The Alistair Begg Debacle & Would Jesus Attend A "Gay Wedding"?

Hello, and thank you for listening to the Testing the Spirits podcast. The title of this episode is the Alistair Begg debacle, and would Jesus attend a gay.

Wedding?

Why Christians Cannot Treat a Same-Sex or Transgender Ceremony as Neutral

Now, I sort of feel dumb even asking that question because in my mind, the answer is a clear no. Obviously, Jesus would not attend a gay wedding. First of all, it's not a wedding. Second, we know that Jesus didn't do that.

And the whole thing, third, it's just unbiblical. But if you want to play that hypothetical game that yes, Jesus would attend, you know, okay, well, if he did, okay, which again, that never happened, obviously, but if he did, he would certainly, based on what we know from other passages, he would certainly preach the gospel to the people and call them to repentance.

Because the only justification that people have presented at all to defend Alistair Begg and this terrible advice, the only biblical argument people have been able to muster is the idea that Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners.

So therefore, they say he would attend this gay wedding or, you know, trans wedding, whatever that even is. So we're going to read that passage of scripture in just a moment. But just in case you haven't heard, you know, maybe you've been living under a rock.

It recently came out that Alistair Begg, the famous reformed preacher in a podcast from last year, he gave the advice to a Christian woman that she should, she should, okay, not that she can or that I'll allow it, no, he said, you should attend your grandson's transgender.

Wedding.

Begg said, you should not only attend, you should buy the couple a gift. And his reasoning is, well, if you don't go, that's just going to prove that, you know, what they already think, that Christians are just a bunch of judgmental, homophobic bigots,.

Right?

Now, people were shocked when they heard Alistair Begg say this. Some people thought, you know, they manipulated, someone manipulated the audio, like he didn't.

Really say that.

Then it became very clear that, yeah, he did. But when people heard this, they were shocked. Some people speculated, is Alistair Begg going senile? Well, he's only 71. That's probably not the case. Some people wondered, maybe his children or grandchildren have come out of the closet.

So that's why he's saying this. Maybe he's being blackmailed. I mean, people have speculated all sorts of things. And the fact is, we don't know. I'm not going to speculate why he believes this, but safe to say most people thought it was just completely out of character.

Now, actually, I had said in my initial video that I don't think it's totally out of character since Alistair Begg is, or last time I knew, he was a council member for the Gospel Coalition founded by Tim Keller.

So that organization, Gospel Coalition, TGC, I mean, they're just known for this type of thing, this type of compromise. So I wasn't totally shocked, but at the same time, I was a little bit. So my biggest concern, not just to talk about it because it's going on.

No, I have an immediate concern that this advice, here's what I'm worried about. When a famous preacher says something like this in public, this type of thing has a trickle down effect into the local church.

Not only is there all this pressure from the world to compromise and to give in, now you have famous pastors saying, well, you should do this. So it's the trickle down effect into the local church that I worry about.

I know one pastor who was a huge fan of Alistair Begg and he took Begg's belief about elders and church government, and he took that mindset that presumably he learned from Alistair Begg and he started to teach that in his local Baptist church.

And after a couple of years, that church totally changed the structure because of what this pastor taught. And he learned that from someone else, and that's the type of thing I worry about. Now I don't bring that up to argue or fight about church government.

That's not my point. My point is local church pastors learn from other pastors, and it's the famous pastors, it's the big names, the guys on radio, the guys who write books, who go to conferences. They're the leaders of other pastors.

So my point is when, and this didn't happen, thankfully, in this situation that I was aware of, but there will be pastors who listened to Alistair Begg and now because Alistair gave this advice, now they're going to give that advice.

So it's the trickle down effect into the local church that really, that's really why I'm talking about it. So that's the first thing. And just something I didn't really talk about, the second point that I want to make that I really didn't talk about in my previous videos and podcasts is the whole idea of attending.

A wedding.

The Meaning of Attending a Wedding

So what's the purpose of going to a wedding? Well, you attend, when you attend, you act as a witness. Historically, this was understood. You're not only there watching it, you're not only there as a witness, but you're also there assenting to it as a witness.

So much so that by being there at the wedding, you being there, being part of it, it's implied and expected again, historically, that you are pledging your support for the couple, that you are there, you will support them, you will pray for them, you will help them if they're ever in need.

And to some degree, at least, you are there to agree with the whole process and to keep them accountable to their vows. So that's why people went to weddings, to act as a witness, to support the couple.

So the point being, by simply attending the wedding, that in and of itself is a form, at least to some degree, of affirmation. That's why Christians cannot attend so-called gay weddings. It is not only an affront to God, who is the one who designed marriage.

It is also, I believe, a sin since you are, by being there, you have become a partaker of those evil deeds. Let's just change the details around a little bit to make it very clear. Let's say my friend decided that he was going to cheat on his wife and break up his family so that he could marry his secretary.

So he moves out of his house, ditches his wife and kids, he's committing adultery, and then he invites me to attend his new wedding with his new wife, who is his mistress, but his actual wife and kids, who he just ditched, are at home, they're devastated.

If I were to attend that wedding and buy him a gift, him and his mistress, actions speak louder than words, I could tell him that in private, hey, I disagree with what you're.

Doing.

But by being there and buying them a gift, my actions signal at least some level of approval. Well, that is what Alistair Begg is now recommending. And again, he did not tell the woman, you can attend.

