Do you know what is ironic? I will tell you. Many of my
critics are ripping me about the money I make as a pastor. (BTW: I am not a mega-church
pastor; I make a modest salary and collect a small pension without any
disability.) They are suggesting that the church probably took in more money
after the Sunday of my shocking sermon. They are suggesting that I profited
from that intake. The truth is we didn’t and I did not either.
But what is ironic is that on many of these blogs where these
harsh and hateful things are being said by many people about me and the money I
took in are advertisements and I mean everywhere.
When you look at my blog you are not bombarded with advertisements.
There aren’t any. I don’t make any money
from my blog. That is not the purpose of the blog.
But that obviously is the purpose of a blog that has
advertisements on the left and right sides and on the top of the blog.
“Joe. My God.” is one of these bloggers that busted this
story wide open by taking me out of context and then telling the world about
this pastor who said “beat the gay out of children” (which I never said).
What he needs to make money on his blog is hits or views.
And the way you get views is to have a sensational story. The more sensational
the story is the more views one receives.
The more views a blogger has on his website the more money he can potentially
make.
But there is no cry from anyone about the profiteering from
the destruction of a man’s reputation and character. There is no outcry from
the masses or media about the profiteering from the slander and malice intend
by those in the LGBT community. I can’t
tell you the number of stories I have seen where words that I never said
appeared in quotation marks.
I have been writing authors and asking them to make
corrections to the online stories that contain “beat” a word I never said or “gay
children” or “gay youth” words I never said.
Where is the journalistic integrity among Christians?
Here is an email I sent last night:
Rev. and Brother XXXX,
You wrote: “Pastor” Sean Harrispreached told to his congregation that they should beat the gay out
of their children.
That is a lie and
slanderous statement. I did not use the word "gay" I did not use the
word "beat."
Please issue a
correction. You are free to disagree with me
concerning effeminate behavior in children, but you do not have the
editorial freedom to say what I did not say.
You are free to say
Pastor Sean should NOT have said" crack or punch" but you are not
free to say what I did not say.
Moreover, I have
already said, I did not use the right words--please forgive me.
I trust you, as a
brother in Christ, saved the blood of the Lord Jesus, will help me salvage my
reputation in the Spirit of the grace of God by those who have said what I did
not say.
I did not say: "I
was joking." The Fayetteville Observer, the local paper, said that I said
that. I sent a letter to the paper immediately after that first headline but by
then it was already picked up by men, like yourself, and went viral.
What is amazing about
all this is that even if I would have corrected my mistake during the sermon,
say 2 seconds after I spoke, that would not have been included in the clip
on YouTube. So in this media crazy world one must be perfect in
speaking.
Did you hear me
instruct the church about being kind and not homophobic (48 minutes into the
sermon)--did you include those words in your article? You are a brother in
Christ. You are a co-laborer in the gospel of Jesus Christ. You are a
"Paul" and perhaps I am a "Peter" that needs to be
confronted to my face.
Did you call the
church and ask for an interview to get the true story out for all to hear?
The difference between
me and Dan Savage is I love God. I am a brother in Christ. I love Jesus. I love
the gospel. Jesus forgave Peter for denying Him three times--will you forgive
me?
Have you, like the
world, determined that I must not be saved? Therefore you think I have no
obligation to follow Paul's instructions: "So then, as we have
opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the
household of faith." (Gal 6.10).
Are you now willing to
be unpopular and do a follow up story about the way all this has been
orchestrated to destroy me?
Will you write back?
Will you call me and have a civil conversation?
My dear brother all I
am asking is that you will love me as you love yourself (Mt. 22:39).
Pastor Sean End.
How many of you
reading this blog think the man will issue a retraction or do a follow up
story?
The real question he should ask is: What if this happened to me by an
activist blogger—would I want the same treatment I gave Pastor Sean? Is that not the true
sense and application of what Jesus said in Matthew 22:39?
I should not be surprised when the Gay Voices of the Huffington
Post seeks to destroy an evangelical conservative Baptist preacher—they want
our voices silenced.
But what surprises me is when an American Baptist in NY
seeks to do the same thing—where is the grace?
