When "Pastor" Aden Came to Campus

On Tuesday a group out of Philadelphia showed up on the campus I work at to call women whores so they would be saved.  I’m not alone in thinking what an awful idea that is, right?

There wound up only being four individuals who showed up, two adults and two children.  I’d estimate one at 14 and the other between 10 and 12.  Seeing these brainwashed children was probably the saddest part of the day.  The leader (though he did not speak as much as the other adult) is a guy who goes by “Pastor” (my quotes) Aden.

I did some research on this dude, and he is a whack job based out of Philadelphia.  He’s shown up at Rittenhouse Square, other college campuses in the area, and the Villanova men’s basketball championship parade.  He’s got a YouTube channel as well as a Facebook page called “Christian Interviews.”  One recent profile from Philadelphia magazine says his real name is Aden Rusfeldt.  Rusfeldt alleges to have gone to Bible college, but does not say where.  He came to Philly by way of California.

Also during my research, he appears to be affiliated with a larger organization called, “Bible Believers.”  On Rusfeldt’s website, it becomes clear how strange and kooky his ministry is.  They do not advertise where they meet.  Instead, you have to be invited to attend.  This is entirely counter to the message of Jesus Christ, who tells all to come to him.

Cognitive Dissonance

In one of his YouTube videos he shares his testimony, which is really void of any explanation of how he came to faith in Jesus.  Rusfeldt does explain that he did bad things while a businessman.  He doesn’t go into detail, but that PhillyMag profile linked above notes he “has been fined millions of dollars by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission over investment scheme he ran as far back as 2005 and as recently as 2015.”  Also, a few weeks ago the IRS “filed an $800,000-plus federal income tax lien against” him and his wife.

Given this background and a detailed letter he made available briefing everyone on the background of numerous court cases involving freedom of speech issues (including, ironically, the Hustler Magazine, Inc. vs. Fallwell case), it would not surprise me if the primary reason for these acts is not to save souls, but to save his wallet.  That is, his goal is to incite violence or get a school to restrict his speech and then sue.

ON CAMPUS

The folks on campus the other day mostly spent time implying that the women on campus were all whores.  Also, they talked about masturbation a lot.  Like, a lot.  Seriously, these guys must be obsessed with masturbation.

Now, as a bible believing Christian, there are things I believe that are unpopular with a modern college culture.  There were things these guys were saying that are among those unpopular beliefs.  And they are right that people need to realize their sinful nature in order to repent and turn to Jesus.  Here’s the thing though: They were around for about three hours (I was present for about 2.5 hours) and I do not recall one time when they explained who Jesus is, what he did on the cross, and how grace and salvation is available.  Evangelism is sharing the good news. I'll admit, you can't have good news without the bad news of our sinful nature separating us from God. But the law is meant to direct us to Christ.  They did not share the full good news.  Rather, they only spoke of sin, judgment, and hell.

This group is hateful.  Paul tells the church in Colossae to season their words with salt (Colossians 4:6).  Meaning, how we speak has an impact on the message itself.  Yet this group is more concerned about calling women whores, generally demeaning women (this is way beyond the complementarian/egalitarian disagreements), mocking Muslims, and repeatedly talking about masturbation.

They also defy the bible’s admonishment to teach truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).  These men did not demonstrate love or grace.  Jesus spoke of sin, yes, but he spoke more of mercy and forgiveness.  Again, over the course of the three hours they were on campus, there was no mention of the work of the cross.  There was no gospel shared by these folks on this day.  They said you needed to accept Jesus, but spent no time explaining what that means or how to do it.

Their hypocrisy should have been evident to any bible believing Christian.  The other dude who did most the talking (I think his name was James) told the students they should demonstrate one of the fruits of the spirit: self-control (in reference to their sex lives).  Yet these demonstrators blatantly went against other fruits, such as peace, kindness, and gentleness (Galatians 5:22-23).  This was pure religious hypocrisy, and Jesus’ most significant reprimands all came against religious hypocrites (Matthew 23).

