This is no joke. British police are warning that John 3:16 could be ‘hate speech.”
It has prompted questions over whether they know something the public doesn’t, about a plot to blot out Christianity in the country.
A travelling pastor from Burnley was warned by an officer that he could face hate speech charges over having the most quoted verse in the Bible written all over the back of his campervan.
It just happens to be the quintessential verse in the Bible that defines the Christian faith.
POLICE OFFICER’S “FRIENDLY HEADS-UP” ABOUT JOHN 3:16 SIGN
The warning was given to Mick Fleming, a former criminal turned Christian and pastor who also happens to be a friend of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
He has sold most of his worldly possessions to live in his ‘Church on Wheels’.
While filling up at a petrol station, he said an officer approached him with what he said was a “friendly heads-up” and word of warning.
“He just tapped me on the shoulder,” Pastor Mick told Premier Christian News.
He said, ‘Don’t be alarmed, but I just wanted to mention the writing on the on the back of your van. You know, it could be seen as hate speech.”
POLICE WOULD INVESTIGATE IF SOMEONE COMPLAINED ABOUT VERSE
The officer said that ‘if someone reported it, police would investigate, and you (the pastor) could end up in trouble.”
The pastor responded: “But it says ‘For God so loved the world’. That’s the first line.”
“That’s the key, you know, love. I don’t think it’s hate speech.”
The officer told Pastor Mick he was simply letting him know how the message might be perceived – despite nobody having complained.
PASTOR’S REACTION TO THE WARNING
Pastor Mick shared the encounter with his YouTube followers, who have responded overwhelmingly positively, even many who are not believers.
In his video, he said: “I just thought “wow”. I just wondered what people watching this, thought.”
“It’s not to argue, but where have we moved to as a country when a bit of Christian scripture on the back of a van can be seen as hateful or spiteful?” he asked.
‘Maybe society is moving to a place where they don’t want faith-based people sat around a table in discussion with them.”
“For me it’s an integral message of how real change is possible.”
PASTOR HAS NO PLANS TO REMOVE THE SCRIPTURE
Pastor Mick insists that he has no plans to remove the scripture.
“I am not going to change it. I am going to leave it alone, but I thought it quite interesting about how it can be perceived.
“I have never thought about that being something spiteful or hateful in any shape or form.”
“I wondered what you (his followers/viewers) thought – do you think people would take offence to that, and if they did, why?”
PASTOR SEES THE UPSIDE OF THE CONTROVERSY OVER THE WARNING
Displaying Bible verses publicly is generally lawful in the UK.
But the law says they could be considered hate speech if the wording is threatening or inciting hatred, based on protected characteristics such as religion or sexual orientation.
Yet even in the controversy, Pastor Mick Fleming sees God at work.
“It’s been picked up by newspapers and the national press,” he observed.
“Now John 3:16 has gone all over the country.”
“YOU HAVE TO SHOW YOU’RE LIVING OUT THE TRUTH OF THE WORD OF GOD”
The pastor says pushback should be seen as encouragement to believers.
“As Christians, our faith has to be authentic. I’m not saying everyone has to give everything away, but you have to stand by your convictions.”
“You have to stand on the truth of the Word of God, and you have to show people that you’re living it out,” he told Premier Christian News.
“You’ve got a light in here that changes things. It doesn’t argue and pull people down. It lifts people up.”
PASTOR FLEMING’S COLOURFUL HISTORY
59-year-old Pastor Mick Fleming worked as a gangland criminal enforcer, drug runner and debt collector and was once arrested on suspicion of murder.
He now dedicates his life to helping others as a pastor, along with setting up his charity, Church on the Street, which was visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Earlier this year, he released a book which detailed his early life in crime and how nearly dying made him turn his life around
The foreword was written by Prince William.
He lives in his campervan with John 3:16 printed across the back.
‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life’.
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