*I know this can be controversial and emotional, so please stick with me : )
**Warning: “mature” topics are discussed**
So we just completed our annual “Jedfest” here at Texas A&M. Every year an itinerant preacher by the name of “Brother Jed”, and his posse of usually two or three others, come and spend a week on our campus, practicing what they call “confrontational evangelism”. This essentially amounts to standing in a high-traffic area and yelling about how everyone is going to Hell. They are well known on campuses across the nation for their non-politically-correct stories, songs, and phrases. They’re you’re stereotypical “fire and brimstone” evangelical kind of people, saying everything from listening to rock and roll or “gangster rap”, to smoking, to “fornicating”, to “baby killing”, to being a feminist, is a sin… and because you are a sinner you are going to Hell.
“Brother Jed” preaching at TAMU
The same stuff happens every year. The Atheists make a party out of it, standing around him for hours laughing and egging him on. (To be perfectly fair, Jed and his colleagues play right along with it and say the radical stuff the Atheists like to hear). And then you have a handful of usually more liberal Christians who get upset about Jed’s teachings and hold signs that say “Jesus Loves You” and essentially justify sinfulness, in opposition to Jed’s constant condemnation of it. (Now I obviously agree that Jesus loves you, but often these people mean it in the sense that because He loves you, you don’t have to be overly concerned with your own sin… Which is nonsense.) And then of course we have the Evangelicals and Baptists who come out and say that Jed is twisting bible verses and doesn’t understand them. And then we have the Roman Catholics (Orthodox and Anglicans as well) who usually just walk by and roll their eyes thinking about how all of this mess is the direct result of Protestantism… (I usually go out there and pray a Rosary or Divine Mercy Chaplet- for both Jed’s people and those standing around…)
Jed and his organization, called The Campus Ministry USA, have a strange theology. Not only do they deny the existence of Original Sin (or Ancestral Sin, I suppose, if you’re Orthodox) but they claim that those who are not sinless will go to Hell, and that the truly righteous, like themselves, do not sin. I believe this is a version of “Arminianism”, a Protestant Dutch theology. This results in them making claims like “I’m as pure as the Virgin Mary was!” (Which really gets my blood boiling…. Don’t you be messin wit my momma…). And in general they are pretty staunch biblical literalists. Obviously this Christian sect is pretty dang far from the Truth of the Catholic Faith, firmly established on the Words of the Holy Scriptures, understood in light of the Early Church Fathers, and founded on 2000 years of constant and consistent teachings by Christ’s One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.
And then there is their method of evangelism. Sure Jesus could be confrontational at times, but I guarantee you he didn’t preach like these people do. All they really do is alienate current Christians and push non-Christians even further away from the faith.
One of Jed’s colleagues preaching to a hundred students or so last week.
So after all this why the HECK would I defend Bro. Jed and his team of so-called radical evangelists? As much as I disagree with his theology and as much as I dislike his methods of attempting to convert others- the man calls sin a sin and isn’t afraid to tell you… and he’s right to do so. Now I want to qualify this with two points. First- I don’t agree that everything they say is a sin, is in fact a sin. I don’t think listening to rap or rock and roll is a sin (although there is a point to be made: that what we listen to or watch affects how we think and act). But when it comes to most of their morality they’re right. It’s a sin to curse, be drunk, have pre-marital sex, masturbate, look at porn, worship idols, lie, etc. And considering that the average college student does a lot, if not all of these things (and often unashamedly), I have to give Jed some credit for calling them out on it. Second- I don’t agree with Jed telling people they are going to Hell. It’s one thing to say that someone else is a sinner, and indeed it is perfectly biblical (Matthew 18:15-22, 2 Timothy 2:24-25, Galatians 6:1), but it is another thing to play God and make a judgement about someone’s eternal fate. When we are told “Judge not, that you may not be judged”… it does not mean (contrary to common usage) that we can’t “judge” that someone else is sinning and tell them. It means that we can not play the role of ultimate judge, which is God’s alone. It is HE who has the right to determine our eternal fate- not Jed, and not you or me.
But when Jed says that we are sinners and that we need to stop, he’s right! Our participation is necessary for our salvation. Saying you are a Christian or “accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour” is not sufficient and should not be used as an excuse for persisting in sinfulness. You must turn from your sinful state and “go and sin no more”. But unlike Jed’s theology, which mandates your complete sinfulness right now, the catholic faith tells us that this is a process– a “Theosis”- that culminates when we are united with the Most Holy Trinity in Heaven. Our perfection is not completed until we are removed from the sinfulness of the world… But this doesn’t mean that we can get away with not trying. Even though we may fall, we must get up again and continue on that path whereby we attain not only the image but also the likeness of God. We must constantly “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”.
One more thing. Jed’s posse is well known for speaking out against “homos”… It seems like every other point they make is about how terrible gay people are. Now, Jed is wrong for condemning anyone to Hell… people who identify as gay included. But he IS right that homosexual acts are sins. This does not mean that anyone who has homosexual tendencies is any worse than the rest of us. Gay people are not any more inherently sinful than you or I. But it is a sin to act out on that tendency. It is worthwhile to recall what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about this matter: “The number of men and women who have deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible. This inclination, which is objectively disordered, constitutes for most of them a trial. They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided. These persons are called to fulfill God’s will in their lives and, if they are Christians, to unite to the sacrifice of the Lord’s Cross the difficulties they may encounter from their condition.” (CCC 2358). Obviously there is too much to be said about this for this current post (perhaps in another one down the road).
I say all of this after observing Jedfest for 3 years in a row, and after having conversations with them personally. If you can overlook the whole show of Jed’s preaching, and if you go up and talk to one of them 1-on-1, it becomes evident that these are not the radical freakos that they are made out to be. They really are kind people who have an interest in you and your own holiness. As much as it pains all of us to hear, I truly believe that their hearts are in the right place. Sure, their delivery is ineffective and unfortunate and their theology is an extreme example of Protestantism at its worst (not to mention that some of their rants can be misogynistic and crass), but they deserve respect and certainly don’t deserve the mockery and hate that the Atheists and liberal Christians often give them.
We Christians are quick to denounce Jed and his ministry. And perhaps we are right in doing so. But before we do, I suggest we better stop and look at ourselves first. How often do we go out among the masses and preach the actual Gospel? How often do we go and speak with boldness, like the Holy Scriptures command us to do? How often do we go and accept the mockery of the world for the sake of Christ? Perhaps we should be more bold in preaching the truth of the Gospel and more outgoing in our own faith before we condemn Jed for doing so with his.
Pray for me a sinner.
First Among Sinners. 