I stumbled across this tonight. Apparently, there was a Southern Baptist group providing hurricane relief down in south Florida that refused to give water to people who were in need.
“Why?” you ask. Good question. I only wish I had a better answer.
Apparently, the water had been provided by Anheuser-Busch, and the canned water had the company’s label on it. In a press release, the vice-president of operations for Anheuser-Busch, Mike Harding, had this to say:
“As we have seen numerous times in recent years, safe drinking water is a critical need following natural disasters such as Hurricane Wilma. At the request of various relief agencies, Anheuser-Busch and its wholesalers have donated more than 9 million cans of drinking water since Hurricane Katrina hit in August, and when called on, we’ll continue to provide water to all victims of Wilma as long as it’s needed.”
According to a local NBC affiliate, “The Southern Baptist Convention felt it was inappropriate to give the donation out, and they weren’t happy when NBC2 wanted to know why.”
Let me preface my following thoughts by reminding you that I was born and reared as a Southern Baptist. I have served several Southern Baptist churches, I have spoken in many more. I am an ordained Southern Baptist minister. Having gotten that out of the way…
What the junk is that about? Is a stand for pharisaical pseudo-righteousness in the face of need going to impact a world for Christ? Is there ANYTHING at all Christ-like about a group choosing not to give water because of the presence of a label from a beer manufacturer?
What would these people have done at the wedding feast at Cana? You remember, where Jesus turned water into wine? Are these the people who still believe that the Greek word for grape juice is spelled W-I-N-E?
Once again, I find myself shaking my head and feeling a deep compulsion to apologize for the actions of others. Since this blog is only read by two people, and neither of them happen to be victims of Hurricane Wilma, there is probably no need in placing an apology here. Nor is there any real point in posting a scathing diatribe condemning the pharisaical attitude of some Southern Baptists.
Dang, I get tired of hearing about people pulling stupid stunts in the name of Christ.
Score at the end of the first round:
Anheuser-Busch – 1
Southern Baptists – 0
There is a tendency for most people to appear holy and to that end they do their alms. Most Christians do not follow, immitate, emulate, lean on or even study Christ. You cannot follow the sinless into sin. You cannot follow the obedient into disobedience. Man has changed little since God created him. he is still trying to get out of doing what he should and now uses the Blood of The Lamb ans his excuse. Shame on us all.