The Appalling Sermon That Crossed All Boundaries

Recently, I came across a Tweet that will leave you questioning the very foundations of common sense.

In the world of religious extremism, where reason goes to die and intolerance flourishes like a weed in an abandoned garden, Pastor Duncan Urbanek is a preacher I’ve come across before — mainly for his incredible knack for saying the incredibly stupid. He once preached about how men should burn their wives’ pants to remove the temptation for them to crossdress. And, of course, he regularly calls for the execution of members of the LGBTQ community. According to Newsweek, In a recent sermon, Duncan Urbanek explained how he prays for gay people:

“I don’t care which way you do it, Lord. Just kill ’em right now. Break their teeth in their mouth. Let ’em have a slow, painful death.”

And he justifies it all using the Bible.

What a loving guy.

This zealous individual, donning the title of “teaching elder” at the Pure Words Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, proudly showcases a buffet of absurdity that leaves me questioning the very notion of sanity. Pastor Duncan’s church holds an annual “False Bible Burning” event where they burn Bibles that aren’t the King James Version while they toast marshmallows on the glowing embers of the Lord’s “false” word.

Sounds like a lovely family event.

When they aren’t destroying literature, they are destroying any faith that people might have in the goodness of humanity. And, in an era where the rest of the world marches towards inclusion and social progress, Pastor Duncan seems to have found a way to navigate in the opposite direction.

Now for the offending sermon that has made its way onto Twitter.

In it, Pastor Duncan declares that he could never be a medical doctor (no kidding!). However, his reasoning seems more than a little odd. According to his holy proclamation, the esteemed title of “doctor” would be nothing more than an abhorrent temptation — all the dangling of naked bodies and rainbow-colored souls in front of his delicate, sanctimonious eyes.

In a revelation that probably surprises no one, Pastor Duncan disclosed his aversion to the noble pursuit of healing and compassion. With the eloquence of a true wordsmith, he declared:

“If I was a medical doctor or something like that, and a sodomite came in. I’d be forced to help and treat a sodomite. Kill me now.”

Ah, yes, because saving lives and easing suffering are apparently reserved only for those whose personal biases align with your narrow worldview. Imagine helping someone different from yourself! For shame!

But wait, there’s more!

The good pastor then graces us with some pearls of wisdom on the terrifying prospect of seeing naked bodies in his professional capacity as a medical doctor:

“Another thing so far as being a doctor, depending on what kind of doctor, is seeing other people’s nakedness. I don’t wanna be around that. I’m a married man, so my wife would be super jealous if women are in front of me undressed. I’m not gonna live my first day.”

Well, thank the heavens for your wife’s jealousy because we all know that the most critical aspect of practicing medicine is ensuring that you keep your personal arousal under check rather than, you know, saving lives.

It’s truly remarkable how Mr. Urbanek combines ignorance, intolerance, and a stunning lack of empathy into a single sermon. He may think he’s a messenger of divine truth, but in reality, he’s now a walking punchline to a joke nobody wants to hear.

But, just in case you want to hear it anyway… Here’s the offending video:

Isn’t it lucky that the real doctors of the world don’t struggle like Pastor Duncan? After all, it would be a real shame if he could not find a doctor for himself because all the doctors were far too righteous and religious to examine a human body.

A walking contradiction

It’s truly stunning how a man can believe that he walks with God and speaks for God when his rhetoric is so completely at odds with the heart of Christ.

First and foremost, Jesus, throughout his ministry, reached out to the oppressed and marginalized, showing them compassion and offering them hope. Urbanek does the opposite. Even the language that Urbanek uses to describe the LGBTQ community betrays his disdain for their humanity in a way that no doubt grieves the heart of Jesus.

Secondly, Jesus dedicated his life to healing the sick and caring for the vulnerable. The very core of Jesus’ ministry centered around empathy, compassion, and serving the needs of others. Can you imagine Jesus dismissing the woman who wept at his feet because it could be perceived as some kind of cause for sexual temptation? Even though this woman had a reputation for being a woman of the streets, Jesus did not shy away from her. He was not embarrassed to be seen with her — even to be touched by her — in a way that would have been culturally scandalous at the time.

On the other hand, Pastor Duncan seems to imply that the very presence of a woman’s body would drive a man to sin. The whole of Pastor Duncan’s message perpetuates the twisted narrative that shames women’s bodies and makes it out like they are responsible for a man’s inability to control himself—rotten theology.

The True Christ

Healing and reconciliation.

If I could sum up the purpose of Jesus’ life and death, it would be healing and reconciliation. He came to bring back together that which was driven apart. He came to bind up the broken-hearted.

Pastor Duncan’s words do the opposite. They are harmful, divisive, and hate-filled. They promote tribalism and an “us vs. them” mentality where the “them” are apparently wicked and lost.

I hate it.

I just hate it.

I feel my own anger rise even as I write.

But I also understand this simple truth: The best critique of the bad is the practice of the better. So, while I will always stand against these harmful voices, I will also try my darndest to live a better way — and to speak in such a way that people are pointed toward the God who loves them rather than being driven away by the twisted caricature invented by fundamentalist preachers.

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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