Duck Dynasty, Phil Robertson and the Birth of Christ

It’s Christmas Eve.  I’m with my wife’s family preparing to celebrate Christmas and sitting alone in the quiet of the morning with my cup of black (there is no other kind) robusto coffee.  I look forward to the next few days with family.  In spite of all the negative commercialism, the pressure of shopping, and even some knowledge of the pagan roots of some of the traditions, I love Christmas.  It genuinely helps me to focus on the biggest question of life – “Why am I here?”  The coming of Christ is central to that.

It has always been obvious to me that I have a creator, even without Christianity and the Bible.  What is not as obvious is what this creator expects of me, if anything.  Condensing a great deal of comparative religious study and personal journey, I found Jesus to be the focal point for this determination.  If he really did come to earth in a miraculous virgin birth, his arrival is worth noting.  If he really did fulfill multiple prophecies, his life is worth considering.  If he really did perform miracles and teach things that cut to the core of the heart like no other, his words are worth hearing.  If he really did voluntarily die as a substitute to pay my debt for rebellion against my creator and rise from the grave showing his power over even death, he should be followed and followed on his own terms.  Where do we get those terms?  Well, they are recorded in the Bible.  The Bible is part and parcel of the Christian faith and is the key to understanding Christmas.

So what does any of this have to do with Duck Dynasty?  Let me say up front that I believe Phil Robertson’s recent comments in GQ magazine were coarse.  Let me say up front that I am deliberately out-boarding his racial comments for later discussion.  Let me also go ahead and make my point:  those who want to castigate the core content of Phil Robertson’s remarks regarding sexuality are unwittingly (or perhaps deliberately) attacking the Christian faith.  I know that some who read this will have their heads exploding about now, but stay with me.  Let’s lay emotion aside and stay with the logic.

First, no matter how much GLAAD, CBS, Huffington Post or anyone else labels his remarks as hate speech, Phil Robertson merely pointed out that the Bible defines homosexual practice (not inclination) as a sin.  There are topics in Scripture which can be twisted, misinterpreted or are just fuzzy.  Homosexual practice isn’t one of them.  Let me quote verbatim from Scripture the “hate speech” Phil Robertson engaged in:

1 Corinthians 6:8-20
⁸ Instead, you act unjustly and cheat—and you do this to believers! ⁹ Don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s kingdom? Do not be deceived: No sexually immoral people, idolaters, adulterers, or anyone practicing homosexuality, ¹⁰ no thieves, greedy people, drunkards, verbally abusive people, or swindlers will inherit God’s kingdom. ¹¹ And some of you used to be like this. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

¹² “Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be brought under the control of anything. ¹³ “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will do away with both of them. The body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. ¹⁵ Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body? So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh. ¹⁷ But anyone joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

¹⁸ Run from sexual immorality! “Every sin a person can commit is outside the body.” On the contrary, the person who is sexually immoral sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.

This passage is just one among many biblical examples regarding the topic.  It simply is not credibly arguable that Scripture condones homosexual practice.  While homosexual activity is far from the focus of Scripture, it is not ignored.  The words in this passage are strong, but not unique to homosexual practice.  Homosexual activity falls within the classification of any sexual activity outside of heterosexual marriage, which the Bible – not me and not Phil Robertson – defines as sin (something other than God’s standard for behavior).  Sex before marriage?  Sin.  Sex with someone not your spouse?  Sin.  Sex with a close relative?  Sin.  Sex with same gender?  Sin. 

Why does God call these sexual activities sin?  Only he knows for certain, but apparently God’s ideal, his best, for sexual relationships is expressed in the union of one man and one woman committed to each other for life.  People may reject biblical teachings on sexuality, but it is illogical to assert that “Christian” values require acceptance of activities which Christian Scripture explicitly prohibits.  This past week, the news was full of such characterizations of what it means to be a Christian, and they are just plain wrong.

Individuals with same-sex attractions are created in the image of God just as I am, and their sexual inclination has no bearing on how I relate to them as persons.  A person’s sexual desires will not keep me from being kind to them, befriending them, or caring about them.  I will not discriminate against them.  I will not try to force them to accept my beliefs or standards.  I won’t even criticize them for exercising their rights in a democratic political process to advance their agenda and try to change people’s thinking, something they have been wildly successful at.  They are Americans just as I am and have every right to express their views no matter how much I disagree with them. 

I will still, however, defend Phil Robertson’s comments on sexuality, crudely packaged as they were, as biblically accurate and squarely Christian.  I’m defending him because of the illogical backlash many are directing at his remarks.  If you can dismiss biblical prohibitions against homosexual practice, then the Scriptures are not authoritative on this point.  If the Scriptures are not authoritative regarding sexual practice, why would they be authoritative elsewhere?  If the Scriptures do not represent Christianity, then what is the standard for Christian faith and practice?  If some clear teachings can be labeled “hate speech”, Christianity becomes nothing more than subjective feel-good principles subordinated to the popular whims of the day.  If that’s the case there’s no truth in Christianity.  In fact, if homosexuality is beneficial and good, then Christianity should be rejected as false altogether as our scriptural standard turns out to be unreliable.  These are the stakes in this discussion.  When you ask me to applaud as good what Scripture defines as bad, you might as well be asking me to deny the Christ it speaks of.  This is my struggle.  This I cannot do.

Truth be known, the easiest thing in the world would be for me to just ignore this topic, join the pop-culture herd, and quietly move on.  As is so often asked, how is this hurting me?  What difference does it make to me?  Doesn’t it bother me that some may feel marginalized when I affirm that Scripture calls their behavior sin?  If we all used the standard of hurt feelings or offense to judge between right and wrong, none of us would call anything wrong.  In fact, if feelings of offense were the standard by which opinions are excluded, advocates of homosexual practice would be prohibited from calling Christians bigots for upholding biblical teachings on the subject.  We all struggle with different parts of God’s expectations for us, but that does not take away the clarity of the biblical teachings.  Failing to keep the standard is one thing – rejecting the standard outright is something altogether different.

The message of Christmas is that Jesus came to reconcile man with God, but this reconciliation comes on God’s terms, not ours.  We may not like what we see about ourselves in Scripture, but that has never been the issue.  The question that must be answered is, “Will I follow Christ on his terms, no matter what they are?”  Once we answer “Yes” to that question, the rest is just understanding what he says and striving to live in accordance with that understanding.  We Christians call that “discipleship”.  In this Christmas season, I am thankful God sent the Christ-child to provide a way for you and me to stand without guilt before him, because as Scripture teaches (Romans 3:23), “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  Truth is, I need to spend far more time worrying about my own sins.  God can handle the sins of others.  Just don’t ask me to deny the Christian faith in the process.