(CP) A conservative Christian radio ministry has dropped pastor Alistair Begg from its programming lineup after he suggested Christians could attend same-sex weddings to “construct bridges” with the culture at large.
Begg, 71, serves as senior pastor at Parkside Church in Cleveland along along with his radio ministry “Truth For Life,” carried by nearly 1,800 radio stations nationwide.
The controversy stems from recently resurfaced comments Begg made in a podcast for “Truth For Life” in September, wherein Begg discussed his latest book, The Christian Manifesto.
As a part of the podcast, Begg touched on a particular query he said a grandmother asked him about her grandson, who she said was “about to be married to a transgender person,” and whether she should attend the marriage.
“We field questions on a regular basis that go along the lines of, ‘My grandson is about to be married to a transgender person, and I do not know what to do about this, and I’m calling to ask you to inform me what to do,’ which is a big responsibility,” Begg said.
“And in a conversation like that just a couple of days ago — and other 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 may’t countenance in any affirming way the alternatives that he has made in life?’ ‘Yes.’
“I said, ‘Well then, OK. As long as he knows that, then I suggest that you simply do go to the ceremony. And I suggest that you simply buy them a present.'”
Begg went on to elucidate that Christians not attending such a ceremony could reinforce “judgemental” stereotypes the culture holds in regards to the Church.
“I said, ‘Well, here’s the thing: your love for them may catch them off guard, but your absence will simply reinforce the incontrovertible fact that they said, ‘These individuals are what I at all times thought: judgmental, critical, unprepared to countenance anything.’
“And it’s a effective line, is not it? It really is. And people have to work out their very own salvation with fear and trembling. But I feel we will take that risk. We’re going to must take that risk loads more if we wish to construct bridges into the hearts and lives of those that don’t understand Jesus and do not understand that he’s a King.”
While the podcast first aired in September, Begg’s comments recently resurfaced on social media and brought scrutiny on the longtime pastor and Scottish native.
Within days, American Family Radio (AFR), the radio ministry of the American Family Association, announced its decision to “now not air” “Truth For Life” after greater than a decade.
The statement read: “Recently, it got here to our attention that Pastor Begg made statements that were unbiblical and fail to line up with the a long time of faithful adherence to Scripture that listeners have come to expect from him. In essence, when the query was asked of him whether or not a member of the family should attend an unbiblical wedding ceremony between two homosexuals, Pastor Begg counseled Christians to attend and take a present.”
“At American Family Association, we consider it to be an act of unfaithfulness to God to attend a ceremony that celebrates any union outside of the biblical model of marriage as being between one man and one woman. Members of our leadership team held a call with Alistair Begg’s team and were unsuccessful in convincing them of his error.”
“As a results of this, we’ll now not air Pastor Alistair Begg’s ‘Truth for Life’ program.”
Despite the announcement, AFR remained listed as a partner on the “Truth For Life” website as of Thursday.
AFR didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment by The Christian Post. This story shall be updated if a response is received. A representative of Truth For Life said Begg has no response to AFR’s decision.
In 2022, while teaching from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, Begg tackled the query of same-sex marriage.
During his two-part sermon series on homosexuality entitled “God Gave Them Up,” Begg argued against the notion of same-sex marriage as compatible with Scripture.
“It shouldn’t be an alternate lifestyle,” he said on the time. “It is an unnatural decision. It is an expression of rise up against God.”
