January 30, 2024
Is it time to condemn Alistair Begg?
Alistair Begg, a well-known Christian pastor and radio commentator with decades of impeccable pastoral experience, recommended that a grandmother should attend a gay wedding if she felt led to. This advice has created a firestorm, and a number of sponsors have dropped Alistair Begg’s. Why this firestorm?
I believe that the Word of God condemns homosexuality and other forms of sexual immorality, but my gut feeling is that the reaction I am seeing is more cultural and political than it is Biblical. Are we willing to be consistent? Perhaps we should condemn people who attend the weddings of people who have been cohabiting before marriage. I mean, our attendance could be construed as an endorsement of fornication. Perhaps we should stay home? No, most of us would go and would think it was the right decision because we are maintaining a relationship with the couple. But there is little difference other than cohabiting is socially acceptable, while homosexuality is not.
I think the real difference is that we feel pressured culturally. We see the political power of the progressive movement and feel the decline of the church, and we respond out of our angst. We are angry about the cultural decline.
Perhaps the better approach is to work on two different levels. We can address the idea of homosexuality by presenting God’s alternative and pointing out the evils of what is sexual perversion. But when we deal with individuals, those that we are related to or work with, our actions must reflect the love of Christ.
I think the anger directed at Rev. Beggs is misplaced and unfortunate. We live in a difficult cultural moment, and we need to figure out how to reach people with the love of Christ, not judgment based on our own discomfort.
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