Essentially, this group teaches legalism.  Again and again they spoke about changing behavior to enter the kingdom of God instead of believing on Jesus Christ as Lord.  Of course, their website says that it is faith that saves, but that was not their message on campus.  The message was, “you are all sinful and will go to hell unless you stop being sinful.”  They may deny they are works-based salvation, but what they teach is works-based salvation.

“Pastor” Aden had a bible with him, but he never opened it up.  The other guy cherry picked scripture out of context, including BADLY mangling Mark 7 in order to call women dogs.  Again, a key part of their message was to denigrate women, with most their signs (there were lots of signs) directed at women.  As I said, they went well beyond the complementarian/egalitarian debate.  Most complementarians will readily point to Priscilla, Lydia, and Phoebe as leaders in the church.  Even if the types of leadership roles are divvied up along a male/female line, women are still essential leaders in the church.

Security used cones and caution tape to segment off an area of the patio by the library for these knuckleheads.  I mostly did not engage them, but rather spoke with students.  At times I calmed them down reminding them these guys wanted to provoke them.  Other times I was able to speak with Christian students and discuss how these clowns did not represent our faith.  I was impressed by how many students recognized this group did not represent Christianity.

The only time I lost my cool was when “Pastor” Aden began admonishing a woman I work with on campus.  I’m very close with her, as she is also a Christian on campus and is seen by many of the students as a motherly figure.  She had been speaking with students to keep them calm, and eventually “Pastor” Aden had enough of her using her free speech in such a manner.  He began yelling at her, saying she was “brainwashing” the students (which, again, these children are RIGHT THERE, FULLY BRAINWASHED BY HIM) and “mind-raping” them.  Oh, okay, cool. 

So that set me off and I began yelling at him to not speak to her and began to attempt pointing out that she and I are both Christians and he’s undoing our efforts on campus.  He then began telling me how she and I were going to hell.  Keep in mind this guy knows nothing about me, but has determined I’m going to hell.  This, of course, is clear disobedience of the true meaning of leaving such judgment to God (Matthew 7 and Romans 2—rightly understood).

I am one of several Christian staff members I know who are able to daily live out the gospel on campus through word and deed.  I’ve had conversations about faith with students and can demonstrate my love of Jesus through service and care to our students.  This group undoes some of that work.  It risks confusing faithful students, driving away folks interested in learning more about Jesus, and cementing already hardened hearts.  This day I kept coming back to all the work that I would need to do in the coming days to put back together the pieces.

LEGALISM AND BEING UNLOVING

There are a number of items from “Pastor” Aden’s website I want to address.  First, on the page on salvation, it reads:

God is HOLY, and even one lie is enough for you to be rejected from Heaven.  Sin is a choice, and to not sin is also your choice.

Jesus told the woman caught in the act of adultery, “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11).  Jesus would not give a command that is not possible to keep.

So this is actually pretty good stuff…until the last sentence.  “Pastor” Aden claims, “Jesus would not give a command that is not possible to keep.”  At face value, there's truth to this. But as we'll see in a moment, "Pastor" Aden actually argues that it's possible to be sinless.  This is pure nonsense, and, again, signifies a works-based salvation.

Now of course we need to move away from sinning.  Fruit of the Christian life should include less sin.  Not because we need to sin less to get into heaven, but because our love of Jesus should compel us to live differently.  Genuine faith urges us to changes in behavior.

However, that does not mean we must be sinless to get to heaven.  In fact, that is entirely counter to the gospel message.  First John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanses us from all unrighteousness.”  John wrote this letter to Christians.  Meaning, people who have already confessed Jesus as Lord.  The implication is that the Christian will still sin.

Paul wrote,

For I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.  Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh.  For I have the desire to do what is right but not the ability to carry it out.  For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.  Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  (Romans 7:13-20)

To follow “Pastor” Aden’s logic would mean to deny Paul was a Christian.  Paul’s statement clearly indicates he still sins.  So if Jesus’ command to “go and sin no more” must be carried out perfectly to obtain heaven, I do not think anyone is going.

