Avoid The Unfruitful Works Of Darkness

Rather than embrace darkness, have no fellowship with it. The well-known pastor Alistair Begg has said that we can attend a gay “wedding” — but should we?

Ephesians 5:11-12
And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.

Rather than embrace darkness, we are to expose it. If it’s bad enough for us, as Christians, to not even talk about that which is done in secret, how much worse is it to participate in sins that are celebrated out in the open? Rather than affirm sinners, we are to avoid embracing their sins.

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DO NOT COMPROMISE WITH EVIL

Recently, a well-known pastor, Alistair Begg, who had been a significant inspiration to many up to this point, advised a member of his congregation to accept the sin of a family member. Social media went crazy about it, and rightfully so.

This is what Alistair Begg said during an interview:

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 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.’”
It is a fine line, isn’t it?
I think we're going 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.¹

First, when someone tells you, “People may not like this answer,” it’s usually going to be a piece of bad advice.

Second, a “transgender” wedding is a homosexual wedding. As noted by a pastor: “1) it violates Deuteronomy 22:5; 2) it violates Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Jude 7; Romans 1:26-28; and 3) it violates Genesis 1:27; 2:24; Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:7; Ephesians 5:31.²”

Third, marriage is a picture of Christ and His Church. As I heard it said, “Faux marriages should not be celebrated with gifts or attendance.³” It shouldn’t be hard to understand this. Begg talked about “[wanting] to build bridges,” but the only bridges worth building are the ones showing that your loyalty to Christ supersedes your loyalty to family and friends. It is better to forsake and be forsaken by all—even family—than to forsake and be forsaken by Christ.

And this is a point we should take to heart, not just in matters regarding homosexual weddings, but in all matters of sin. A boyfriend and girlfriend who live together already as a husband and wife, getting married without repenting of their fornication (getting premarital counseling, no longer living together, etc.) would also be a sinful marriage not worth attending. The marriage of someone who was unlawfully divorced would also be a marriage not worth attending. And many other such cases. Don’t just pick and choose when you want to obey the Bible. Beware of the sin of partiality.

Fourth, he talked about the “fine line,” but it’s a line he crossed. When asked by a young girl how to approach her sibling who identifies as a “transgender” person, this is how pastor John MacArthur told the young girl ought to confront the error of transgenderism embraced her sibling:

Simply stated, there’s no such thing as transgender… This notion that you are something other than your biology is a cultural construct intended as an assault on God. The problem with buying into this is, it is a kind of personal suicide. It is literally the end of your existence in the way that God designed you…

So, on the one hand, the reality of that lie and deception is so damaging, so destructive, so isolating, so corrupting, that it needs to be confronted. But on the other hand, that confrontation can't exaggerate what already exists, which is a sense of feeling isolated in relationships. So you've got to find the fine line between confronting the error of it to protect the person and at the same time providing the love and affirmation that person needs to be all that God would have that person be.⁴

That’s how you thread the fine line: with love and boldness. As he also said in the video, “So, while I’m saying that with firmness so you understand it, this has to be dealt with love and compassion because there’s some holes in the heart of someone going in that direction.⁵” Be firm in your stance, but also show a love that doesn’t lead to compromise.

Lastly, you may not see your presence in such a sinful marriage as an affirmation of their rebellion against God, but the world will. The only thing the world will see is that your love for family is greater than your love for Christ, whom you claim to follow. You may be able to keep your family and friends if you compromise, but your walk with the Lord will ultimately pay the price for such a compromise.

ALLEGIANCE TO EVIL

Since Begg’s interview came to light, many people had hoped that Begg would repent of such sinful advice, but he has recently doubled down on it. Due to the backlash, the leadership of American Family Radio decided to end its partnership with Begg, as announced in a blog post⁶.

During their live broadcast, the AFR leadership explained why they decided to terminate their long relationship with Truth For Life, thus removing TFL from their line-up, which includes 180 radio stations across the United States:

The two individuals that we talked with… two individuals from Alistair Begg’s ministry, they made it clear that Alistair Begg believes homosexuality is wrong, hasn’t changed his views on that, he does not believe homosexual marriage is valid, and that the practice of homosexual activity is as the Bible says, “an abomination.”

So, all four of us were in agreement with that, but what we could not get them to change, and they said that Alistair Begg is not going to change his mind, was on the issue of whether should attend…We even asked point-blank, “Are you guys stating that pastor Alistair Begg is standing by his original comment? He has no regrets, he didn’t misspeak, he doesn’t want to clarify, nothing?”
They said, “Yes.”⁷

Now, someone might say, “Well, Begg didn’t make a statement; his team did.” And that’s true, but consider these points:

1) At the risk of losing access to 180 radio stations, why wasn’t Begg on that call?
2) If those were “rogue elements” within his ministry that simply wanted to usurp the reach of Truth For Life to affirm homosexuality, why hasn’t Begg denounced such individuals and made a public statement about it?

After being dropped by AFR, Begg made a short comment about the issue during the morning service on January 28, 2024. The video for the morning service was deleted but thankfully, there was someone who caught it before they removed it from their church website, and here’s what he said:

My colleagues felt it would be good if I said something about it, I don’t want to do it now as it goes out into cyberspace, but I’m happy to do it for our church family. I said jokingly, in making an attempt at compassion, I ended up starting a massive fire. I would have fully anticipated some of the other things I’ve said would’ve been far more inflammatory than this, but we should’ve known that Begg wouldn’t manage compassion.⁸

Does he seriously think going to a transgender wedding is “managing compassion” towards the lost? How is telling saints to participate in sin an act of “compassion”?

