Most mornings when I go for a run around campus, I expect to see students walking to class, maybe some riding their bikes. What I don’t expect is to be verbally attacked by a so-called minister and his sadly misled followers, which is exactly what I ran into Friday morning.
I had heard stories of Michael Venyah’s name-calling and judgmental, ineffective preaching but had not been a victim before Friday. As I ran past his group on the other side of the street, I was told, “You’re a whore. You’re going to hell.” You might ask, “Now, how do you know they were talking to you?” That part was easy to figure out. As I looked across the street in shock one of Venyah’s recruits pointed to me and said, “That’s right. I’m talking to you in the white shirt.” Being a Christian myself, what I can’t figure out is how this group of so-called Christians not only condones this type of judgmental, hateful behavior, but encourages it, saying it is God’s will.
When I approached Venyah and asked if he honestly thought this is how Jesus wanted him to reach people, he said yes and handed me a pamphlet he had prepared to defend his actions. I should thank him the next time I see him for supplying me with the ammunition I needed to write this letter.
Almost every verse he has provided me with contradicts everything he preaches. Venyah also told me that he could stand in judgement of others because he had removed all sin from his life. I’m not a theologian and don’t even have to be a Christian to know that every human sins, sometimes more than once a day.
Venyah may read the Bible but obviously does not comprehend it. James 3:1-2 tells us, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways …” I guess Venyah would say the Greek translation of the word “all” is “everyone but Michael Venyah.”
As for him standing in judgment of others, James 4:11-12 tells us not to slander one another, saying anyone who judges or speaks against his brother speaks against the law and judges it, and in doing so, he is not keeping the law but sitting in judgment on it. The Scripture goes on to say, “There is one lawgiver and judge, the one able to save and destroy. But you-Who are you to judge your neighbor?” You can add to that John 16:7, which Venyah so graciously provided me in his pamphlet, where Jesus says, “When (God) comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” Nowhere in the Bible does it discuss man (that includes Mr. Venyah) being able to pass judgment on others.
Another point that interests me is exactly how Venyah came to his conclusion that I, indeed, am a whore. When I asked if he honestly believed it was OK to call someone that, he said, “If they are a whore, we (he and his followers), having turned from all sin, can call them that.” I still think it humorous that Venyah had never laid eyes on me or spoken to me yet he knew all about my sexual history. He made this assessment based on the clothes I was wearing. Now I don’t know what he’s been studying, but the Bible I read explicitly says in Galatians 2:6, “… God does not judge by external appearance.” I would venture to guess that goes for Venyah as well, but I’m sure he omitted that part of the Bible when he came to it because it doesn’t fit his style of preaching.
Mr. Venyah’s “ministry” is full of ideas that are derived from anywhere but the Bible. The Bible says wisdom from heaven is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere (James 3:17-18). His message is far from any of those things and doesn’t include anything about the love of God and his mercy and grace through which all of us, including Michael Venyah, can receive salvation if we choose to do so.
Blair Johnson is a sophomore elementary education major.