Gospel Gab: Brother Ross: That ain’t no saint

Ava Hicks, Staff Writer

If you go to UNCW, chances are you’ve heard of the infamous Brother Ross, or as he has now dubbed himself, “Saint” Ross. His presence on campus is pretty hard to miss, consistently drawing a rowdy crowd to the amphitheatre with his misguided, radical preachings.

I can say with complete certainty that I have never met a person who believes that Brother Ross is a rational human being with logical beliefs. He claims to be a Christian, yet all he does is spread hate and anger and provoke people.

The reason Ross always has such a large audience is because people love to watch a trainwreck. They willingly sit and listen to this guy’s nonsense, getting themselves worked up, just so they can lash out and challenge him in front of their peers. The problem is, it is impossible to have a reasonable discussion with him—he twists people’s words and changes the topic whenever he feels uncomfortable in a situation.

Regardless, most people do not attend Brother Ross’s speeches with the intention of engaging in an intelligent discussion. The crowd is generally made up of two types of audience members: quiet bystanders who are just there to observe and people who are strongly opinionated on the subject matter and wish to have their views expressed in a public setting.

Unfortunately, these people generally do not approach the situation in a manner that puts them in a position to have a lasting positive impact on anyone present. Any merit their opinions hold is lost amidst the yelling, vulgar language, and rambunctious behavior.

I am not saying that no one should express their views or call Brother Ross out on his wrongful teachings—merely that students often go about doing this in the completely wrong way. I have witnessed satanic circles being drawn in chalk on the floor of the amphitheatre and people so enraged that they are close to tears, one statement away from hopping the fence and pummeling the false preacher.

If we truly wish to show Brother Ross that he is a complete fool with no credibility whatsoever, the action that we must take is simple: do not show up. Do not go sit and listen to his madness. I must admit, I am guilty of falling into his trap and listening to him drone on, scrutinizing his every word. But in giving him my attention, I am doing him a favor. If nobody came to listen to him, he would have no one to preach to, and therefore no reason to continue.

One of the most tragic outcomes of Brother Ross’s presence on campus is the misrepresentation of Christianity that he places in the minds of those who do not know what being a Christian truly means. His forceful dialogue makes it seem as if Christians shun anyone who do not follow the same beliefs or hold similar morals as them.

This is incredibly far from the truth—the scripture is overflowing with verses calling for us to love one another, regardless of a person’s values or religious beliefs.

John 13:34 states, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

This commandment is so plainly stated that there is no room for misinterpretation. If Brother Ross claims to live by the Bible and God’s commandments, he wouldn’t spend his days telling girls they are going to hell for wearing shorts or disparaging people for living a lifestyle different than his own.

1 John 4:19-21 states, “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

Now that the true intentions of a Christian have been cleared up, consider Brother Ross and everything that he stands for. Is he a true Christian? Absolutely not. So please, do not listen to his nonsense and allow him to paint a picture in your head of what Christianity stands for. Because I can assure you that he is on the opposite end of the spectrum.