See here for Phil Robertson's new book - unPHILtered: The Way I See It
With their Christianity so evident,
it’s perhaps no surprise that when Phil Robertson, the clan patriarch, was
interviewed by GQ magazine recently, he was asked about a question about
it. A golden opportunity, surely, to
present the gospel attractively and biblically?
The question – “what is sin?”
seems innocuous enough. It’s a question
that could, perhaps, be answered by a small child with a few weeks of Sunday
School under their belt. But it’s such a
key question that certain answers can badly misrepresent the gospel and
needlessly turn the questioner off Christianity entirely. For that reason, just the opening sentence of Phil’s
controversial answer provides some important lessons for us about witnessing.
“Start with homosexual
behavior and just morph out from there.”
So how would we answer GQ’s
question?
The first key is to ensure that we
base our answer on the Biblical definition and meaning of sin. Homosexuality is not actually what sin intrinsically
is, it is only one of many, many symptoms of it, just like having a high fever
is a symptom of influenza. That’s not to
say, of course, that homosexual behavior is at all acceptable to God – but the
root meaning of the word sin is “to miss the mark”, God’s mark or standard –
and that applies to all human effort and behavior.
The second key is to make clear
what the root cause of sin is. To imply
that all sin starts with homosexuality is wide of the mark! James 1:14-15 says
that “each person is tempted when they are dragged away by
their own evil desire and enticed…then, after desire has conceived, it gives
birth to sin”. As Jesus said, it
is what comes from the inside that makes us unclean (Mark 7:15). The root of sin is in our hearts in such things
as pride, lust, greed, selfishness, envy – in fact the laundry list of items
laid out in Galatians 5:19-21. A wise gardener
does not deal with dandelions by trying to contain thousands f floating seeds;
he knows the most effective action is to focus on the roots!
The third key is to state that
sin brings the same issue to every human being, regardless of their sexual
orientation. To focus on one particular
sin, and target one particular section of society, risks alienating some and
perhaps lets others think that they are off the hook. (It’s even worse when the particular sin is
selected because of an apparent personal distaste for the sin involved – Robertson
also made comments about homosexual vs. heterosexual intercourse which cannot
be published here because of their coarse and explicit nature). What we need to focus on is God’s objective view
and evaluation of sin, not our own subjective one. Look again at the seemingly unprioritized
list of Galatians 5 and find items that perhaps much more commonly beset
us. Why focus on homosexuality and
overlook jealousy, rage and selfish ambition?
Robertson’s comments certainly
hit the headlines and attracted a lot of criticism from sections of the media
and society. However, some Christians
have praised his bravery for standing up for what he believes, whereas his
family has defended his right to free speech under the US constitution,
excusing his language on the grounds of his life experience. Is this valid? After all, Paul was known for his “parrhesia” (a Greek word meaning
“frankness of speech”) and calling a spade a spade.
As citizens, primarily, of
heaven, Christians need to be wary of utilizing earthly rights or use them as a
means to justify their conduct. We have
heavenly rights, but they come with heavenly responsibilities, including being
“shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16) and “speaking the
truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). In
addition, standing up for what we believe is not necessarily the same thing as
proclaiming what God actually says in his Word!
The way we stand up and/or
proclaim is also important – we need to be conscious of our audience and tailor
the way we speak accordingly, remembering we are now ambassadors who are a new
creation with a new way of acting and speaking!
