{"id":20697,"date":"2024-02-06T12:35:34","date_gmt":"2024-02-06T17:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=20697"},"modified":"2024-02-06T12:35:34","modified_gmt":"2024-02-06T17:35:34","slug":"christian-pastor-dropped-from-radio-network-stands-by-advice-on-attending-lgbtq-weddings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/02\/christian-pastor-dropped-from-radio-network-stands-by-advice-on-attending-lgbtq-weddings","title":{"rendered":"Christian Pastor Dropped From Radio Network Stands By Advice on Attending LGBTQ Weddings"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"alistair<\/a>
Alistair Begg\/YouTube<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pastor Alistair Begg said he\u2019s \u201cnot ready to repent\u201d after his advice to a grandmother last year to attend her grandchild\u2019s LGBTQ wedding created an uproar in some Christian circles. Begg, the senior pastor at Parkside Church near Cleveland, Ohio, addressed the backlash that led to one Christian network dropping his daily broadcast while giving a sermon to his congregation on the parable of the prodigal son.<\/p>\n

He compared the proud attitude of the older brother in the story to the attitude some Christians display toward nonbelievers and argued they\u2019re not living out Jesus\u2019 command to \u201clove your enemies.\u201d That \u201cis the context\u201d for his conversation with the grandmother, he explained. Begg added that he was primarily concerned about the woman maintaining her relationship with her grandchild and would not necessarily give the same advice in another situation.<\/p>\n

He explained, \u201cIf I was on the receiving end of another question about another situation from another person at another time, I might 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 ten days.\u201d The pastor stood by his comments, saying that while \u201cI repent daily\u201d for things he shouldn\u2019t say, this wasn\u2019t one of them. \u201cBut the fact of the matter is, I\u2019m not ready to repent over this. I don\u2019t have to,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

Begg went on to say that Christians should neither stay silent nor rebuff people who identify as LGBTQ. He asked, \u201cWe can disagree about whether I gave that grandmother good advice or not\u2026 but at least let\u2019s acknowledge the fact that what we\u2019re doing is wrestling with Biblical principles. And when the principle, for, let\u2019s say, the holiness of life, comes up against the principle of love for your enemy, how are you going to put that together?\u201d<\/p>\n