It certainly does not stand for Christian anymore!
forwarded email ( with permission):
We wanted to bring to your attention a recent incident that took place
with one of our ministry partners, Larry Lee, who lives in Marietta,
Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. As you read his account, we are confident that you
will see the unacceptable and unfair manner in which he has been treated by
the YMCA. More importantly we are confident that you will agree with us in
concluding that Larry's civil and religious rights have been violated. This
concerns us because it serves as a threat to our freedom of speech in
proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. When souls hang in the balance we take these matters seriously.
We want to ask you to stand with us and contact both the local YMCA
where this incident took place as well as the YMCA International
Headquarters.
Please feel free to mail letters, call, e-mail or send faxes. However, we do
ask that you remain courteous, kind, and loving in your correspondence. It
might also be good to give a brief description of what it is you are
contacting them about. Please let them know your thoughts regarding this matter. All the necessary contact information is provided at the end of this e-mail.
Here is Larry's summary of what happened:
Last Friday afternoon, I went to work out at the local YMCA that my
family belongs to. As I approached the building, I noticed two young men
hanging out on the front sidewalk just outside the main entrance, apparently
having just finished a game of basketball inside. As is my custom in my ministry,
I walked up to these guys to see if I could talk with them about
Christianity. I almost always start out by asking some fun trivia questions and give
dollar bills for correct answers - questions like, "What's the capital of
France?"
and "Who is the Prime Minister of England?" These guys, who were
seniors at a local high school, were bright - they got almost all the trivia
right. I told them that I run a local ministry and that I like to turn the tables a
bit by giving money away rather than asking for it. They thought that was
cool.
I then did what I always do, which is to transition to "the good
person test," in which we use the Ten Commandments to see if we are "good"
enough in God's eyes to enter heaven. Of course everyone fails the test, but it
proves a wonderful point - we need God's grace in order to enter heaven - we
need Jesus Christ. These guys were really into the conversation. I told
them that even though they didn't pass the good person test, I was going to give
them the grand prize anyway - $20 - as an illustration of God's grace.
Even though they didn't deserve the $20, I was giving it to them as a
gift, just like none of us deserves to go to heaven, but God offers us
everlasting life through Jesus Christ as a gift. These guys were so excited - I
told them they could use the $20 to have dinner on me - they couldn't stop
thanking me. One kid stood up and said, "Man, I really appreciate this, thanks
man."
The other guy said, "Yeah, thanks, this is cool." I gave them some
tracts that reviewed the gospel and told them I'd see them around. They
thanked me again, and I left to go work out inside.
Much to my surprise, the next morning (Saturday), I received a call at
my house from the director of the YMCA. She asked, "Were you at the YMCA
yesterday talking to two young men about religion and giving them
money?" I said, "Yes." She proceeded to tell me that my YMCA family membership was immediately terminated. I asked her what I had done wrong. She said my behavior was totally inappropriate, that I was interrupting those boys from
exercising and that they didn't come to the Y to talk about religion. I asked if it
was wrong to talk about Christianity on the campus of a Christian organization.
She avoided the question and told me I was no longer welcome at the Y. I
repeated my question, to which she replied, "I'm not going to argue with you." I
again asked the question, and she hung up on me. I was shocked.
A few days later, I received another call from the YMCA director. She
didn't hang up on me this time, although she did threaten to do so when I
asked her to please show me the written rule in the YMCA literature that
says what I did was wrong. She said I was soliciting, which is against the rules,
but I told her that the dictionary says that to solicit is to ask for - and
Ididn't ask for anything, in fact I was giving things away. She said
that my behavior was, and I quote, "bizarre," "uncalled for," and "totally
inappropriate."
Then she said that what I did could very easily be taken as a sexual
advance, implying that I appear to be some sort of homosexual
predator offering money for sex. You can imagine my shock. I asked, "What exactly is sexual about telling two guys how they can have everlasting life?" She changed the
subject. Ironically, this same director three months earlier would not
change the channel on one of the YMCA television sets that was showing a soap
opera in which a man handcuffed a screaming woman to a bed, ripped off her
clothes and jumped on her to rape her. When I requested that they change the
channel,the director's response was, "You can watch a different TV set."
Friends, this whole scenario is unconscionable, unthinkable, and
brimming with intolerance. For an organization that claims to stand for
tolerance anddiversity, this YMCA is neither tolerant of people who preach the
gospel nor interested in having a gospel preacher as part of their diverse
membership.
Ihold no personal grudges against these folks; I simply see this as an
affront to all Christians and an effort to shut down our right to
share the gospel. The sad thing about this incident is that I was never even
given the opportunity to explain what happened before my membership was
revoked. It was quite arbitrary - I was given no warning.
Even after I explained myself, there was no room for reasoning. The
director's mind was already made up and I hadn't even violated any
rules. What did I do wrong by talking to two gentlemen about Christianity at a Christian organization and giving them money to illustrate a point?
Is this the way that a "Christian" organization should treat one of
its Christian members who was peacefully discussing Christianity with two
young men who are seniors in high school, probably old enough to vote this
November? Is this behavior fitting for an organization that states the following
about its own history on its website?:
Through the influence of nationally known lay evangelists Dwight L.
Moody (1837-1899) and John Mott (1865-1955), who dominated the movement in
the last half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries respectively,
the American YMCAs sent workers by the thousands overseas, both as
missionary-like YMCA secretaries and as war workers.
The first foreign work secretaries, as they were called, reflected
the huge missionary outreach by Christian churches near the turn of the
century. But instead of churches, they organized YMCAs that eventually were placed
under local control. Both Moody and Mott served for lengthy periods as paid
professional staff members of the YMCA movement. Both maintained
lifelong connections with it.
This is the YMCA's current mission statement: "To put Christian
principals into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and
body for all."
What do you think? Please let the YMCA know and be sure to mention
Larry Lee's name. Also, please feel free to forward this on to all your
friends.
Here is the contact information:
East Cobb YMCA
(Where the incident took place)
1055 E. Piedmont Rd.
Marietta, GA 30062
Phone: (770) 977-5991
Fax: (770) 578-2793
Email: _maureenn@ymcacobb.org_ (mailto:maureenn@ymcacobb.org)
Website: _www.ymcacobb.org_
(http://app.bronto.com/x/trackclick.php?i=3968069&k=ewGR&m=26807&url=http://www.ymcacobb.org/)
We also encourage you to contact the YMCA National Headquarters:
YMCA of the USA
Association Advancement
101 North Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
Phone: 312-977-0031
Website: _www.ymca.net_
(http://app.bronto.com/x/trackclick.php?i=3968069&k=ewGR&m=26807&url=http://www.ymca.net)
God bless,
Ray, Sue, Daniel, EZ, Mark, Jacob, Ron,
Becky, Barbara, Duane, Rick, Scotty, Carol,
Dale, Michelle, Eddie, Banana, and Mandy.
Please pass this newsletter on to your friends.
I am really saddened by this incedent. I also have issues with my local Y where my kids took homeschool swimming this winter. I didn't realize it right away, but a white friend had to point out to me where my kids and I were systematically discriminated against every week. I plan to boycott them and find different swim classes this winter.
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