You better duck, there is some free speech flying at your
face right now. Who would have thought
that in 2013 one of television’s most popular stars would be “suspended
indefinitely” for giving their honest opinion, upon request, in an
interview? Very interesting times we are
living in.
Of course I am talking about Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson,
and A&E’s decision to suspend him after he answered an interview question
about his thoughts on sin. Phil gave his
opinion on homosexuality based on his Biblical worldview. He then roughly quoted 1 Corinthians 6:9 –
“Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of
God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who
worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice
homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive,
or cheat people – none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.” (NLT) It should come as no surprise to anyone that has
ever watched the show, seen or heard an interview of one of the cast members,
or even been exposed to any form of media in the last year that Phil is a Bible
believing Christian. He ends every
episode with a prayer in Jesus’ name, for crying out loud.
No sooner had his words stopped echoing in the cosmos had a
loud mouth from the LGBT media watchdog, GLAAD, started railing against
Robertson and his ‘vile’ remarks. The
spokesperson said that his statement was “littered with outdated stereotypes
and blatant misinformation.” Not long
after this statement was put out, A&E released a statement saying that Phil
was out, because the network has “always been strong supporters and champions
of the LGBT community.”
If the network has always been such strong supporters of the
LGBT community, why did they put out a TV show of a family that is very
outspoken about their Christian faith?
Bible believing Christians have shared this same belief for two thousand
years. Before Paul had written this
letter to the church at Corinth, Jews held the same belief about sexual sin for
several thousand years. The network knew
going into the show where the Robertson family stood. They knew they were not ashamed of the Bible,
of Jesus, or to share either one with the world. They had to have known that this would
eventually come up; especially in this day and age of hyper political
correctness. After the Dan Cathy of
Chick-fil-a media and PR storm, and the fact that there is some kind of LGBT
story in the news every single day, and just that this is the hottest topic
out, they couldn’t have been so naïve to think that this would not come
up.
The suspension of Phil Robertson is not my biggest
concern. The attack on free speech in
America is not my concern. The apparent
war on Christians, whether real or not, is not even my concern. My concern is the spiritual side of this
whole mess going on in the world right now.
We do not have a gay and lesbian problem in the world. We do not have a freedom problem. What we have here, is a full blown sin
problem. We have had a sin problem since
Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, but now it seems to be at a fever
pitch. That is what I am most concerned
about.
If you are easily offended, you should keep reading, even
though you are going to be offended. If
you are a non-believer; atheist; agnostic; or somewhere along those lines, you
should keep reading. If you are a Bible
believing Christian, you most definitely should keep reading. This has been building up inside of me for
quite some time, and I feel now is the time I have to write this.
First, I ask you to keep an open mind. Please read this to the end, reflect on what
I have to say, and then you can formulate an opinion and respond. I beg you, please do not stop here, call me a
bigot, hypocrite, homophobe, and start hating on me. I have put too much thought and time into
this whole thing for you to fly off the handle and not give me a chance to
voice my thoughts and concerns.
Let me start off by saying that I am in no way, shape, or
form a homophobe. I am not scared by
someone who is attracted to someone of the same sex. I am certainly not scared of some guy
thinking I am attractive. I can honestly
say, I’m not even worried about a woman thinking that about me. I am too bald, and too overweight, for
someone to make a move on me. I thank
God that my lovely wife of 14 years is still blinded by love, but I digress.
I could give the cliché statement of, “I have gay friends so
I can’t be a homophobe”. I do, in fact,
have friends that happen to be gay; but that is not the point. No, I have a family member that is
homosexual. Not just any family member
either. My big brother came out as gay
over thirteen years ago. That has not
changed the way I feel about him.
When I was a kid I looked up to my brother, like most
kids. Even though we had different
mothers, were 12 years apart, and we didn't live in the same state; I still
admired my brother. On two different
occasions in school (once in middle school the other in high school), I had to
write a paper on who I looked up to. I
wrote about my brother. I always thought
he was so cool. When I was in high
school, he was married and living in Austin.
He was a very successful furniture sales rep. He lived in a beautiful home. And he was married to a wonderful lady. He had accomplished all of this with very
little college education. I thought that
was so impressive. I wanted to be like
him. I even thought, very briefly, that
I wanted to sell furniture when I grew up.
Fast forward several years.