BEING NUANCED TO HELL

The video for the morning service was replaced with the evening service, and in it, Begg also tackled this issue but made the entire service about this issue, and this is what he said:

I have never been a product of American fundamentalism. I come from a world in which it is possible for people to actually grasp the fact that there are nuances… I’m not ready to repent over this, I don’t have to…

If I'm gonna go down… I'll go down on the side of compassion, with people just accusing me of just weakness, rather than go down on the side of condemnation which closes any doors of opportunities of future engagement with those who know exactly what we believe... My response to a grandmother I never met was not a blanket recommendation to all Christians to attend LGBTQ weddings... If I was misguided in any way, was [because] I allowed my grandfatherly hat to take over. It was my personal opinion as I sensed what was best.⁹

He may say it was not a blanket recommendation, but when people look up to their pastor, every “personal opinion” must be carefully weighed to ensure it conforms to Scripture. And why is he letting his “grandfatherly hat to take over” rather than allow Scripture to take over and guide his actions? During that sermon, he also tried to compare Jesus eating with sinners to justify attending homosexual weddings. He referred to as “Pharisees” those who disagreed with him. The whole thing was a complete mess. If that was his idea of justifying his advice for any Christian to attend a homosexual wedding, he has failed.

When you receive such an invitation, don’t go, even if it means losing family and friends because of it. As Voddie Baucham said, “When you get an invitation to a gay ‘wedding,’ that’s not just an invitation, it’s a theological test... [Be ready to be called] a legalistic monster [and face] loss of relationship within your family.¹⁰”

At what point do a pastor’s blind spots become too sinful for you not to be able to ignore anymore? If a pastor who’s always been solid tells you to go against the principles of Scripture, how is he not in sin? How can you sweep this under the rug? Where do you draw the line? Remember Galatians 5:9, which tells us: “A little leaven leavens the whole lump.” A little bad doctrine has the potential to tarnish the good teachings of those who were once considered to be good teachers.

ONE’S PAST DOESN’T EXCUSE PRESENT BEHAVIOR

As a brother in Christ said on 𝕏 (formerly known as Twitter):

Defense of a person's behavior cannot be that you like them, or that they've been a good person for a long time.

You must defend a person's behavior based on the standard of scripture. Otherwise, you're not defending their behavior, you're defending your own attachment.¹¹

One thing I find sad is that during this entire incident, is that one person on social media said that he asked Begg which theologians he should read; and Begg told him to read only the theologians that are dead because then you’ll know they had followed Christ all their lives and finished the race well. It is indeed sad when someone who starts well comes to either completely depart from the faith or stray from sound doctrine.

Charles Templeton is one name that comes to mind as a warning to those who think all who start strong will finish the race well. Templeton’s ministry at its peak was said to have led over 150 people to Christ each day, a ministry that lasted for decades. His ministry was so big and had such a big impact that, at one point, a young Billy Graham came to work for Templeton. However, at some point, Templeton came to believe in the theory of evolution and stated that he could no longer accept the idea that God created mankind and the universe as described in the Book of Genesis. He became an atheist and lived the rest of his life as an avid activist against Christianity.

Some will try to walk with the world while trying to hang on to Christ, thus serving two masters (Matthew 6:24), while others will walk away from Christ so that they may follow the world and embrace the “follow your heart” mantra.

CONCLUSION

I truly hope Alistair Begg will repent of his sinful advice and make a public apology at some point, as his ministry has a worldwide reach. He might say, “I’m not ready to repent over this, I don’t have to,” but he truly does need to repent, and he has to. I hope he has godly friends who will try to open his eyes to the fact that being on the side of Christ is not being an “American fundamentalist” or a “Pharisee.” There is absolutely nothing “nuanced” about embracing sin.

Let this incident with Begg be a reminder to those who look up to someone, even if he’s a renowned pastor, that we are to imitate someone only as long as they are imitating Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). As John Calvin said, “Many evils have been introduced into the Church by this absurd desire of imitating all the actions of the saints, without exception. Let us, therefore, maintain so much the more carefully this doctrine of Paul — that we are to follow men, provided they take Christ as their grand model, that the examples of the saints may not tend to lead us away from Christ, but rather to direct us to Him.¹²”

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1. https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/christian-manifesto-interview

2. https://twitter.com/soli_Jesum/status/1747823724714213800

3. https://twitter.com/donnahamstra/status/1747832828631375994

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWrF3c-gpEk

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWrF3c-gpEk

6. https://afn.net/culture/2024/01/24/radio-ministry-drops-pastor-over-same-sex-wedding-comments

7. https://web.facebook.com/todaysissues/videos/1079081996565027

8. https://twitter.com/SBGB19/status/1751999290568798613

9. https://www.truthforlife.org/resources/sermon/compassion-vs-condemnation

10. https://wguniverse.wrathandgrace.com/tabs/search/videos/12415

11. https://twitter.com/James_P_Price/status/1752311208084939026

12. John Calvin, The John Calvin Bible Commentaries, St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, Vol. 1, (Jazzybee Verlag, 2017), p. 233