Uninformed compassion
The firestorm
If you are at all connected in the Reformed Christian world, and probably if you’re not, by now you’ve heard about comments made by Pastor Alistair Begg on a podcast this last September as he was promoting his new book. The comments seemed to go under the radar for months, but now that they have resurfaced, boy oh boy, what a stir they’ve caused. I am going to post his comments in their entirety, as well as a link to the podcast so you can listen to his words and hear them in context (here beginning at 27:00). His comments are as follows:
“You and I field questions all the time that go along the lines of, ‘My grandson is about to be married to a transgender person, and I don’t know what to do about this, and I’m calling to ask you to tell me what to do,’ which is a huge responsibility.
And in a conversation like that just a few days ago, and people may not like this answer, but I asked the grandmother, ‘Does your grandson understand your belief in Jesus?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Does your grandson understand that your belief in Jesus makes it such that you can’t countenance, in any affirming way, the choices that he has made in life?’ ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Well, then okay, as long as he knows that, then I suggest that you do go to the ceremony, and I suggest that you buy them a gift.’
‘Oh,’ she said. ‘What?’ She was caught off guard. I said, ‘Well, here’s the thing, your love for them may catch them off guard, but your absence will simply reinforce the fact that they said these people are what I always thought – judgmental, critical, unprepared to countenance anything.’
And it is a fancy, it is a fine line, isn’t it? It really is, and people need to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling. But I think we’re gonna take that risk, we’re gonna have to take that risk a lot more if we want to build bridges into the hearts and lives of those who don’t understand Jesus and don’t understand that He is a King.”
Yeah, he said that, and it has caused quite the brew-ha-ha.
Don’t concede the dictionary
There are several significant issues with Begg’s comments here, and many Christians have offered their own thoughts and criticisms. I don’t want to simply repeat what others have said, and so I am attempting to share how I responded to his words before I took in anyone else’s response. These are no particular order, and I hope you find them helpful in strengthening your Christian worldview and sharpening your Christian thinking.
The first grave error Begg commits is forfeiting the meaning and definitions of words and allowing the Cult of Transianity to set the chessboard, as it were. There is no such thing as a “transgender” person – it is a made-up term for a made-up category for people who suffer from a very real mental illness. There are men who pretend to be women, going as far as cutting off their penises and having fake-breast tissue attached to their bodies, but their sex and gender are the same and immutable – there is no trans-ing here. Begg has given ground to the Wokies by using their fairy-tale language.
Begg also agrees that when Progressives call us “judgmental, critical, and unprepared to countenance what they do,” they are somehow correct, and these are actually valid critiques of us. But people who are futile in their thinking and whose foolish hearts are darkened (Romans 1:21), they have no basis for defining these words or using them correctly. Furthermore, when it comes to wickedness, sinfulness, sexual deviancy, and that which the Lord calls an abomination, I would HOPE that believers would be highly critical, judgmental (as in passing right judgment), and unwilling to countenance (to permit or approve) godless practices.
And then we have “building bridges,” which a simple internet search will reveal is a very popular slogan in the social justice and social transformation world. Interesting enough, the New Testament word for reconciliation has the connotation of building a bridge between two separated parties so they can be united. However, and this is a big however, true reconciliation, be it between God and people or people and people, is always, and I mean always preceded by sorrow for sin, confession of sin, and repentance. You see, I want to build bridges with sodomites, and I want them to be reconciled to God, but as long as they joyfully rebel against the same King Begg purports to worship and glory in their sexual sin, there can be no bridges built, and it’s not because I don’t want to – it’s because they don’t want to.
Some helpful examples
The second grave error Begg commits is a massive category error, and a failure to see his position through to its logical conclusion. He says that so long as you voice your disagreement with one’s lifestyle choices and affirm your love for Christ, you can attend the wedding and bring a gift. Now, I’m not going to address the fact that a wedding by nature is a celebration in which the adherents support and affirm the union. I’m also not going to address that unless it is one man and one woman in a monogamous, covenantal union for life, it’s not actually marriage. We can call it a mirage, or a sodomite union – whichever you prefer.
No, the issue is this – would Begg apply that same logic if a mother wanted to be united to her biological son? How about a daughter marrying her uncle? What about a man marrying his dog? What about one man marrying three women? What about an adult marrying a minor? If Begg were to consistently apply his line of thinking, so long as it were legal in the courts, he would have no justification for not attending any of these satanic ceremonies. None of them. Although I am sure he would counsel that sweet old grandmother to remain absent from these ceremonies, as he should, doing so betrays his inability to think about these issues with sober, Biblical judgment.