“Pastor” Aden is arguing for law, over grace.  His message is that you need to be good enough to get to heaven.  In fact, one of the signs carried was, “You are not a good person.”  Yes, this is true in that “none is righteous, no not one,” (Romans 3:10) but that is not how this group used that statement.  For instance, when a young woman yelled that she was a good person, they argued she wasn’t (I think based off the language she used). 

As a Christian, if someone pushes back on our message that they are not good enough to go to heaven, we do not simply say “you are not a good person.”  We ought to state something to the effect that no one is good enough for heaven since God is perfect, but that Jesus Christ was perfect and belief in him as Lord leads to salvation.  Someone whose only argument is that you are not good and are sinful, and leaves it at that, is not preaching the full message of the cross.

“Pastor” Aden doubles down on such works-based salvation, when he elaborates on this page:

God’s mercy can only be obtained while you’re still alive, once you die it will be too late.  The only way to be saved is full repentance (turning from all sin) and obeying Jesus Christ 100% until the end of your life.

Once again, this starts off well.  We are saved by God’s mercy offered through Jesus.  Though it sounds like salvation by grace through faith, he then turns it into a “Jesus-plus” moment.  That is, Jesus plus something else is required for salvation.  In this case, perfectly obeying Jesus through the rest of one’s life.

To explain this again: That’s impossible.  By following Jesus we should demonstrate fruit in our lives, including better caring for those in need, being less angry, and potentially changing sexual habits.  Yet those acts do not save anyone.  Faith in Jesus saves .  If you screw up, that does not mean you no longer are saved.  It means you need to repent and turn away from that sin and back towards Jesus.

The site's, “What We Believe” page includes:

In the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with evidence of speaking with other tongues.

This was surprising, because I normally do not see such levels of legalism associated with charismatic belief.  “Pastor” Aden references Acts 2:4 to support this, but then ignores numerous other occasions where individuals became Christians without speaking in tongues.  Speaking in tongues is a difficult conversation, but even most people who tend to believe it still occurs would not say it is necessary to be a Christian, just that it is a spiritual gift still active.  Typically those who proclaim that it is necessary are, well, cults.

On the FAQ page, we learn more about this guy’s heresy.  The first question is, “I thought God loved everyone?”  “Pastor” Aden’s responses leave one with an irrelevant conclusion fallacy.  Also better known as changing the subject:

Does God love Hitler, the KKK, and serial killers?
Or if you were molested, does God love THAT person?  Is that the person going to heaven when they die?
Stop and think about that for a minute.
Love is not the same thing as acceptance.
Yes, God is love, but love does NOT mean acceptance!
Do you accept the KKK or Hitler?  I hope not.  I don’t and neither does God.

So notice how the initial question was about love.  “Pastor” Aden does not answer that question, instead he begins to explain the difference between love and acceptance.  What he says is not necessarily incorrect, but he purposely distracts from the actual question.  

God does love everyone (John 3:16 and Romans 5:8).  No, that love does not equal acceptance, but his command is clearly to love others, including our enemies (Matthew 4:43-48 and Mark 12:28-31).  In fact, Jesus tells us to love others as he loved us (John 15:12).  This dude is just trying to change the subject, because he is unloving.

Also in answering this question, “Pastor” Aden states:

We also love you, and that is why we took time of our schedule to preach to you today.
True love warns.
Love is telling someone the truth.

As I already stated above, we are called to preach truth in love.  Showing up on campus to call women whores, mock Muslims, reduce someone’s identity to their race—these are all examples of being unloving.  I agree that by believing Jesus is the only way to heaven that loving others would necessitate me sharing that message with them.  Like I said, there was very little (if any) talk about the mercy of the cross.  And what was said could not have been motivated by love.

WESTBORO BAPTIST

Possibly the funniest thing on the website is that the second FAQ is “Are you guys Westboro Baptist?”  Actually, their defense might be even funnier:

No, in fact here’s a clip of some friends and I rebuking them:
http://youtu.be/NvmeEx7UOO0
We love America.
We support our soldiers.  God commanded Israel to have a standing army in order to defend the country.

