Pastor Paula White - No Compromise

You won’t find too many places where artists like Yolanda Adams and The Crabb Family are sharing the stage for one service because their musical styles are so different. This coming Sunday (February 19, 2006), however, at Without Walls International Church in Tampa, FL, that is exactly what you’ll find. Pastor Paula White and her husband Randy, both co-pastors of the church, do things a bit differently than the “norm,” so this isn’t unusual for them. For these two ministers, there is no compromise when it comes to how they share their faith, even if it is sometimes different from the rest. “When you’re following God’s call, you never have to compromise that fire that He puts in you,” Paula explained.

One flame in that fire that God put into Paula and Randy is to tear down walls. “One of the great calls for Randy and myself is to tear down the walls that divide us as a people; walls of racism, walls of denomination; that’s where the name Without Walls comes from. We believe that we come together to celebrate, to receive instruction and then to go outside of the four walls of the church and impact our community, our state, our nation, our world. We’re light to the world. We’re salt of the earth,” said Paula. “And whether that’s in your place of employment, in your family … in every platform that God gifts you, you are called to make a difference. I do believe that a house divided doesn’t stand. We must lay aside the small differences and come to the central theme of the cross and Christ and the power that is in that cross.”

Speaking Out

In another instance of coming together and being bold in faith, Without Walls spoke out as a group this past Christmas by hanging a banner as large as a tractor-trailer that said “To Hell With Happy Holidays – Put Christ Back In Christmas!” Paula explained, “We’re not ashamed of the Gospel, why we celebrate Christmas, who we are as Christians. Is it a little radical to say it like that? Sure, but that seems to be our personalities and our call. Our county was the second county to say, ‘You can’t say Christmas Break. You have to say winter holidays.’ Somewhere, for our children, for those that will go behind us, you have to take a stand. There was a day when Rosa Parks said, ‘I will not continue to stand on the back of the bus when I paid the same fare and am entitled to the same rights.’ Conceptually, it’s the same thing. We, as Christians, spend our money in the same stores. Statistically, we’re told that 85 – 87% of people in America proclaim Christ in some way. We’re not a minority. We’re a majority. When we come together, we make a difference – we have a voice. I think that’s the key - laying down the things that divide us and coming together on the things that unite us, which are around the cross.”

As a result of their campaign, they saw a lot of positive action. “Target made changes to include Christmas in their TV ads. Lowes changed its tune to say their holiday trees are now Christmas trees. Cosco issued a statement saying, ‘When you walk into our stores you see Christmas.’ Walgreens said that things will be different next year with how they handle Christmas. Sears added Merry Christmas signs in all of their stores. Macy’s began using Christmas in their advertising mid-season,” said Paula. “We continue to receive supportive emails to our ministry.” National retailers making changes or promising to make changes because someone took a stand … not a bad beginning.

Maximum Potential

Paula White herself didn’t have an auspicious beginning. She survived the aftermath of her father taking his own life when she was five years old and went on to suffer years of physical and sexual abuse. It would have been easy, typical and certainly understandable if she had turned out to be hard, abrasive and angry at the world - or the exact opposite - mousy and scared of her own shadow, but Paula White did neither. After being introduced to the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the age of 18, her life turned around and she hasn’t looked back. She isn’t confrontational, beating the world over the head with her bible, but she is very bold and vocal about her faith. She refuses to compromise her Savior in order to be found acceptable by the world at large. “We are called to be as wise as a serpent and as gentle as a dove to have the maximum potential for the Lord, but I don’t believe that we’re to compromise or water down in any way what God has put inside of us,” she explained. “I say this often; people get frustrated because they’re trying to force-feed people who aren’t hungry for what God has put on the inside of them. You will never have to compromise the gift or the call that God has put in you. There are people that are literally starving for what God has put on the inside of you.“