A Time to Speak and a Time for Silence

When a delay left passengers on a recent Alaska Airlines flight sitting in an airplane at the departure gate at Orlando International Airport, passenger, Christian evangelist and internet influencer Whitney Lynn decided to fill the wait time by enthusiastically preaching to her captive audience. 

She made an array of comments about Jesus and the gospel, also suggesting that maybe the flight’s delay was caused by God in order to keep the passengers safe from some catastrophe that would have occurred—which is not the kind of comment that’s appreciated by any people who are already afraid of flying.

Her stridency, her general demeanor and the disruptiveness of her loud talking about religion in such a confined space wasn’t well received by many listeners. But they had little choice but to put up with what she was doing. The flight crew, on the other hand, wasn’t as limited in their options. They invited her to gather up her belongings and disembark from the plane. She was told she would not be re-boarding. 

Because Whitney Lynn is an Influencer as well as an evangelist, she had a camera operator with her to record all that went on. And she has not been shy about making available online some of the segments of the video of the interaction. Click here and here to watch.

Lynn portrays what happened as nothing short of persecution. Both her freedom of speech and freedom of religion were grossly violated, she maintains—albeit, wrongly, because neither of those freedoms gives license to disrupt as she did. If God has convicted her to speak up for Jesus, and she finds a captive audience, she seems to feel no one has the right to stand in her way. No one else’s freedoms and feelings seem to count. Only hers.

Needless to say, various blogs hosted by atheists or others antagonistic toward Christianity have had a field day commenting on her behavior. But by no means are non-believers alone in their abhorrence about someone who seems to think that her sense of call to speak up for Christ trumps all norms of community and courtesy.

I can’t read Whitney Lynn’s heart, nor can anyone else. But I can say that her actions and seeming attitude don’t comport with my understanding of what Jesus and the New Testament’s writers called for. 

Although I can’t judge a person’s intent, I believe we have a responsibility to look seriously at the impact of actions, particularly when they seem to be bringing such disrepute to Christianity’s image. Thus I’m going to let you hear from others—most of them Christian who aren’t timid about calling out fellow Christians who they see as behaving badly in the name of Jesus.

The Christian scriptures call for judicious speech: “Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders. . . . Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Colossians 4:5, 6).

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, . . .” (2 Timothy 2:24-26). 

In most cases, I suggest, we would be better served to let our hearers be the ones to initiate spiritual discussions and ask questions, should they choose to do so. And when they do ask questions, we should follow the advice we read in 1 Peter 3:15: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect . . . .”

Remember, in Revelation 3:20, Jesus says: “I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” He doesn’t enter with a battering ram if we don’t choose to open the door. 

One of the complaints I often hear about aggressive Christian evangelizers is that they fail to understand such social essentials as boundaries and consent. Too many feel entitled to do whatever they like because they’re involved in something that’s so important—eternally important, they’re quick to point out. But that doesn’t justify a bullying/bulldozer/battering-ram approach.

Following are a collection of comments posted on people.com responding to Whitney Lynn’s preaching to her captive audience on the airplane and then vociferously complaining about the reactions her ill-considered actions have brought down upon her. I have lightly edited the quotes for clarity and, especially, for brevity, granted that some of the statements were originally longer and may have highlighted points that others had adequately addressed already. Note the following responses:

—I am a born-again Christian and a devoted follower of Jesus. I believe we are called to share the Good News and to evangelize. However, I believe that forcing one's preaching and beliefs on a captive audience is counter-productive, and turns people away from Jesus and away from faith in God instead of towards God. I can't think of a single instance where Jesus forced himself onto others or preached to folks who didn't have the choice to listen or walk away.

—I am a Christian, and while I appreciate that she may have felt a burden to speak love and blessings over people, the fact that she felt the need to record and post it says something else. It says, "I did this for attention. I did this for ‘likes.’”

—I’m a Christian, and I found her behavior rude and offensive. It's perfectly fine to share the word of God in places where people choose to listen to it, or places where they have the option to listen to it or not. Proselytizing to a captive audience is obnoxious and wasn't the way of Jesus.

—As a Christian, I think she needs to seek counseling. The airline did the right thing. I would have applauded them as she was being led off the plane.

—I am a Christian, and, yes, the Bible teaches us to spread The Word. But Jesus said one of the two most important commandments is to love your neighbor as yourself. This preacher was not being respectful. Jesus didn’t force people to listen to Him. He invited them. He didn’t lock them in a room and demand they accept His teachings.