The video clip is of a dude saying “shame on you” for not loving the country, or something.  It’s like a 20 second clip.  But anyway, “Pastor” Aden’s defense against being associated with Westboro Baptist is…they like the United States’ army. 

That’s it.

By his own admission, the only thing apparently separating this clown from Westboro Baptist is his love of the military.  That’s not much of a defense.

ON WHY THEY ACT LIKE BULLIES

The most time-consuming breakdown of their arguments it the next one.  The FAQ in reference is: “Why do you say such strong words when you preach and call people names?”

The first part of the answer says:

Names are good.
If someone killed your mother, would you be naming them a murderer?
Is a virgin called a virgin?
Is a[n] F student called a[n] F student?  Labels, titles and names are important.  It’s how you identify something.

Now, of course labels matter.  However, there is a difference between a label/name and name-calling.  A murderer is a murderer because they murdered someone.  There is a legal definition there.  A virgin also has a specific, scientific even, meaning.  None of that is name-calling.  Saying women who wear tights pants are whores, is name-calling.  This clown name-calls, which is unloving, which is sinful, which means (by his logic) "Pastor" Aden must be going to hell.

YES, part of preaching is rebuking sin and Sinners.  It’s what Jesus and the apostles did.

In John 7:53-8:11 Jesus is confronted by the Pharisees who bring along a women caught in the act of adultery.  After telling them whoever has not sinned should cast the first stone, and everyone has departed, Jesus asked the woman where her accusers are.  He then says (by the way, before the woman has even repented), “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”   

Notice that he did not call the woman a whore.  Or a prostitute.  Or a harlot.  His response was mercy.  It is comical that “Pastor” Aden thinks his approach is more biblical than Jesus’ approach.  Maybe it's because he is not adhering to the bible.

We get slandered a lot, but if you notice we always ask questions (or say ‘it’s been rumored’) before we label with a name.

So a couple things here.  First, this clown is a child.  This is literally the childhood equivalent of putting your finger in someone’s face, yelling “I’M NOT TOUCHING YOU, I’M NOT TOUCHING YOU, I’M NOT TOUCHING YOU!”  He argues he doesn’t just call women whores, but he says “wearing xyz is a sign of a whore” while a woman in front of him is wearing xyz.  Clearly the impact of his words is calling specific women whores.

Second, he used this tactic on our campus.  Now, keep in mind this dude was never on our campus before.  He knows nothing about our campus.  It's highly doubtful he spoke to anyone from our campus prior to this day.  Yet he said, “it is rumored.”  How could he be aware of any rumors on our campus when he knows nothing about it?  Well is sounds like “Pastor” Aden is the one spreading rumors and gossip.  Scripture says that’s a sin (Exodus 23:1, Proverbs 10:18, 2 Corinthians 12:20, Ephesians 4:29).  Therefore, (by his own logic), "Pastor" Aden must be going to hell.

Often I have been even accused of calling ‘Christian’ girls, whores.  Usually the story goes like this.  That very spiritual Christian girl was passing by where I was preaching, and I called her a whore for wearing jeans.

The truth is, we NEVER haphazardly pick people out and personally rebuke them.  Unless a person has first publicly confronted us, as a ‘rule’ we do not personally rebuke an individual.

I don’t believe a girl is a whore just because she wears tight designer jeans, even though she might look like a girl of the streets.  We might say, ‘many of you are dressed like whores’ or ‘It’s been rumored there are many whores on this campus.

So how is it these ‘Christian’ girls are so convinced that I called them whores?

I am persuaded that it is usually the conviction of the Holsy Ghost.  They have heard me make a general statement addressed to the crowd against lewd behavior, or maybe even dress, and the Holy Ghost personalizes it to their consciences.

