Jed Smock, better known as Brother Jed, has graced us with his presence on campus these last couple days. Brother Jed is an open-air preacher, or confrontational evangelist, who tours college campuses around the nation. He, unlike many evangelicals, uses openly antagonistic and often offensive rhetoric to garner attention to his cause of converting people to Christ. In my last four years on this campus, Brother Jed has, without fail, come around every spring to deliver his amusing sermons, attracting hundreds of antagonized and offended students to listen.
Now, I am not Christian. I was raised without a religion, and while I have strong spiritual beliefs about a God, I don’t submit myself to organized religions or the moral codes dictated by said religions. I don’t agree with much of what Brother Jed has to say. His general point is clear: We are declining into moral turpitude, and we should follow the way of Christ and repent from our sins before we are eternally damned. Most of my fellow students don’t agree with him either. And even if they do agree with his message, I’m sure they don’t agree with the harsh, hostile style that Brother Jed employs.
However, after watching Brother Jed deliver his sermons year after year, I have found a peculiar admiration and respect for him. He hasn’t converted me to Christianity in any sense, but he has garnered my respect for him. Think about it: Brother Jed tours college campuses, delivering his message, with hundreds upon thousands of students yelling and spitting at him. And Brother Jed delivers his sermons without missing a beat. He maintains his composure in the face of withering verbal assault. That takes insurmountable courage and discipline to do. And, deep down inside, I am sure that Brother Jed is devoting his life to this mission out of his love for us. He shows it in a strange way that is difficult to accept for most people, but I think he genuinely believes that he is doing a good by traveling to college campuses around the country and telling the college students about their sins. There is no other truly compelling explanation for the fervor that he exhibits in his cause, year in and year out.
So while Brother Jed may not have won me over to his beliefs or his cause, he has earned my respect and admiration. It really takes determination and a steeled resolve to be able to stand up in front hundreds of people, knowing that, without fail, he and his message will be rejected.
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Evangelist exhibits courage in face of dissenting students
Daily Emerald
May 27, 2009
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