—Freedom of religion is a fundamental right in the United States, and I will fight for that right alongside of you. However, just as you have a right to your beliefs, so do others. You can’t hijack an audience. That is infringing on their rights.

—I believe in evangelism, but timing matters. And here, the timing was off and showed a lack of wisdom. When you read the Bible, you see that Jesus operated with emotional intelligence—which I believe was not shown in this video.

—Many years ago I was on a Greyhound bus when a woman stood up, went to the front of the bus and started preaching. A couple of times, the driver asked her to stop. And people on the bus were grumbling. But she continued to preach. The driver stopped the bus in the middle of nowhere, opened the doors and told her to either stop or get off. She protested. But when she realized he would put her off the bus, she sat down and shut up for the rest of the ride. The rules of a “common carrier” prevent preaching to a “captive” audience. Then and now, I said: “Thank God!”

—As a Christian myself, I believe there is a proper time and place to evangelize. A closed space like an airplane—where people don't have a choice of whether they want to listen or not—isn't the proper time and space. I think the airlines did the right thing.

—I am a minister and serve over 1,000 employees as a chaplain. I am a firm believer that hitting people over the head with scripture will only cause more rejection. It is unfortunate that this young lady feels obligated to offend people into submission.

—She has every right to her beliefs, truly. But what she doesn’t seem to understand is that everyone else on that plane has the same right to their beliefs—including the right not to be preached to.

—Thank you, Alaska Airlines, for doing the right thing. By her own admission, she does it because she has a captive audience who can't easily walk away. If I want to hear a sermon, I'll go to a church of my choice. I wouldn't appreciate being treated like a prisoner of a terrorist on a plane.

—I admire her zeal for our Divine Savior. Yet The Word makes room for itself. It is not to be shoved down people's throats. Our Lord and Savior asks people to come willingly and to spread The Good News of salvation with love and gentleness. Check The Word. Be careful. Because unclean spirits can mask true intentions. This was arrogance and ignorance.

—I’m a Christian, and I think she showed her fellow passengers no courtesy. I can understand why the airline found it disruptive. Most airlines are trying to be neutral and treat passengers equally. For the airline, it’s not about Jesus, it’s about accommodating everyone. That’s common sense and common courtesy. But she got what she wanted: attention as an influencer.

—I am NOT an Xian, and I totally disagree with what this so-called preacher did. In your book of fables—which I have read 5+ times—your Jesus did not force people to listen to him. He also said to love your neighbor as yourself. Would this woman love her neighbor if he/she stood up and talked about atheism? You know she wouldn’t! She'd interrupt and be rude and demeaning.

—This woman wasn't doing this to promote Jesus. She did this to be the center of attention. Her actions were all about her. Jesus never said to be obnoxious and force people to listen to you. He never did that himself, either.

—These are the kind of people who claim as persecution what's really the consequence of their own bad choices. I say this as a Christian. It annoys to no end when other Christians make poor choices but, rather than own the responsibility for their choices, blame it on "spiritual warfare,” the devil or persecution. I think it's the biggest reason people are turned off by church and Christianity.

—I’m not sure this has anything to do with religion so much as with someone's need for attention. These "influencers" have an intense need for attention/gratification. Now it's been at least a minute since I last read the Bible, but I don't remember Jesus doing these things. He fed the hungry; taught the masses; ran out the false prophets who used the church to get rich—all the while forgiving us for being us.

—I’m a Christian, born and raised in the Baptist Church, and I always find this behavior boastful and more indicative of cult behavior. While we have freedom of religion, people also have freedom FROM religion. And even Jesus would respect that.

—I would have been happy to donate a roll of duct tape to control the situation!

—If someone had been talking about the Quran, this would have been classified as a terrorist attack.

—1 Timothy 2:12 and Matthew 6:5. She’s about as Christian as I am, and I'm an atheist. [The two texts the writer referred to say, respectively: “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.”/“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.”]

—You cannot provoke an aircraft full of travelers—many probably already irritated by the delays—and then kick back on social media and call it "spiritual warfare.” She went looking for a “fight," and when it happened. she hitched a ride to her 15 minutes of fame.

—Not everyone appreciates being preached to. It’s not right to force it onto anyone. This woman is really just starving for attention. She’s a classic Christian narcissist.

—I’m a Christian, My relationship is between myself and Christ. I don't feel the need to hijack a plane full of people, forcing them to listen to me preach, to keep Jesus happy.

—There are a lot of problems with religion, but the biggest problem with Christianity is Christians. You can say “not all Christians”—but until all Christians start holding this type of Christian accountable, it’s ALL Christians.