May 16, 2007 10:44 AM
Jerry Falwell - A former radical says farewell
. . . . . Zach called me yesterday from Liberty University to tell me that Jerry Falwell had moved on to be with the Lord he served so faithfully for so long.
When I first heard of Jerry Falwell I was a radical leftist. Naturally, I had only contempt and scorn for an outspoken - and in my mind, extremely hokey - Christian and his efforts to galvanize the evangelical community to have some effect on the political direction of the country.
How dare he?
I wish I could have told Jerry myself how different he appeared to me once I'd accepted the love of Christ for myself and was thus enabled to extend it to others. I think he would have chuckled to think how limitless is God's love that even when people spit in the faces of those He holds dear - even when they spit directly in God's face - He loves them still.
I've shared many times that mine was a sudden, unexpected and radical conversion in which I was changed in an instant from a sour and cynical leftist/feminist/hate-America type person to a woman filled with a sense of love and purpose and freedom. It was like Saul/Paul's Damascus road experience. Or like the people liberated from darkness in Plato's Cave Allegory.
I once was blind, but now I see.
That's how it was when I looked at Jerry Falwell and no longer saw the caricature I saw before - the caricature portrayed to this day in our mainstream media and which I truly understand from my own experience in spiritual blindness to be the one that's causing leftists to dance gleefully on his grave. In San Francisco sexually-confused individuals - who accuse others of hate while indulging themselves in the most vicious character assassination and hate speech - held an "anti-memorial" for Falwell last night. Having seen the Gay Pride parades, I shudder to think of the in-your-face perversion unleashed to celebrate the death of one of their many enemies.
It's only one example of where the hate in this country truly lies. And I know because I lived the hate-driven life until I was 38 years old and God - who'd always loved me no matter how I felt about Him and who'd always been waiting for me - welcomed me like a father welcomes a wobbly child.
I know that God felt that way about Jerry too. I know he feels that way about those celebrating his death. And that's the beautiful thing about being a believer. When you understand how much God loves us no matter who we are or what we do, you can't hate anyone anymore.
This ties in with what I wrote about the other day - being accused of hating gays. It's really not that way at all. They are people like me, with their own set of confusions and mistakes to work through as God patiently waits. When I became a Christian I could look back over my life and see the many times God rescued me - times I should have been dead from my own self-destructive behavior. I could even look back at times when I had been an innocent victim and see that God was in that part of my life as well. As terrible as it was, I would never change it. Every single thing that happened to me, as well as every single thing I'd done wrong myself became part of how God could use me to help others.
Knowing God and actually experiencing his love just changes everything. And so when I see the bitterness and bile of sexually-disoriented individuals, I feel no hatred - only compassion and hope that someday they might know the love of God themselves. The peace that passes understanding. The peace that you could always see in Jerry.
I know in my heart that Jerry Falwell didn't hate gays. I know because when I saw his face - which always reflected joy - I understood that he also knew the love of God and was able to extend it.
Here's Elisabeth Elliot on Jerry Falwell:
Christians ought to be always shaking up people's categories. I guess one of the things the world finds most infuriating about much-maligned Jerry Falwell is his unflappable graciousness, his refusal to retreat behind spurious logic. They'd like to call him a rechecked bigot, but he doesn't fit the category. His worst offense is that he's so often right. He speaks the truth--that's bad enough--and he speaks it in love. That's unforgivable. [my emphasis]
And something I wrote three months ago:
If you've bought into the media's stereotype of Jerry Falwell, you might want to reconsider. And then you might want to begin revisiting other opinions you may have assumed without any direct knowledge, just media hearsay.Jerry Falwell has built an excellent university in Virginia - Liberty University. Two of my sons are enrolled there. One studying to be an opera singer and one - a National Merit Scholar - studying physics/computer something or other.
When they applied there, they met peer pressure along the lines of "Don't you want to go to a REAL college?" - even from Christian friends who'd bought into the lies about Falwell and Liberty.
Ben and Zach have been thrilled with the quality of education they're receiving at Liberty and would not choose to go anywhere else.
I thank Jerry Falwell for what he's provided for my sons and their classmates. And interestingly enough, the media is starting to be a little startled by Liberty's success - with steadily rising applications and enrollment. Read U.S. News and World Report's take on Liberty in their America's Best Colleges 2007: They Pray as They Go.
At Liberty, Jerry's presence on campus has been described by students as like having a father at home. My son Ben - who sings in Liberty's Chamber Choir - was privileged to be in his company on many occasions as Jerry was fond of that type of music.
His death hit Ben hard. And it leaves me with a sense of personal loss as well, reminding me how fleeting our time is here on earth, how difficult to bridge the misunderstandings caused by sin, and how final missed opportunities can be.
He was a great man who changed the course of the country and left behind a legacy that outshines all the hatred his enemies could possibly muster. How I wish I had found an opportunity to share with Jerry what I'm sharing with you today. But I bet he wouldn't have been surprised at all to hear how an infusion of God's love left no room in my heart for hate.
I will never forget his smile.
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Comments
I went to Liberty, and Jerry Falwell was like a big teddy bear to me. I really liked and admired him. I was so sad to hear of his passing yesterday... but I'm glad to think of him with Jesus. Thanks for posting about him... I was wondering if you would.
Posted by: agatha | May 16, 2007 12:14 PM
Thank you Barbara, I knew you'd have a sweet and appropriate tribute to brother Falwell. Checked in just to read it.
Posted by: floorplan | May 16, 2007 1:43 PM
Hi Barbara,
You and your sons were the first to come to my mind yesterday when I learned of Jerry Falwell's death. My hubby and I both had a great respect for him and admired him for his boldness to take a stand for Christ. Last night Larry King had several guests on to talk about Jerry and his legacy. It was amazing to see Al Sharpton, who said he disagreed with everything he said/did, say that even though he did not view things the same way-there was no way you could dislike him. He was such a neat man and you generally liked him once you got to know him. I think that just show's that the light of Christ showed thru Jerry very brightly.
The one thing I am disgusted at is all of the people who are saying such ugly things about him only 1 day after his death. No class at all. Give his family/friends time to grieve.
Posted by: Kelli | May 16, 2007 1:55 PM
I went to Liberty and am so thankful for the education that I received there. I would not have wanted to go anywhere else.
Posted by: Elizabeth at A Biblical Home | May 16, 2007 6:45 PM