Like, I don't really like it, but you can. No, Alistair Begg said you should attend and you should buy the couple a gift. Absolutely terrible advice. Now I'm not sure if Begg's advice constitutes a doctrine or not, but if that were a doctrine, wouldn't that be considered a false doctrine?

Begg has been given time. Here's the thing. If you say, well, he'll respond, I believe he'll respond and do the right thing. Well, it's already happened and he's not doing the right thing. Alistair Begg, his representatives have told, I already did a video on this.

If you didn't watch it, check it out. If you're listening on Spotify, go to my YouTube channel, Pastor Michael Grant, you can watch.

It there.

But Begg has already been given some time and his representatives told American Family Radio that he didn't misspeak. No, this is his belief. This is his position and he will not apologize. He will not recant.

Begg is sticking to his guns and because of that, he has been kicked off of, what, a couple hundred Christian radio stations all over the U .S. and probably more will follow. Bible-believing Christians all seem to agree.

I've never seen so much agreement in the comment section before. This was, again, all Christians seem to agree. There's always a couple people, right? But yeah, it's almost unanimous. This was horrible advice.

Oh, but someone will say, there's always that person. Oh, but if you don't go to the wedding, you're not being very loving. Alistair is just showing love. He's just showing the love of Jesus.

Well, here's the thing.

You can show love without attending the wedding. And besides, I'm tired of people using the word love to just justify whatever it is they want. Paul, in 1 Corinthians 13, he gives us the biblical definition of love, where he says that love does not rejoice in iniquity, rather love, true love rejoices in the truth.

There is nothing biblical or loving about attending this ceremony. In a wedding ceremony, by definition, is a celebration. So if you go and you keep quiet, again, you are a partaker of their evil deeds.

So Alistair Begg, I believe this advice, he is encouraging people to sin. I know that's not how he looks at it, but that's what I believe. That's what thousands, tens of thousands of pastors and rank and file Christians, everyone who's commented, this is the clear consensus.

I mean, obviously, and Alistair Begg would not have given this advice 30 years ago. He's caving to public pressure and we all know it. Oh, but someone would say, but Jesus would attend. Jesus would attend the transgender wedding based on what?

Really?

Based on what? Well, they say that he would attend based on the fact that he ate with tax collectors and sinners. I mean, this is the only argument that I've heard people make that's even halfway biblical and it's not biblical, but let's, let's read the passage Mark 2, 13 through 17.

Jesus Ate with Tax Collectors and Sinners to Call Them to Repentance

Here's what the Bible actually says, says, then he, that is Jesus, went out again by the sea and all the multitude came to him and he taught them. As he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alpheus, sitting at the tax office.

And he said to him, follow me. So he arose and followed him. Now it happened as he, that is Jesus, was dining in Levi's house, Levi is also known as Matthew, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and his disciples.

For there were many and they followed him. But when the scribes and the Pharisees saw him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to his disciples, how is it that he eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?

And this is where the Alistair Begg defenders come in and say, see, you're just being a.

Pharisee.

Um, no, I mean, not, I'll ignore the fact that that's a slanderous accusation. I'll just ignore that. But no, you're not being a Pharisee. Number one, uh, we are not critiquing Jesus. I mean, hello, we're not critiquing Jesus.

The Pharisees critiqued Jesus Christ. We are critiquing a particular piece of advice by Alistair Begg. So number one, we're not critiquing Jesus like the Pharisees. We're critiquing one thing that Alistair Begg said, Alistair Begg is not Jesus.

That's number one. And number two, Jesus wasn't attending a gay wedding, like it's apples to oranges. This wasn't a celebration honoring sin. This was Jesus on a particular evening, having a meal with people that he was trying to evangelize.

And this is the key. What was Jesus's purpose of meeting with the tax collectors and sinners? Was he just hanging out with them? Because that's what he did every Friday night. He hung out with the prostitutes and the sinners.

No, that's slander too. That's not what Jesus did. He wasn't hanging out. His purpose, if you actually read the story, his purpose was to evangelize them. His purpose was according to verse 17, to call the sinners to repentance.

Verse 17 says, when Jesus heard what the Pharisees said, he replied, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Notice Jesus says they're sick and I've come to call them to repentance. So in conclusion, if Alistair Begg told the woman to attend, so that at the moment where the minister stands up and he says, is there anyone here who has any reason why this couple should not be joined together in holy matrimony?

If Alistair Begg said to the grandmother, okay, at that moment during the ceremony, when the minister says that, that's when you stand up and you preach the gospel and you call them to repentance. If Alistair Begg gave that advice, hey, great, fine.

We had all support him, but that's not what he did. Instead, he said, go and attend and buy the couple a gift. Otherwise, it's just going to prove to the gay couple that you're what they always thought you were, a judgmental, hypocritical bigot.

Well, why isn't that judgmental? You know, why is it that the grandmother has to give in? Why can't the couple just respect her beliefs? And if they accuse her of being judgmental, how are they any different?

Aren't they judging her? But this is the problem. This stuff only goes one way. But enough is enough, and I think Christians are growing sick and tired of it. And the backlash against Alistair Begg and his advice, it really proves it.

He is on the wrong side, and this isn't going away. So in conclusion, please pray for Alistair Begg. Pray for his church. Pray for Christians, that they wouldn't be led into this compromise due to this advice.

And pray that the Lord would continue to strengthen us in these perilous times in which we live. Thanks for listening, and until next time, may the Lord be with you, and have a great day.