & imprisonment must have presented, plus the legal advice given to him by the 'court', we ought not to be quick to judge him. Few of us comfortable UK Christians have had to face such circumstances and hindsight is a wonderful thing! Unfortunately many of the above website comments swing from lionizing him to depicting him as some latter day Judas – neither of which seems appropriate.

However, it’s hard to get away from the sense that this is a sorry situation – one that leaves us with the worst of all worlds. A Christian preacher is lifted in a Glasgow street and subsequently admits to homophobic hate crime – leaving a worrying precedent (pragmatically if not legally) for the police and opponents of the Gospel to be emboldened by. At the very least Christian evangelists and open air workers will have to be very wary of ‘being set up’ for similar treatment.

All of which brings me to my main though on this – the need for us to be very wise in how we speak about and respond to such ‘hot button’ issues. As I said I’m not clear exactly on how the exchange of views came about in the above incident – e.g. was the preacher provoked or just provocative? So what I say is not to prejudge that incident.

But there can be a tendency to think that when it comes to Biblical teaching the blunter we can be the better – so we should just give it straight with no regard to context. After-all, the thinking goes, truth is truth and woe betide me if I in anyway ‘soften it’ or avoid presenting it with full force. So if someone asks me about adultery, my response should be to denounce it with the full force of an Old Testament prophet – I will have discharged the truth and the rest is in God’s hands.

But is that the model of Jesus, for example? Jesus, of course, spoke some pretty blunt words at times (although mainly to religious opponents rather than irreligious ones) – but He was wary of falling into traps. On one occasion he was ‘set-up’ with a question about paying taxes to the Romans – a sneaky ruse to entice Him to fall foul of the authorities (Mk 12:13ff). But He was smarter than to take such bait, instead He answered with careful nuance & balance - thus avoiding a quick answer that would play into His opponents hands. On another occasion he was asked a question about His authority in an attempt to bring charges against Him. Jesus avoided answering with a question of His own, putting the focus on their inconsistency, rather than compromising His ability to continue His ministry at that point (Mk 11:27ff).

The point is that Jesus didn’t ‘dance to the tune’ of those trying to bring Him down – He knew when a quick or unqualified answer, however truthful, was not one to give. So when we are asked about our views on ‘hot button’ issues we need to think: Why am I being asked this, what is the agenda here, how helpful will a blunt answer be? Gospel communication is not just about disseminating a set of facts – it also involves persuasion, applying truth sensitively and recognizing the context (agenda) of your hearers. Because in facing the ‘wolves’ we are to be ‘shrewd as snakes' as well 'as innocent as doves’ (Mt 10:16).