June 27, 2008
The Problem With Us Christians
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A few months ago, I started reading the blog of Zsuzsanna Anderson, the wife of a pastor of an Independent Baptist church in Arizona. As I’ve read her posts, I’ve agreed with a lot of her points, I’ve disagreed with some, and I’ve laughed at others.
I found her blog after researching the preacher (who turned out to be her husband) in this video to see if the video was a joke or not. The video is of a pastor telling his congregation that it is against Scripture for a man to pee while seated. I’m not making this up. Watch the video if you don’t believe me.
It turns out that it wasn’t a joke (at least not as far as I can tell), and the church is a real church (Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, AZ). The church’s web site had a link to Zsuzsanna’s blog, and I subscribed to it, mostly out of curiosity.
Zsuzsanna is an amazing person. She’s the mother of 4 children; she homeschools the ones old enough for school; she works hard to be thrifty; she supports a husband pastor who works a secular job through the week so he can be financially able to be the church’s pastor; and she still finds time to post all sorts of information that could be useful to her blog readers.
Most of the time when I disagree with her, it’s a matter of opinion: women shouldn’t be police officers; it’s wrong to send your children to any (public, private, or Christian) school because homeschooling is the only way Christian families should educate their children; male gynecologists are all perverts who chose their field to be able to take advantage of women; the 1611 King James Version of the Bible is the only real Bible. The list could go on, and it does. But it’s all opinion, and I’m happy to let her have her own.
Then today, I read the following on her blog (from this post):
…a derelict and his girlfriend stopped me in their big SUV outside church to ask if the church offered financial assistance to families, and cursed me out when I told them it only helped people who actually CAME to our church.
There! What’s wrong with Christians…it’s in that paragraph…did you see it? Christians today are so full of themselves that we’re not willing to help people who come to a church looking for help.
When we are approached by someone who knows we are Christians, we are given an amazing opportunity to practice obedience to Scripture. Matthew 25 talks about when Jesus returns, and how he will explain to the righteous ones that the little things they had done for “the least of these” had been done as if they were done to Him.
While there was obviously a physical need in this situation, it is likely that there was also a spiritual need. When we refuse to help meet a physical need, we ruin any future opportunity to meet a spiritual need. The people asking for help aren’t immediately concerned with (or may not be aware of) their spiritual needs; they’re focused on the immediate physical need, and anyone who helps meet the physical need has an opportunity to move on to the spiritual need.
Should we give money to any person asking for it? I don’t think so. Should we blindly overlook people living a lifestyle that obviously goes against Scripture? No. There must be some discernment, but turning people away because they are not part of your church is wrong.
It is the responsibility of the local church to help people in need. The needy people know this, but somehow we Christians can’t wrap our brains around the concept of helping people that don’t dress or act like we do. We get so wrapped up in stupid stuff that we fail to realize that meeting a physical need opens a door to meeting those spiritual needs.
It’s hard to speculate on what she should have done; she didn’t say what their specific need was. Maybe she turned them away without asking. Maybe they needed $20 for gas. Maybe they needed a meal or a shower. Maybe they were trying to keep their electricity from being turned off. Maybe they needed a Savior. Since they were blindly turned away because they weren’t church members, they didn’t get the help they needed.
I hope they found someone to help them, because even if they get the gas, food, shower, or money for the electricity, they’ll still need a Savior. And I hope they find Him, but I’m guessing they won’t find Him at Zsuzsanna’s church.
7 Comments on The Problem With Us Christians »
June 28, 2008
The spine doctor's wife @ 9:36 am:
My response to her blog.
Luke 18
Why do you hold non Christians to the same standards to which you hold Christians? They do not have the benefit of the Holy Spirit. There sin is no worse than ours, the difference is we are forgiven. You are missing beautiful opportunities to share Christ. This was most clear with the couple in the “big SUV”. You don’t know their situation fully because you did not dig deeper. You made a snap judgment that clearly cost you your testimony with them.
Many of us Christians have become the second coming of the Pharisee. Maybe God hasn’t judged this country yet, because we haven’t adequately shared what he has done for us forgiven sinners. Those that don’t know Him, aren’t seeing Him in us. How can they know the truth, if we only help those that actually come to our church. We have to get the message outside of the church. Jesus met sinners were they were at, not inside His church. Don’t let the devil tempt you into turning your God given righteousness into devil twisted arrogance. I will pray for you.
Greg @ 9:45 am:
Good Ron…
This is so true, not just here but I’ve seen it all over the world. If the physical is unkempt then the spiritual seems to turn off…
The other day Kryssy and I were at a defunct Christian Bookstore now turned Christian Music store.
