A Kentucky pastor is defending his church after a Vacation Bible School skit depicting the devil being shot and killed sparked criticism online.
Insisting that the performance was intended to illustrate spiritual warfare rather than promote violence, Pastor Dewayne Walker of Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in Lexington, Kentucky, addressed the “firestorm” surrounding the church’s VBS skit in a video posted on the church’s Facebook page Monday.
The clip shows performers in military-style clothing firing prop weapons at an actor portraying Satan while children watch from the audience and are led in the chant, “Take him out, blow him up.” After the mock shooting, the performers drag the actor’s motionless body offstage as the children cheer.
Walker said the clip, which has garnered widespread criticism online, lacks context from the week-long VBS program and misrepresents the church’s message and its use of skits to teach biblical lessons.
“It was nothing more than a small part of our Vacation Bible School,” he said. “We have characters every year that represent good and right and God, and we have characters that represent evil and wrong and that which should be avoided. We, every year, through skits and songs and games and just a lot of fun, we make church a fun place, a happy place.”
“For 32 years, we’ve had this evil against good [lesson] in our Vacation Bible School,” Walker said. “The clip you saw was simply killing the devil.”
The men dressed in military fatigues, Walker said, were called the “Commandos for Christ,” and the weapons, which were air rifles they called “Gospel Guns,” were used to symbolize the power of the Gospel and God’s Word over evil.
“If I could kill the devil every day and raise him up and kill him again, I’d do it,” he said. “He’s the one we hate. We’re not allowed by God to hate anybody else, not even our enemies.”
“I think you’d be in agreement that we shouldn’t love the devil. I think we’re all in agreement that there’s such a thing as spiritual warfare, a battle going on behind the scenes that we can’t see with physical eyes,” he added.
He went on to describe church as “a place where we hate sin, but we love the sinner” and “a place where we exult Jesus, and we hate the devil.”
Addressing online critics, Walker said, “You may not like how we did it. You may not have liked that we used those air rifles that are basically paintball guns. And maybe you’re right, maybe we’re wrong.
“But understand, we’re painting a real picture to kids visibly what’s going on invisibly and we use all week to teach them [to] ‘tell the truth, don’t tell a lie; work hard, don’t be lazy; clean up after yourself, don’t expect somebody else to do it; love your mom and dad, don’t disobey them; honor everybody, love everybody; love God, but hate sin because it will hurt you; and hate the devil who tries to influence you to sin,’” he insisted.
Walker continued: “All week long, they’d (the actors) been sowing mischief, and we’d be having a good time, and that’s what the devil does, friend. He’s trying to infiltrate our homes. He’s trying to infiltrate our government. He’s trying to infiltrate everything. He’s a bad customer.”
Walker further rejected claims circulating online that the skit encouraged violence against people who have different beliefs.
“How this thing has gotten blown up to the point now, people have called me and said ‘Preacher, they’re saying this is killing people that don’t believe like us,’” he noted. “All I can say is, ‘What? Where did that come from?’ It’s a character called the devil, and if it’s been misunderstood and if the devil uses it to hurt somebody, I am so sad about that.”
“That has not been the intention, ever,” he stressed. “It’s so odd to me, after 32 years of doing this, now this comes up. Somebody came and obviously videoed it, and what you saw, that little snippet, is not even close to what we’re about.”
After suggesting that the person who took the video was someone who didn’t like him, Walker urged the person to “be just and not try us and convict us without at least hearing what this thing’s about.”
“Make no mistake about it: I hate sin because of what it does to the sinner,” he added. “I will not hate sinners. I’m a sinner saved by God’s grace, and I thank God that we can give the kids a week of fun and joy and realness about what the real world is now.
“Again, you may think we went over the top. You may think it was a little bit extreme, and maybe you’re right, but don’t you believe that the devil is really using extreme measures in this generation?”
Walker concluded by apologizing to anyone who was offended by the skit, adding that he doesn’t plan to address it further.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: [email protected]
Continue reading
