Preachers, other visitors on campus don’t deserve attention of students

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It’s that time of year again.

Spring is in the air, the grass is green, the birds are chirping and a message of “You’re going to hell” is gently floating in the breeze.

That’s right — the Soulwinners were back on campus last week.

As they do every time they visit Central Michigan University, Michael Venyah and his followers were telling students that they are going to hell for drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, being homosexuals, eating too much food and a whole long list of other things.

While many Christians would question whether certain things on the Soulwinners’ sin list really are sins, Venyah is adamant that he is not wrong about the things students are doing will damn them to hell.

So where does the gospel, the “good news,” fit into this? Venyah will mention that he is doing the work of Jesus Christ, and he will make a statement that we all need to turn to Christ and repent, but the majority of his message is focused on what we are doing wrong that condemns us.

That is not the message of the gospel. Jesus and his disciples did not go around pointing out people’s individual sins.

Instead, they simply taught that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and need to turn to God and accept Christ’s sacrifice in order to avoid eternity in hell.

Nowhere in the message of the gospel will you find condemning people for drinking, something that would be completely hypocritical since the Bible says Jesus himself drank.

So what does Venyah say about people who claim to be Christians?

He says they are not true Christians because they are still sinning. He claims on a brochure on his website that “you cannot be saved from sin while you are committing sin.”

And what about Venyah? He will tell you that he has not committed any sins.

That’s right, Venyah never does anything wrong, and he labels his judgment of CMU students as spreading the gospel.

The Soulwinners are a prime example of people who give religion a bad name.

While extreme, the general “holier than thou” attitude that is too often shown by Christians is a turn-off from Christianity for many people, and it is absolutely not what the gospel was intended to be.

The Soulwinners may claim to be a religious group, but their hypocritical judgment and mindset that they do not commit any sins is completely opposite what the Bible teaches.

What is the best method of dealing with the Soulwinners? Ignore them.

Talking to them, smoking cigarettes, blasting rap music and reading Harry Potter as forms of protesting only gives Venyah more ammunition and more energy to continue preaching.

So when they come back in the fall, do what I usually do: just walk by and continue with your day.