I was telling the owner, after some conversation and banter about the business, that I was a missionary and what we do etc… his response was… well, we can not sponsor you… I was like, ok.. I didn’t even ask and it didn’t even cross my mind.
It just really caught me off guard.
As missionaries who live and do ministry through donor support, we live a lot with rejection or misunderstanding. It seems people’s posture toward giving has changed to an air of obligation.
We try desperately to tell people to pray about it, whether it is for us or someone else or aforementioned need above and ask God! And go do that!
July 13, 2008
Jane @ 5:52 pm:
I have recently become familiar with Mrs. Anderson’s blog through a link on another website. Some of her latest entries are an attack on a woman who underwent many IVF treatments and has a blog about it, something Mrs. Anderson is strongly against (IVF, not blogging). I was dismayed by her hateful attitude and words but won’t bother leaving a comment telling her so, as she deletes all comments that don’t agree with her. It gave me a very unsettled feeling.
Please pray for Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, and also for all the people who have been hurt by professing Christians. I grew up in a legalistic church and know the damage that can be done when we demand strict adherence to extra-Biblical rules. It truly is a shame that all this is happening.
October 3, 2008
Christine @ 12:11 am:
I agree with your post. Though I read her blog and appreciate much of what she writes I tend to get angry reading it. Not really because of her and her beliefs but the fact that she is not a welcoming person. Sometimes those who are in the process of perfecting faith in their lives need someone to mentor them through it rather then knock them down when they are seemingly already down trying to get up.
What disturbing is that she really does think she is perfect in every which way in her life and in her faith. Sorry to say but she is not as close as she things. There is much work for her to do and one is fixing the attitude towards others who are not active in their church. Those who run a church should have their doors open to everyone and help them by leading not treating them as if they will never be at their level.
To lead others to Christ you much open your arms, and doors, so that you can guide them in the direction of the Lord. I pray for that family frequently because I think they truly are doing a great thing but they need to open their very tunneled eyes and see what is around of them. They have such a wonderful chance to reach out to many who have yet been touched.
November 6, 2008
Karen @ 9:40 pm:
Zsuzsanna Anderson and her husband Paster Steven Anderson of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Arizona both sound like they are in the beginning stages of forming a cult. Give it another ten years and the FBI will be surrounding their compound.
You just “know” Zsuzsanna from her blog. That is only a glimpse of what she really thinks. Please do not put their names and Christianity in the same sentence. The two of them trash Scripture to smithereens.
Come on, the “preacher” has half of the New Testament memorized. That’s his “training.” Ask him how much studying he has done. Greek, and Hebrew translations, and I’m not talking about letting Google be your teacher. No schooling, no studying, nothing but memorizing. That is not what a preacher makes.
It is pure evil and a mockery to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior to twist and ruin God’s Word the way they do. And the way they disregard the teachings of Jesus is pathetic. No Christian in their right mind would admire either of them or listen to a word they say.
And as for homeschooling, that woman is an insult to parents who really do homeschool. Throwing a worksheet at your child and calling it a day does not make a homeschooler. I could go on with many examples, but I won’t. All I have left to say is that I feel very sorry for their children.
November 11, 2008
Kittycat @ 9:29 pm:
I came across Zsuzsanna’s blog and was actually traumatized by some of the things I read there! I am a Christian, but I don’t want to be placed in the same category with her.
It makes me sad in my heart to think of all the hatred and self-righteousness festering within her. It also saddens me that she uses the Bible more often to condemn than she does to lift up herself and others… Her children are beautiful. I hope that as they grow up, they can realize that what their parents believe is not normal and is in many ways inconsistent with the past 2000 years of Christianity.
November 13, 2008
Karen @ 7:50 pm:
I agree Kittycat with everything you said. Look what Pastor Anderson says here: http://www.fundamentalforums.com/showthread.php?t=3912
He says “I will worship my King James Bible till I die.
The Bible is God.” How offensive to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. How very sad and offensive to Him. Christians may disagree about certain tenets of Christianity, but all will agree that you do not worship a bible and the bible is not God.
Pastor Steven L. Anderson and his wife Zsuzsanna are leading their congregation straight to hell. Anderson’s sister closed down her blog because people were reporting her. She advocated blowing up a school. And the hatred that Zsuzsanna and her husband have for police officers runs deeper than that ditty she had on her blog about when she got a ticket. I pray that the state comes in and takes their children away. Harsh, yes, but that is what I pray for. The two of them were not fit to raise a dog nevermind children. My heart cries for those children.