As a Christian, I am sorry

Okay, first check out the article about Westboro Baptist Church (dated 1/16/08) at this link and then read what I have to say below.

If you have ever been judged, ostrasized, burdened, hated, or turned away by the church, or if you've decided to walk away from the church because you've been burned by apparent hypocrisy, I am sorry. I am sorry that we as a church have failed to live out the very message of grace and mercy that Jesus came to teach us all.

I do not agree with, nor do I support the actions of Westboro Baptist Church. It seems that they have taken upon themselves to "take revenge" in the name of God. But we learn in Scripture that this revenge is not our right, but God's only. Here's what the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 12:18-20 (in the New Testament):

"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

According to these verses, we are not supposed to take revenge on others, even if it's supposedly "in the name of God". Instead, we are supposed to act with mercy and help those who are in need. God can handle His own, and one day every single one of us will have to give Him an answer for the things we have done in this life. Now, I know you read the last line which states, "In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head," and you're probably thinking that we're still taking some sort of revenge because we're throwing burning coals on people's heads. That's not what the sentence means at all. Rather, it means that when we treat others nicely instead of judging them and kicking them to the curb, it will be difficult, maybe even painful for the person on the other end to accept such kindness.

Many times it is a pride issue when someone else does something kind for us, such as buy our groceries, give a loan and not expect us to pay them back, free clothing, etc. It's difficult for us to receive free gifts because we feel like we have to pay for it in some way. We don't want "handouts". It is this pain of wrestling with our pride which is like burning coals on our heads. It is not malicious, it's just difficult for us to accept someone else's kindness.

So, if you have been burned by the church in some way at some point in your life, I apologize on behalf of Christians across the world for the stupid, hateful, ignorant, ridiculous, wrong things we have done "in the name of Jesus". We are human, we do make mistakes, and we ask for your forgiveness.