So imagine this: These clowns show up with a whole bunch of signs about women needing to stay in the kitchen, telling everyone they are going to hell, yelling at everyone, talking about whores, and generally just saying things to purposefully provoke.  Of course someone is going to call them a**holes and tell them to knock it off.   

Ah, but now this person has “first publicly confronted” them!  See, that’s what this tool does.  He publicly spouts off a whole bunch of hateful stuff, and then when someone approaches him about it, he turns it around and says he was confronted first.  He provokes crowds, and then calls individuals names.  Jesus did not do this.  Paul did not do this.  Peter did not do this.  Barnabas did not do this.  Christians do not do this.

Again, I cannot be clear enough that this guy does not represent Christianity.  He is a false teacher.

"PASTOR" ADEN EQUATES HIMSELF WITH GOD (WHICH, BTW, IS A SIN)

Another FAQ is: “But aren’t you a sinner?”  “Pastor” Aden answers:

No, I used to be a sinner and now I’m a saint.  You don’t need to be a dead Catholic to be a saint.
Over 60 times in the New Testament the Bible calls us saints.
When I was a sinner, I walked the way of the world.  Now, I walk the way of Jesus.
I got saved at the age of 21, then later backslid (if a backslider dies, they go to hell).

He is right in what he says about saints, that is it.  However, you, me, your mother, and “Pastor” Aden are all sinners.  I’ve spent some time above outlining the error of his logic, but let me add to what was already stated.

"Pastor" Aden and his crew want to say other people are not good, but that those who are with them are.  And they are good because they follow every command of Jesus.  The problem with that is Jesus once said, "Why do you call me good?  No one is good except for God alone"  (Luke 18:19).

In other words, "Pastor" Aden is directly countering Jesus' own words.  "Pastor" Aden is essentially lying about Jesus.  And liars go to hell, right?  (Revelation 21:8).  Therefore, (by his own logic) "Pastor" Aden must be going to hell.

What is kind of funny is this guy points out how many times the word “saint” is used in the New Testament, and then says he was a “backslider.”  This word…is not once used in the New Testament.  It is used only once in all of scripture, in Proverbs 14:14.  There is no real explanation of what exactly a “backslider” is, and there is no theology to be built from it.  But “Pastor” Aden has decided to add to scripture to invent this idea that someone is a “backslider” and if they die, they are going to hell.  Once again, completely unsupported by scripture.  In fact, in doing this, "Pastor" Aden is adding to scripture, which is a sin (Proverbs 30: 5-6).  So, (by his own logic) "Pastor" Aden must be going to hell.

WHAT WAS MEANT FOR EVIL, "GOD MEANT...FOR GOOD."

As I mentioned, several of us work on this college campus and are Christians.  We know we can't proselytize and we don't.  But this is a public institution of higher learning.  I do not need to deny what I believe.  And if a student inquires to things related, I am able to explain myself.

While all this craziness was going on, several students came up to me explaining how they were Christians and they did not like what this guy was doing.  We were able to test some of the things they were saying against scripture, and understand why they were so wrong.  Also recognized was the importance of accurate teaching to counter these lies and hate.

Another colleague also takes a class on campus.  She had been questioning whether it was worth the time and money, even though she really enjoys it.  That evening the class was talking about what happened, and the professor mentioned that the one guy said something about needing to be "reborn."  This colleague was able to talk about Jesus' message of one needing to be "born again."  She was also able to discuss her faith more directly with an individual student who was asking her about this stuff.

So while "Pastor" Aden and his followers are hateful legalists, God is more powerful than him.  While I dwell on the embarrassment this caused me as a Christian and wonder how many were further driven away from Jesus, God worked this event to speak into the lives of others.

It's likely Aden Rusfeldt will never read this post.  He was not interested in rational discussion on this day, so this was just me putting my own thoughts down.  Thoughts on why he's wrong.  Thoughts on the damage and hurt this does.  I pray for Rusfeldt.  He's got this stuff so wrong and getting it right involves simple changes.  He is bold and has no problem speaking controversial things.  If only he was a Christian, he would do so much good.