Ann Coulter is Misinformed About Missions

If you haven’t read Ann Coulter’s vitriolic article attacking Dr. Kent Brantly and Carolyn Writebol, do so here.

Thankfully evangelical thought leaders like Albert Mohler and Russell Moore are calling Coulter on the article.

Sadly there seem to be many Christians who are still confused about allowing Ebola infected patients who are American citizens and Christian missionaries to come back home to the United States for treatment. It is amazing to me that the loudest voices condemning the return of Ann-Coulter-by-Gage-Skidmorethese two missionaries to America are conservative voices.

Shock journalism is nothing new to Ann Coulter. But let’s be clear about what she is saying in this latest article.

1) She’s saying we should only take the gospel to Hollywood elites and New York City media types because if you win one of them to Christ, they can influence thousands of others. This is contrary to our biblical mandate to take the gospel to the world. Jesus focused on “the least of these” – person to person – one on one – and never wasted his time trying to convince the influencers. The gospel isn’t spread by influencing influencers. And besides, the gospel never was intended to generate a mass response: “Narrow is the way, and strait is the gate that leads to life, and FEW there be that find it.”

2) Ann is saying that Dr. Brantly had narcissistic motives for going to Liberia instead of to a poor county in Texas because he wanted to be a hero. In reality Dr. Brantly was doing precisely what Jesus commands us to do, calling us to risk our health and even our lives to take the gospel to people who have incurable diseases because if they die without Him they will go to hell for eternity. For Ann to impugn Dr. Brantly’s motives in this way is for her to say she knows his heart, which only God knows.

3) Ann makes a false choice out of serving Jesus at home and serving Jesus abroad. The church is doing both. Not all American Christians are serving overseas. In fact, TOO FEW are. Yet faithful Christians are reaching the least of these at home every day. Christians aren’t abandoning America by serving the least of these overseas. It’s not a matter of choosing one over the other. The church in America is faithfully doing both.

Ann’s arguments in her article are misinformed and frankly hateful. Every follower of Jesus Christ should be outraged that a prominent conservative columnist who professes to be a Christian would write such nonsense.