In her August 24 homily to the predominantly white assembled congregation at St. Paul’s, Gaventa launched into a racially hostile narrative about a white police officer shooting a young unarmed black man in 1943 Harlem, New York.

She then transitioned to present-day Ferguson, Missouri and in that context delineated a list of “unarmed black men who have been killed by law enforcement in the last month alone.”

Interestingly, Rev. Gaventa did not mention the killing of unarmed Dillon Taylor, a 20-year-old white man who earlier this month was fatally shot by a black police officer in Salt Lake City, Utah. Nor did Gaventa directly reference the killing of any other present-day white victims of violent crime as perpetrated by blacks or whites.

While counter-claiming that we have “become one in Christ,” Rev. Gaventa continued her divisive screed noting “systematic” racist white behavior in education, social media, and law enforcement—chalking it up to an “infection” of “white privilege.”

Gaventa’s final remarks caused silent outrage, as she equated Michael Brown to Jesus, implying that Brown, like Christ, was a sacrifice for our sin:

The God we love came to disrupt the power structures of the world that tell us what we are worth. He is a living God, who loved us so much and was so grieved by our inability to love him and one another, that he was willing to become human.

He became Michael Brown. He became the victim of our sin, so we wouldn’t have to sacrifice each other any more. His sacrifice should have been the last. His sacrifice was enough for us. And yet, here we are.

Sarah Kinney Gaventa’s confused contention that God became Michael Brown and other such false teachings of the social gospel were forewarned throughout the Bible, but perhaps most concisely in 2 Peter 2:1-3:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

The Sarah Kinney Gaventas of the post-modern American “church” are as dangerous as a brood of vipers. While diminishing the Great Commission, they instead promote divisive social policies that are contrary to Biblical Christianity and have a decidedly progressive political bent.

God did not become Michael Brown, and Michael Brown was not a sacrifice for our sin. Only Jesus Christ is God Incarnate, and only His blood can atone for our sin.

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith.—Romans 3:25

Hear Rev. Sarah Kinney Gaventa compare Michael Brown to Jesus Christ:

Rob Schilling, also known as Charlottesville VA’s “Community Watchdog,” is a respected voice and a trusted name across central Virginia. Weekdays from noon to 2 PM, Rob hosts The Schilling Show radio program, heard on Newsradio 1070 WINA and streamed live online.