Alistair Begg stands by same-sex wedding advice

Pastor Alistair Begg is refusing to backdown following a backlash over his advice to Christians about attending same-sex weddings.

In the podcast for his radio ministry “Truth For Life”, the Ohio-based pastor discussed the recommendation he gave to a grandmother who asked him whether she should attend her grandson’s wedding to a transgender person.

He told her that so long as her grandson was aware of her disapproval, it was okay for her to attend and that she should even “buy them a present”. 

He argued that staying away from the ceremony could reinforce “judgemental” stereotypes in regards to the Church and that attending could “construct bridges” with an unbelieving culture. 

His comments led to the American Family Radio, run by the American Family Association, dropping his programme. 

Addressing the controversy in front of his congregation at Parkside Church in Cleveland on Sunday, Begg suggested the pushback from critics reflected a type of “Pharisaism” and suggested that Christians attending same-sex weddings was no different to Jesus eating with sinners. 

He also suggested that his answer was specific to the actual circumstances of the grandmother and will not necessarily be applied to each situation. 

“In that conversation with that grandmother, I used to be concerned in regards to the well-being of their relationship greater than the rest. Hence my counsel. Don’t misunderstand that in any way in any respect,” he said. 

“If I used to be on the receiving end of one other query about one other situation from one other person at one other time, I’ll answer absolutely in another way, but in that case, I answered in that way, and I’d not answer in some other way regardless of what anybody says on the web.”

He continued, “If people want me to recant and to repent … I repent each day because I say plenty of things that I shouldn’t say … But the actual fact of the matter is, I’m not able to repent over this. I do not have to.” 

The comments by the influential 71-year-old have stirred debate on either side of the Atlantic, with Christian Concern’s Paul Huxley calling it “deeply unwise counsel”. 

He argued that the participatory nature of a marriage ceremony makes it difficult for Christians to attend without signalling their approval and that Christians themselves could possibly be tempted.

“The ceremony and reception are going to present this union as beautiful and good. Many Christians who know and consider what the Bible says on sexuality will still be emotionally vulnerable to this type of deception,” he wrote.

“A robust story, the grins on peoples’ faces, music, dance, wine; many Christians have been tempted by such things to consider that sin is not such an enormous deal in spite of everything.

“On top of those temptations, the Christian goes to be pressed by others in attendance: ‘wasn’t that lovely?’, ‘they make such an lovely couple, don’t they?’. How many Christians would deftly handle that situation without either compromising or causing a scene?”