Did Alistair Begg Have A Point? | Pastor Reacts

The Alistair Begg Controversy and the Question of His Point

Here's my question to you. Does Alistair Begg have a point? Honestly, friends, this is where a lot of people in church embarrass themselves and give the church a bad name. You know, Jesus didn't say you should love each other, but when a brother who, by the way, has faithfully and accurately preached the word for years, when he says something that you disagree with, definitely get on Twitter, guys.

What is going on with Alistair Begg and the controversy that he started with his original comments about LGBT weddings? You know, I actually wasn't going to react to this at all. I thought to myself, what more can be said that has not already been said?

And then Begg came out defending himself. And I realized, boy, you know what? We're not actually talking to each other. Like in the church, those who have responded to Begg and Begg himself, we're just talking around each other.

So let's get into it and see if we can truly understand what just happened and if we can find a way through this mess and come out the other side with greater clarity on how to approach the whole issue of attending LGBT weddings as Christians.

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Watch this.

Begg's Defense and the Critics' Backlash

In that conversation with that grandmother, I was concerned about the wellbeing of their relationship more than anything else, hence my counsel. Don't misunderstand that in any way at all. If I was in the receiving end of another question about another situation from another person in another time, I may answer absolutely differently.

But 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 10 days. If that were the case, I would never, if that were the case, I should never have said it in the first place if you want me to recant and to repent.

To repent?

I repent daily, because I say a lot of things that I shouldn't say. I mean, check with Sue, but the fact of the matter is, I'm not ready to repent over this.

So it sounds like Begg feels no need to change his opinion, to change his advice. And we're gonna get to the original issue that started all of this in a moment, and then I'll see if we can break this down in a way that's helpful for all of us.

For now, let's take a look at some of the criticisms that actually caused Begg to react this way in the first place. So this is an article from Christianity Today that says Alistair Begg stands by LGBTQ wedding advice with sermon on Jesus' compassion, and we just watched a clip from that sermon.

It says, for the past few weeks, Alistair Begg, pastor of Parkside Church in Chagrin Falls, appropriate name, Ohio, and host of the Truth for Life radio program has been caught in what he calls a storm in a teacup.

Why, what's going on? Begg's comments set off a firestorm among some of his fans and supporters, in particular, those in conservative Calvinist and other evangelical communities. So here's some of the backlash.

Look at this. Begg had been scheduled to speak in March at the Shepherds Conference, a major reform... The Shepherds Conference is huge, guys. What is that? That's MacArthur, right? A major reformed evangelicals pastors gathering led by California pastor and author John MacArthur, okay?

After Begg's comments became public, he and MacArthur talked and decided the controversy would be an unnecessary distraction, according to a spokesman for Grace to You. So both agreed that it was necessary for Pastor Begg to withdraw.

That's a big deal. Here's something else. AFR, American Family Radio, dropped Truth for Life, a program based on Begg's sermons last week after his advice resurfaced and went viral. There have been many people on social media who are throwing around the word cancel, as in cancel Alistair.

I saw a person on Twitter use the phrase RIP, Begg. That's weird to me. A lot of people are up in arms about this. What is the hullabaloo all about? What started this? It's about this conversation that Begg had with a concerned grandmother.

Watch this.

Begg's Advice to the Grandmother About Attending the Ceremony

You and I know that we 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.

Okay, so that's what caused this uproar. Now, here's my question to you. Does Alistair Begg have a point? Let me back up. What is Alistair Begg's point here? Is his point that we should attend LGBT weddings, or is his point something else?

Really, let me know what you think. I really do wanna know. I think that his point is not to go to LGBT weddings. I don't think he's making a blanket endorsement for all Christians to go to LGBT weddings.

He said a moment ago that in another situation to another person, he'd probably give different advice. Fine, I take him at face value. The question I'm asking is fundamental. So we can understand this as good critical thinkers in the church.

