Listen: Michigan Pastor Compares Being Gay To Being ‘An Ax Murderer’

A Michigan pastor and his church are under fire after comparing being gay to being an ax murderer.

A pastor at the First Baptist Church of Zeeland, Michigan came under fire after comparing being gay to waking up as an ax murderer. Clint Echols, the Evangelical Baptist church’s senior preacher on March 1 was preaching to his congregation to support an amendment to the church’s bylaws

Pastor Echols defiantly read anti-gay passages from the bible to his congregation and stated it was not hate speech. 

But it was his personal interpretation of the bible that caused an uproar.

“Sexuality is commonly seen in American culture to be an internal compass that a person discovers as he develops as a person today, OK?,” Pastor Nichols told his congregation. “So the movement that contradicts biblical sexuality has really changed its foundational thesis, and said, no, it’s an internal compass and a person can discover their sexuality at any moment. It may be at 10, it may be at 20, it may be after they’ve been married for 10 years and have two kids and then they say, ‘Oh, wait a second, I’m gay; I’m bisexual; I want to change my gender,’ these things. And that’s being true to themselves and being true their internal compass,” Pastor Clint Echols said about 41 minutes into the sermon. “And so, for instance, if on another, completely other playing field, if tomorrow I woke up because I’ve got this internal compass that’s telling me what truth is, tomorrow I wake up and say, ‘Oh, I think I’m an ax murderer,’ and now I’m an ax murderer, would you be happy with that? Would you agree? Would you want me to follow that internal compass?” [Bolding ours]

The pastor’s March 1 sermon, about 50 minutes in length, was focused solely on homosexuality.

WWLP reports that West Michigan native Daniel VanderLey was upset after hearing the sermon online. “Sunday morning, he posted outside the church 30 pictures of people he says are victims of gay discrimination and hate.”

“I’m here today to say to my friends inside this church please love because hate hurts,” VanderLey said.

He staged a protest outside the church, posting several dozen photos of people who are victims of anti-gay bias, discrimination, and hate violence.

The church issued a response, offering no apology, explaining the “First Baptist Church of Zeeland seeks to teach the unchanging truths of God’s word.”

“God declares in His Word that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. As sinners who have received forgiveness and new life through faith in Jesus Christ, we joyfully invite other sinners to experience God’s grace and cleansing.

“In regard to human sexuality, God’s word is clear. God, through His design and clear prescription in His holy Word, instituted marriage between one man and one woman as the foundation of family and the basic structure of human society. Sexual behavior outside of monogamous marriage is contrary to God’s design and is therefore sin (Genesis 2:24; Leviticus 18:22; Matthew 19:4-6; Mark 10:6-9; Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Corinthians 7:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8; Hebrews 13:4).”

The entire sermon is available on the church’s website. MLive.com posted this clip of the “ax murderer” portions to YouTube:

 

Image by Great Beyond via Flickr and a CC license