Switchfoot's Reaction to Protesting

     Earlier this evening (I guess it was technically yesterday), I had the pleasure of attending a Switchfoot concert at Indiana Wesleyan University.  For a long time, this band has been important to me.  I can honestly say that their lyrics have had profound influence in shaping who I am as a person, including my views of the world, myself, and my faith.  Switchfoot's music, with its messages of hope and non-conformity, helped me outlast a dark year of depression.  It taught me not to worry if I can't understand the social games that friends and classmates seem to glide through so easily, and not to consider the label of "weird, socially-awkward kid always imagining things" as bad.  This said, seeing Switchfoot perform in concert was almost like a victory.

     During the concert, Switchfoot's lead singer, Jon Foreman, mentioned some protesting that occurred a few concerts prior, describing it as a humbling experience even as he expressed respect for anyone who forms their own opinions about a subject, particularly subjects of faith.  That category included the protesters.

     I assumed that it was a secular group protesting the religious nature of Switchfoot's lyrics.  I was correct about what was being protested.  However, I completely missed the mark regarding the identity of the protesters.

    After returning from the concert, curiosity drove me to do some research.  It turns out that members of a conservative church, "Consuming Fire Fellowship," camped outside the concert venue with signs, megaphones, and an arsenal of KJV references.  And the event wasn't isolated: apparently Switchfoot has been protested by various "Christian" groups at numerous venues recently.  My instinct was indignation: I couldn't think of anything more likely to drive people away from Christ.  But Jon Foreman had a very different response.

     He encouraged his audience to somehow show love to the protesters as they left that evening.  And in one of the videos I watched, he actually approached the screaming preacher with a case of bottled waters; a gesture meant to convey his love for them and his appreciation for their expression of opinion.

     For Jon and the band, the situation must be incredibly stressful.  They've spent their lifetimes attempting to convey messages of love and hope, and now they're being condemned as Satan-worshipers by people claiming to serve the very God for whom they're singing.  But Jon's reaction was touchingly Christlike.  Hopefully, the result of this incident will be more people glimpsing Jon's faith, a faith motivating him to love his enemies, rather than people seeing and being disgusted by the legalism that motivates "Christians" to chant "Sin! Sin! Sin!" into megaphones pointed at other Christians.

     For an article and interesting video-clips about the protesting, visit:
 http://www.faithit.com/switchfoot-church-protest-jon-foreman-loving-response/

     I highly recommend watching the clips.  Both of them are more than worth the short time they will take, particularly as you observe Jon's attitude towards the protesters.  And they're a little entertaining, in the way that something fascinatingly horrifying is entertaining.