What was Begg's point that he was trying to make? The thing that he said when he caused all the controversy and the firestorm, what was the point that he was trying to make? Isn't it that we should extend grace to our enemies?

That we should challenge ourselves to show grace to folks who have probably made up their minds about Christians, who probably have a low view of Christians? Isn't that his point? I think it is. If you pay attention to what he's saying, I think that's precisely the point that he was trying to make.

Now, how he applies this point, I think is wrong. But to the underlying point, is he right? Does he have a point here? Is this taught in scripture? And the answer is yes. Jesus says in Matthew chapter five, verse 43, you have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.

But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you so that you may be sons of your father who is in heaven. For he, the father, makes his son rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same. And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same.

You, here it is, you therefore must be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. The point here is, we should be like our heavenly father, who by the way, makes his son rise on the evil. He sends rain to the unjust.

That is the kind of love that the father reveals to the world. And Jesus says, we must be like this. That's what verse 48 is all about. It's not about perfection. I think that's an unhelpful word. It's about maturity in love.

It's about completeness in love. That is something that the Bible definitely teaches. And I think Begg is trying to appeal to this sentiment that is clearly taught in the scripture. But here's where I think he's wrong.

And here's where I think the folks who have disagreed with him are coming from a place that is actually correct, okay? So you set aside how these criticisms have been wielded against Begg, because I think a lot of this has been overblown and inappropriate.

You know, RIP Begg. I've seen folks call him devilish and sinful.

Why?

Like, why can't we just say, you know, I think you're wrong. What's, why is that not sufficient to say? Honestly, friends, this is where a lot of people in church embarrass themselves and give the church a bad name.

All of the cancellation stuff on social media, you know, the heightened rhetoric, you know, I thought about showcasing them here for a hot minute. And then, you know, I just, I realized I'm not gonna do that.

You can go find it if you're really curious. You can go see what people are saying online, on Twitter, all those things. It's not hard to find. But all of this kind of rhetoric is completely unhelpful and it makes us look no different than the world, which is ironic because we're supposed to be different.

Amen?

We're supposed to stand out. Remember when Jesus said, John 13, 34 says, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. This is Jesus talking to his disciples.

By this, all people will know that you are my disciples. If, if you have love for one another. You know, Jesus didn't say you should love each other, but when a brother who, by the way, has faithfully and accurately preached the word for years, when he says something that you disagree with, definitely get on Twitter, guys.

Definitely do what everyone else in our hot take culture does. Get on Twitter, call in names, say RIP, Beg. No, that's not what we're supposed to do. And you know it. You and my audience, you're smart enough to figure this out.

That's not what we're supposed to do. That's not what we're called to. We're supposed to disagree differently than the rest of the world. That's the point. So let me try this, okay? I'm going to disagree with Alistair Beg.

And here's what I'll say about it. I'll just say a couple of things, and then I want to know what you think, okay? Let's keep this conversation going, because I think it's important. Hey, real quick. I'm so glad that you're watching, but did you know that 68 of you that watch are not subscribed to the channel?

Can you believe that?

That blew my mind when I saw that. That's amazing. Would you please help me get this video out to more people by liking and subscribing to the channel? I really do appreciate it. The first thing I'll say is, weddings are a sacred event that was created by God to speak theology.

And I've said this in previous videos, okay? That means the event itself, for Christians, is a big deal. Every time there is a wedding, we are taken right back to Genesis chapter two, verse 23. It says, this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

This is what Adam is saying. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

This is marriage, guys. This is in our heads as Christians when people get married. That makes it a sacred affair. It takes us right back to the creation account. It takes us right back to the Garden of Eden.

Now, I know that the culture doesn't see it that way, that in a lot of weddings today, God has nothing to do with marriage, and that's sad. I'm just pointing out that for Christians, we are different.

We're coming from an entirely different framework on marriage and weddings, okay? The second thing I'll say is, we are representatives of God. 2 Corinthians 5 .20 says this, therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.