I had just graduated high school and had moved to Dallas for
college. Every time my brother came to
town, we would get together for dinner with our sister. I absolutely loved this time with them. On occasion, he would bring his wife, but it
was always good to get to see him. A couple
of years later he came out. I will admit
that I was shocked and upset. I just
didn't believe it was true. The guy that
I have looked up to, and wanted to be like for so long, was somebody completely
not who I thought he was.
Due to life and schedules, we did not see each other for
several years. It was family illnesses
that caused our paths to cross again. I
eventually met his partner, and I realized that he was a great guy too. I truly love them and admire them both. They are both such successful people at just
about everything they do. They are so
incredibly talented and smart. Even
though I only see them every couple of years, I still brag about them and all
they have accomplished. I am amazed at
the things they have done, and the places they have been, the people they have
met, and the business they have built. It
is really neat to think that that is my brother, and my “brother-in-law”. My
kids love getting to visit with their uncles.
Do I like the fact that my brother is gay? No. Do
I think that homosexuality is not a sin because someone I love is living that
lifestyle? No. I do believe that homosexuality is a sin
because the Bible says it is. But you
know what? I have done a whole lot
worse. Did you know that out of control
anger is a sin? Guilty. Did you know that lusting after a woman that
is not your wife; or that sex outside of marriage is a sin? Guilty.
Taking the Lord’s name in vain?
Yup, you guessed it, been there and done that. I have lied.
I have cheated. I have
stolen. I have broken laws. More importantly, I have broken many of God’s
laws. I, Jason Martin, am a sinner. I do not condemn anybody else for being a
sinner. In John chapter 8, a crowd
brings a woman that had been caught committing adultery to Jesus trying to get
his opinion if they should stone her as the Law of Moses said. They are looking for a way to catch him by
his response to use against him, but he tells them “Let the one who has never
sinned throw the first stone.” If I was
there in that crowd with a rock in my hand, I would have been the first one to
drop my stone and sneak away with my tail between my legs. I am no better than the next guy that has
sinned. That means I am no better than
someone that commits the sin of homosexuality.
The difference is, I have acknowledged that I am a sinner
and I strive to live a life that reflects Jesus’ teachings. Does this make better than the next guy? Absolutely not. Does this mean any gay person is going to
hell for their sin? I don’t believe
so. I personally do not believe that
being gay buys you a one way ticket to the lake of burning fire for all
eternity. Then again, I am not God. I do not know what is in each person’s
heart. Only He knows. The only thing I know for sure is this: the
Bible says explicitly that homosexuality is a sin. It also says in Romans 6:23 that “The wages
of sin is death”, but it goes on to say that “the free gift of God is eternal
life through Christ Jesus our Lord”.
Just like the crowd that brought the girl to Jesus said when they were
quoting Moses’ law, we deserve to die as a result of our sin. But like then, Jesus stepped up and offered
us a pardon. With a simple action and a
gentle word, he was able to calm the rage in that crowd towards that
woman. Then a short time later, through
a major action, his death on the cross; and the simple words, “IT IS FINISHED”,
he paid the price for our sins. All we
have to do is accept the free gift that Paul talks about in Romans.
Accepting the free gift of life that we receive from Jesus
is not just simply saying, “Thanks, I’ll take my free life now” and running off
to continue living my old life. It takes
commitment. It takes buy-in. I can’t walk into McDonald’s and order a large
Dr. Pepper and have a couple of sips and leave, and then come back every day
for eternity expecting to fill up that cup that I bought that one day. Those free refills are for that visit only. The same goes for Jesus’ gift of free
life. I can’t order a large side of free
life and go on living any way I want, and just come back and flash my free life
cup and expect the same refill. I have
to stick around and sit at his table. I
have to live in that establishment for the rest of my life. I may stumble out the door from time to time,
but I am still on the premises. I
quickly come back in and run to that counter (altar) and get some more of that
cool refreshing grace.
I know that there are so many counter arguments to what I
have said here. I have heard pretty much
all of them. I will address those in my
next piece. I wanted to lay the
foundation of my statements before I moved on.
I hope that you will continue to follow along. This may be a long journey, but I feel I need
to get this out. God has been really
putting this on my heart for a long time now.
Please come back. I look forward
to hearing any thoughts, comments, or rebuttals you may have. Please feel free to send them my way. Also, feel free to send me any prayer
requests or concerns you may have. I
want to stand with you in prayer, and support you in any way I can. I truly love people of all types, and I love
to help them through lending an ear, offering an encouraging word, or praying
with them. Thank you for your time, and
I will be writing again soon. Take care.
