An Open Letter To City Leaders In Wadsworth Ohio
The following is an open letter that I sent this morning to city leaders in Wadsworth, OH, regarding a drag queen story hour that is being planned for March 11th. Please pray for our leaders with me, that God would grant them courage in the face of trial, to do His will.
I also might add, within a few minutes of sending this letter, I did receive a phone call from Bob Thurber who is president of city council. It was an extremely pleasant phone call and I fully believe that his desire is to lead in the right direction with the tools that they have.
An Open Letter To Wadsworth City Leaders:
I am a resident of the city of Wadsworth and pastor at Norton Baptist Church in Norton, OH. Prior to addressing the subject of my letter, I first wanted to express my gratefulness for your willingness to serve our community in the various capacities in which you serve. No doubt there are parts of each of your roles that are unseen and thankless, and I recognize that to be the case. Know that as I write this, I am praying for you, for wisdom in all that you do.
I wanted to address the current hot button issue in our city, the drag queen story hour that is being planned at one of our parks. I am fairly confident that when you sought to be in your current office, you were not expecting to have to deal with an issue like this. In some ways, it is unfortunate that this has been thrust upon you, but God has seen fit to place you in this position for such a time as this. I not only believe that but I know that because of what God has spoken about government authorities in Romans 13…that He has appointed them. “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those who exist have been appointed by God” (Romans 13:1, Legacy Standard Bible).
My understanding is that as of this writing, the permit is yet to be approved. I write in opposition of the approval of a permit, but more than that, I call on you to do your duty to God in your appointed role to oppose this permit as well. Romans 13 not only informs us that you are in your position by the sovereign hand of God, but it also gives the very purpose for which God has entrusted this authority to you. “For rulers are a not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of that authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword in vain, for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil” (Romans 13:3-4).
The primary role of government ordained by God is to punish evil and promote good. It is God, and God alone, who determines what is good and what is evil. Every authority has, as their first responsibility, to do all that they can to protect their community from evil, and the most vulnerable in our community, the least of these if you will, are our children. God has given you this authority for the purpose of protecting our children from evil and we all know full well that this event fits the definition of evil. Allowing this event in our public parks is a promotion of evil, the exact opposite of the purposes for which God has granted you your authority.
My understanding is that prior to city meetings there is an invocation, the act of calling upon God for help. I would suggest that this invocation becomes of no value if those beseeching the help of God are unwilling to look to the Word of God for such help. A city that calls upon God for help but then refuses to listen to God is wasting its breath in their invocation of God. Should city leaders refuse to take a stand, they will be like the ones Isaiah prophesied about when he said “this people draw near with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but they remove their hearts far from Me” (Isaiah 29:13). God is not pleased with such prayers.
I also know there are those claiming the authority of our constitution keeps our government from their duty to God, which is truly a foolish argument. Does freedom allow men to contribute to the delinquency of minors? Would you approve an event that gave alcohol or cigarettes to children under the banner of freedom? None of this is what our framers had in mind. Our framers did not wish to establish a state religion, but there is no doubt they looked to God as Creator in founding our country. Remove our moral fabric from our nation and you will continue to see the decline of our nation as God continues to bring His judgment against us.
You have an opportunity here to be obedient to God, to take a stand for truth, to be one who stands for our nation on the side of God, and to be one who stands in the gap for the protection of children. When all is said and done, you will stand before God for how you respond in this time. I am praying that each of you would have the courage to do what God has called you to do, despite the cost, and trusting that God will bless bold obedience to Him.
In the Love of Jesus for God’s Glory Alone,
Sean Yusten