That may sound harsh, but all I am doing is taking his argument and pressing it all the way to the end of itself, and doing so exposes that either Begg hasn’t considered these matters deeply enough or he’s just soft on Transianity. Neither is acceptable for a seventy-one-year-old man who has been a pastor at his church for forty years.
For the Bible tells me so
My strongest criticism of Begg actually isn’t my criticism, but the divinely inspired words of the Apostle Paul – the Word of God explicitly and expressly says that a follower of Jesus is required to do the exact opposite of what Begg said to little old granny. In Ephesians 5:1-2, the Apostle Paul writes, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Apparently, we are to be like Christ, which means we are to walk in love. The very next words from Paul are not disconnected. He is not introducing a new thought. Consider that he is about to tell us what it means to walk in love in the midst of those who gladly sin and rebel against Christ.
“But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” – Ephesians 5:3-17
Can Christians attend a so-called transgender wedding? No, of course not. What part of not becoming partners, taking no part in their works of darkness, and exposing their works of darkness did Begg not understand? To fail to do so would be, as Paul said, walking in an unwise manner, making the worst use of the time, being foolish, and not understanding what the will of the Lord is. This isn’t an obscure passage of Scripture, either. This is an egregious failure on Begg’s part.
If you can believe it, it get’s worse.
Since this podcast audio resurfaced, Begg has been taken to task by many solid evangelicals, and rightfully so. Here is a man with a large church, a far-reaching radio ministry, and invitations to speak at conferences held by the likes of Ligonier and Grace Community Church. He has been called to clarify his position if he misspoke, recant his position if he meant it, and repent of his ungodly counsel.
Well, it turns out, Begg became well aware of the firestorm his words caused, and of calls from faithful brothers to make things right. To my utter amazement, and my sorrowful shock, he has chosen to do the opposite. In a recent sermon titled, “Compassion v. Condemnation” (watch here), Begg said that his, “great concern for the grandmother was for her and her relationship with her granddaughter.” All he was thinking about was how he could, “help this grandmother not to lose her granddaughter.” In that conversation he was concerned with, “the well-being of their relationship, more than anything else… In that case I answered in that way and I would not answer in any other way, no matter what anybody says on the internet as of the last ten days… People want me to recant and to repent. To repent? I repent daily because I say a lot of things that I shouldn’t say… but the fact of the matter is I’m not ready to repent over this. I don’t have to.”
That all might sound godly and noble, but it reeks of pietism, and it’s actually so sad to see Alistair Begg get this so very wrong. Simply put, his primary concern should be, as Paul noted, whatever is most pleasing to the Lord. What will glorify Christ? His second concern should have been to counsel sweet old granny to herself do what is most pleasing to Christ, what will most honour her King. What this looks like is more people-pleasing and the fear of man than pleasing the Lord and the fear of God.
Didn’t Jesus say that the nature of His Word and His truth will act as a sword dividing members of one’s own household, and that in light of this, anyone who loves their family more than Christ, or who seeks to please their family more than Christ, is not worthy of being His disciple (Matthew 10:34-39)? Could you imagine the Apostle Paul giving the same counsel as Begg? I really do hope he walks back his comments, recants, and repents. This is very serious.
Let this be both a warning and an exhortation to you. In the Christian life, how you begin the race and how you coast in your prime don’t mean a thing if you don’t finish well. I exhort you, commit to finishing well. We outgrow a lot of things as we mature – admitting wrong and humbly repenting is not one of them. Also, we can’t be Christian fanboys (or fangirls). I suggest something like this: As we mature in our walk, we do outgrow and dispense with the immature and ungodly cult of putting pastors on a pedestal. Don’t idolize any pastor, minister, or theologian – have Christ be the prime object of your affection. As I have said many times, dig your roots deep in your local church and invest in those around you. There is not only a cultural schism coming, but a shaking up of Evangelicalism that will change the Christian world as we know it. Make sure you have a solid community of faith around you. Finally, be compassionate and loving - in a way that is informed by the Word of God and the glory of God. Seek to honour Christ first in all things, and let His Word define what it means to be kind to those around you.