Matt Bevin says pastors who criticized his plan are going to hell; pray for him | Joseph Gerth

Joseph Gerth | Courier Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Bevin: separating sheep from goats In Gov. Matt Bevin's recent Facebook post on his official government page, he addresses the recent rift he has had with some Louisville ministers. facebook.com/GovMattBevin/

I’m not Methuselah-old, but I’ve been around for a while and thought I’d seen just about everything.

That was until Thursday when Gov. Matt Bevin took to social media to say that two prominent Baptist ministers who disagreed with him are going to hell.

No matter what the governor, who wraps himself in the mantle of God but seems to have trouble following the commandment about bearing false witness, tells you in coming days, this is not “fake news.”

He was lashing out at the Rev. Kevin Cosby, senior pastor of St. Stephen Church, who wrote in a recent column in the Courier-Journal that Bevin’s call for prayer walks as a solution to West End violence “set race relations back in Louisville more than any single act in recent years.”

And Bevin was attacking the Rev. Joe Phelps, pastor of Highland Baptist Church, who wrote in another column that the governor’s “tepid non-plan was an embarrassment to Christianity.”

Both were tough, unforgiving columns, no doubt.

“I’m not even going to give them the courtesy of mentioning their names,” Bevin said in a 12-minute video in which he ripped the news media, ministers and anyone else who has criticized his prayer walks.

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“But I do think this. I don’t know that we’re dividing the races as much as we’re separating the sheep from goats. I think they’ll understand what I’m saying on that front,” he said.

When he’s talking about “separating sheep from goats,” he’s talking about a passage in the Gospel of Matthew describing the second coming of Christ and how at that time Christ will separate the good from the bad, much the same way that a shepherd separates sheep from goats.

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To those on his left, Christ says, “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Bevin’s words are really quite appalling and seem to run contrary to the book he says he holds dear.

I’m not a biblical scholar, but years of Catholic school education taught me that the Bible contains numerous passages instructing the faithful not to judge others. One particularly apt verse is in the Book of James.

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Joe Phelps: Yes, I'm embarrassed for Christianity

“There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you — who are you to judge your neighbor?”

Bevin, while he was elected to be the chief magistrate of Kentucky, was not selected to be the “Lawgiver and Judge.” For him to try to assume that role when talking about those who have devoted their lives to God is wrong.

Bevin ought to seek forgiveness for his words, because, as the Gospel of Matthew says, “on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.”

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And Bevin, who is trying to make it more difficult for people to obtain Medicaid coverage, might also reflect on the other words in the parable of the sheep and goats. Those on the left of Christ, the ones condemned to the fires of hell, are the ones who didn’t look after the sick and the needy.

I think he’ll understand what I’m saying on that front.

Joseph Gerth's column runs on most Sundays and at various times throughout the week. He can be reached at 502-582-4702 or by email at jgerth@courier-journal.com.