Holland & Knight is an international law firm with a staff of over one thousand attorneys. It is to this high-powered firm that First Baptist Church of Naples turned when it sought to discover who had been sending emails to church members which dissented from controversial actions being taken by church leadership. That a New Testament Church of the Lord Jesus Christ turned to secular lawyers to resolve a dispute with fellow Christians from its own body is a reproach to the Lord in and of itself.
Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?
1 Corinthians 6:1-7
Below is a copy of the “cease and desist” letter sent to excommunicated church members by Holland & Knight Partner Nathan A. Adams, IV on behalf of First Baptist Naples.
To add insult to injury, Adams, who specializes in religious institution law, cited a “higher standard” to which the recipients of his letter should have been adhering…scripture. The deacons and staff members of FBC Naples have thrown scripture to the wind by excommunicating church members without giving them a hearing before the church body, Furthermore, the church’s secular law firm is now lecturing Christians about proper moral behavior. On its website, Holland & Knight boasts of its internal “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Affinity Group”.
Holland & Knight also advertises its “perfect rating of 100 percent on the 2019 Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index“. The Human Rights Campaign is a radically anti-Christian gay-rights organization that stands opposed to many of the moral values espoused by Southern Baptist Churches such as FBC Naples and has been labeled “deceptive” by Southern Baptist ethicist Andrew Walker.
It is certainly within a secular business’s best interest to seek the most qualified workers and provide them a fair work environment. It is also within a church’s best interest to employ the most qualified service providers. Workers who don’t sin are simply unavailable. Nevertheless, there is something profoundly wrong with a bible-believing church hiring a law firm which glorifies a sin which God hates in order to browbeat, using God’s own word, the members it has unbiblically dismissed. If you are a member of FBC Naples, this is how your tithes and offerings are being spent. The leaders who took this legal action are your leaders.
Do you really support them?
You can contact your church’s lawyer and share the gospel with him at 850.425.5640 and [email protected].
*Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use.
**If you are reading this and consider yourself “LBBTQ” please consider that the Christians with whom you work want the best for you. They do not want you to lose your job and your ability to support your family. Rather, they want you to gain a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and become a part of the family of God, being reconciled with God the Father. Christ offers forgiveness of sins and His church proclaims His grace and His glory.