We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. God is making his appeal through us. That means wherever we go, whatever we do, we represent the Lord. And I just don't think we really appreciate this as much as we need to in today's culture.

Christians, I mean, you know, those of us in the church. We go around and, you know, most of the day, we just live our lives, not really thinking about the implications of the fact that the Bible teaches that we are representing Christ to everyone around us.

That means that we have to start thinking about what our actions communicate, even implicitly that align or do not align with God's word and with his desires. And the fact is God invented marriage for a very specific reason.

It's not merely about two people loving each other. I mean, it does entail that obviously, but it's much deeper. It cuts much deeper than that. Theologically speaking, it's about mirroring or imaging what is taking place in heaven.

This is why God says, let us make man in our image in Genesis chapter one. You know, a lot of us read that, Genesis one, and we think, yeah, God made individuals, right? Man apart from woman in his own image.

Wait a second, look a little bit closer, Genesis 127. So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him, male and female, he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.

Obviously to be fruitful and multiply is within the context of marriage. And so the point that I'm making is, yes, the image of God is expressed individually in a man and a woman, but it's also expressed when they come together as man and woman, they become one flesh.

That's later in chapter two. And this one fleshness of male and female also images our creator, guys. That's the whole point I'm trying to make. It images our creator and it images his purposes. The apostle Paul has a lot to say about making this kind of connection between marriage and the Lord in Ephesians chapter five.

We mirror what is happening in heaven. That is why Jesus says in the Lord's prayer, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It's the as it is in heaven part that we truly need to take seriously as Christians because it's that precise concept that forces us to draw distinctions.

It forces us to draw boundaries, to understand where the line is between being in the world and not of the world.

Amen?

And I think that a lot of us, we just, whether we realize it or not, we believe that we can actually sever our words from our actions and actually treat them as two separate categories. When in reality, the Bible tells us that our actions are connected to our words.

And because of that, they actually need to back up or reinforce our very words. James 2 .14 says, what good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works, does not have action?

Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed and filled without giving them the things needed for the body, without backing your words up with action, what good is that?

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. Another way of thinking about this is, so also your words that are shaped by your faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. This is why I do not believe that Christians can go to an LGBT wedding.

And I'm not the only one. We are saying one thing with our mouths and then communicating something else entirely with our actions if we go and we attend the wedding. And I would argue, and I think others have, we need to be consistent on this.

Our actions need to back up with our words. The moment. Think about this. At the end of the ceremony, when the newly married couple is announced for the very first time, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs.

So-and-so, right? That is the precise moment that everyone in the audience is encouraged to what? To recognize them and then give applause. What are they applauding? The ceremony. This is an endorsement of the ceremony itself.

And we just, we cannot do that as Christians. That's where I think the line is. Ironically, Beg gave the grandmother the actual solution to this issue. She needed to go talk to her grandchild and just explain her position, explain her feelings, explain her biblical convictions, and then try to work it out with them.

That's exactly, that is my advice. And that's what I've advised people as a pastor at a church, when this question has popped up, that's exactly what I've told people to do.

Go talk to them.

Don't avoid them. Go share your heart, okay? So what's interesting is Beg gave good advice, and then he just, in my opinion, he took it a step too far. We should be able to clearly articulate ourselves and trust the relationship that we have with folks in the world around us.

We need to trust that it's strong enough to survive the difficult truths that we need to communicate to them. But whenever we do so, we speak the truth in love, we are to season our words with salt, we are to use wisdom towards outsiders so that we know how we ought to speak.

And we do these things as ambassadors for Jesus Christ, as if God is making his appeal to the world directly through us. And then we let God deal with the consequences.

Amen?

Those are my thoughts. And you know what? Now it's your turn. What do you think of this whole Alistair Begg controversy? You know, is it deserved? Is it overblown? Did he have a point somewhere buried underneath all of this?

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