I have watched in awe over the past few days as evangelical Christians lined up to crucify one of their own. Steven Furtick, the pastor of Elevation, a US megachurch with over 25,000 members, has been widely criticized for a Facebook post that caused believers worldwide to pile on in a feeding frenzy of righteous indignation.

Furtick delivered a sermon recently from Luke 5:1–11 about Jesus’ calling of Simon Peter as a disciple. The sermon was the basis for a Facebook post that was later deleted… but not before an angry crowd gathered and began baying for blood.

While the original post is gone, screenshots were taken and began circulating widely so that other Christians might be able to participate in the widespread disapproval of Furtick.

Before I go on, here is the offending post:

Now, if you’re like me, then you might be thinking, “What’s so offensive about that post?” Good question. I actually think that Furtick had communicated and profound and wonderful TRUTH — I’ll explain why further on in this article.

However, to the average conservative Christian, for Furtick to suggest that following Jesus doesn’t change you into something else is a theological faux pas of the highest order. The fallout was swift and brutal. Here’s a choice selection of a few of the thousands of Facebook comments on Furtick’s original post:

These are just a sample. There are literally hundreds of comments just like these, widely condemning both Furtick’s choice of words and Furtick as a human being. The way that these people who Jesus has supposedly changed have reacted to someone else insinuating that Jesus doesn’t change people, only serves to demonstrate that Furtick might actually be on to something.

What the response to Furtick’s post teaches us about Christianity

Each of the angry reactions to Furtick’s post reveals something about conservative evangelical Christianity beyond the comment itself. Here are a few observations that I make from the responses of many so-called loving Christians:

Words matter most

The Bible says that through Jesus, the Word became flesh. But I reckon that through Christians, it all became just words again. If you want to upset a Christian, use the wrong words.

As a preacher, I made the mistake of using the wrong words — actually, it was just one single word that caused outrage. As I wrapped up a church service one Sunday morning, I gave a blessing from Numbers 6:24–26, but let’s just say I put my own spin on it. Here is what I said:

“The Lord bless you
and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you
and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn her face toward you
and give you peace.”

There was an audible gasp. A few people winced as if they had been pinched by an invisible lobster hiding in their pew. And a few others raised their bowed heads, exposing the wrinkles in their furrowed brows. Without using any words, their faces all screamed the same thing:

“Excuse me? Did you just say “Her?” Did you just refer to our loving heavenly father as something other than a benevolent older male? How dare you!”

Now, people paraphrase scripture all the time. Most preachers do it every week from the pulpit. But, I had no idea that people would be so offended by the suggestion that God may also consist of a complimentary feminine side. I mean, if God is spirit, does he even have a penis? I only changed one tiny word, and — in the grand scheme of things — did it reduce the greatness of God? I don’t think so. If anything, it probably added to it, in my opinion.

But I should have known better.

I learned that day that Christians, more than any other group of people I know, get hung up about words. For using the wrong words, Owen Strachan, Professor of Theology at Grace Bible Theological Seminary, would say of Furtick, “Do not come within 50 country miles of this man’s false teaching. Furtick is a wolf. STEER CLEAR.”

Personally, I’m more likely to steer clear of Christians who spout such anger and vitriol about other Christians on their social media pages while representing a Seminary called “Grace.” Appreciate the irony of that.

Quotes are taken out of context

My old theology professor said that if you take a text out of context, all you are left with is a con. Furtick’s Facebook post was one line plucked from a 40-minute sermon. Did everyone who made an angry comment listen to the entire 40-minute sermon?

Of course not.

They just piled on.

For the record, Furtick’s deleted post apparently references a section of his sermon where he talked bout the moment where Jesus told Peter to cast his net into the water.

Furtick said: “And then He turns to Simon, who will later be named Peter. But he’s already Peter. But he’s still Simon. And the process of discipleship is not God changing you into something else. It’s Him revealing who you’ve been all along.”

Then, talking to his congregation, Furtick said, “Jesus sees Peter in every Simon.” Jesus changes people, Furtick said.

“The Lord gave me a message today to preach to somebody who feels stuck where you started. Stuck, where you started — stuck in ‘Simon.’… ‘I’m a sinful man’ — you are, but He died for you. So that’s what you were. Now you’re a saint — a holy saint. You’ve still got some patterns — that’s called the flesh. ‘Simon’ never leaves — you just have to tell him where to sit.”

Does it sound like Furtick was saying Jesus doesn’t change lives? Hardly. But then, taking verses out of context is one of the favorite pastimes of many a Christian.

Outrage is misplaced

I remember attending a conference where renowned preacher Tony Campolo encouraged Christians to participate in child sponsorship to help those in less fortunate nations.

In front of a room full of conservative evangelicals, he started his presentation by saying this: “I think the fact that there are starving children in the world today is really shit.”

There was an audible gasp.

Then, Campolo went on: “And you know what’s even more shit than that? The fact that there are Christians here today who care more about the fact that I used the word “shit,” than they do about the fact that there are starving children in the world.”

Many in the room were humble enough to receive Campolo’s rebuke. But, there was still a large group who were outraged that Campolo had sworn from the pulpit. It just goes to show, sometimes Christians get outraged about the stupidest stuff.

Injustice and inequality seem to bother some Christians much less than the version of the Bible their preacher uses on a Sunday. Many Christians are less troubled by poverty than they are about the words a pastor uses. Their outrage is misplaced.

Lynch mobs are assembled

Christians talk a big game about being the “family of God,” but when the rubber hits the road, they would undoubtedly be prepared to toss someone out of their “family” if that someone happened to merely use the wrong words.

I am convinced that the worst possible place to make any kind of public mistake is the church. Why? Because, belonging and acceptance in the church is dependent on your ability to behave in certain ways and say the right words — in public anyway. In private, most Christians sin just as much as the rest of us.

To be fair, acceptance based on behavior is probably a standard that exists in most organizations. Still, it is more pronounced and dangerous in the church because people assume that “God is on their side,” and not the side of the other supposedly sinful person. When you add the authority of God into the mix, it takes things to a whole other level.

Let’s just remember that supposedly righteous and godly people crucified Jesus. Jesus was much-loved by the masses, and it was the religious folk who rounded up the lynch mob that sealed Jesus’s fate.

Judgment is administered

I imagine if this angry mob hauled Steven Furtick before Jesus, Jesus would say, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.” Then hopefully, this angry mob would slink away. As it is, the angry mob didn’t drag Steven Furtick before Jesus.

The mob made its own judgment without the help of Jesus: Furtick is wicked, evil, a false teacher, a blasphemer. CRUCIFY HIM!!

The mob decided that their all-powerful God needed to be defended by the likes of people like them. They are defenders of the truth — their truth at least. The rest of the world looks on at their anger with mild bemusement.