Alistair Begg, Weddings, Grace and Truth in a Twisted World

            Today I recorded a video commenting on a video published by Alistair Begg back in September. If you would like that thirty-minute episode, please contact me at standingbeforegodblog@gmail.com, or if you are a friend of mine, feel free to contact me directly. I retain the right to deny any request as I would prefer sending this to people I know, and not publishing it for general consumption. These are sensitive issues and harsh times.

            I do want to write my takeaways, however. For context, let me include a transcript of what started this all off (here is the link to the original audio as well: https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/christian-manifesto-interview/).

Bob: I think every pastor who preaches, every author who writes a book like this, comes away thinking, “I hope my readers or my listeners will think differently as a result of their interaction with this, will feel differently and will act differently. As you think about this book and your prayer for this book, what do you hope will be different? How do you hope people will be different after they have read this book and they’ve meditated on this sermon?

Alistair: Well, first of all, you know, I hope that I will be different. The old song that we never sing—you know, “It’s not my brother nor my sister, but it’s me, O Lord, standing in the need of prayer”—I mean, that is foundationally the case. And so I hope that that would be multiplied. I hope that our church family, those who choose to read this book, that it might have an impact among us. Because learning to say, “I’m sorry,” learning to say, “Please forgive me,” learning to say, you know, “I’m not at my best at the moment; can you come alongside me?” learning to say, “Yes, I know that these people believe a very different agenda, that their lifestyle is orientated in another direction,” and learning to say, “But I have no basis upon which I could argue that I myself would not be where they are were it not for the amazing grace of God, were it not for his compassion towards me.”

And in very specific areas this comes across. I mean, 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 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 going to take that risk. We’re going to 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.

Bob: John tells us he was “full of grace and truth,” and we have to figure out how we can be full of grace and truth at the same time, don’t we?

Alistair: Yeah. Yeah, our words should be “full of grace” and “seasoned with salt.”

Bob: Yes.

Alistair: It’s so easy to get that upside down. And when a pastor does, then that will take on a role in a congregation as well and flavor it. And so, you know, “Let not many of you become teachers.”

            Again, if you would like my full thoughts, please contact me at standingbeforegodblog@gmail.com. In short form, here are my takeaways from my reflection today:

            First, it is wise in our immediate-reaction-culture to exercise patience and wait for all sides of a debate to be heard, especially when those in consideration are friends.

            Second, thinking through what someone has actually said and not said, taking each word into account, and allowing those words to ruminate in our own minds before settling in our opinions, or publishing reactions or repudiations, is wise. Not doing so is very foolish.

            Third, engagement in the local church should be valued. Pastors are first shepherds of their own flocks. Their primary responsibility is not to engage the culture or give their take on the latest thing. It is to proclaim the Gospel, preach, teach, support, pastor their own flocks, and protect them from falsehood, confronting the culture with wisdom as is helpful for their congregations.

Fourth, people are assuming the context of Alistair’s words, assuming it was a homosexual wedding, and demanding more from Begg than is Biblical or necessary. That is being assumed. Begg didn’t say anything about homosexuality – could it be a grandson marrying a woman who thinks she’s a man? Is this “a fine line” or not?

            Fifth, after 40 plus years of faithful ministry – in which Alistair Begg has consistently upheld the Biblical truth on these matters – condemning Begg on the evidence of one minute of audio is preposterous, and demonstrates why some there is some weight to the argument that Christians tend to be too judgmental. Why have so few who could do so not reached out to Begg directly for comment before condemning him or demanding a public apology? We should expect better from those who engage these issues.

            Sixth, what marriages or “marriages” should Christians go to and not go to? Should Christians go to a homosexual “wedding?” Should a Christian grandmother (like the one Alistair talked to) go to the wedding of their grandson to a woman who thinks she’s a man? If the grandmother should not, where is the line? If her grandson had been sleeping with a woman who wasn’t transgender, and then they decided to get married after a few years, should she go to that wedding? Where is the line?

            Seventh, defend, lead, and protect your grandparents well.

            As Alistair Begg says, “It’s a fine line” in many ways. These are high risk times, and we are going to have to take risks for the sake of the Gospel, for the sake of our ministries, and for the sakes of those we love. And we should have more compassion and patience with pastors engaging on these matters, before assuming of them what goes against everything else they’ve consistently said.

You can find my second article on this issue here: https://standingbeforegodblog.wordpress.com/2024/01/21/a-brief-response-to-owen-strachan-on-alistair-begg/