The Question Christians Need to Stop Answering

As most of you already know and may have since forgotten, Phil Robertson (the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty clan), was asked in an interview for GQ Magazine what his beliefs were regarding homosexuality.  Mr. Robertson gave his honest opinion in a rather gruff, off-the-cuff manner and came under fire from conservative and liberal groups alike.  Some lauded him as a hero, others villified him and his entire family.  This is exactly what the writer of the article intended.  Constroversy sells.  Because of the polarizing nature of these remarks, and the remarks of others before him, it is my belief that Christians should stop answering this question.  Robertson was not the first high-profile believer to be confronted with this question and he won’t be the last.  It is a trap.  The New Testament records several occations in which Jesus was asked difficult questions in an attempt to stump him or discredit him.  And He always managed to turn the answer toward things that were more important than the question facing Him.  I think we should follow His example.  I used to think that getting involved in “causes” was a major part of being a Christian.  The older I get, the more convinced I am that our primary job is to love people and tell them that Jesus loves them.  1 Corinthians 15:3, 11 says, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…so we preach and so you believed.”  When we preach the love of Christ and what He sacrificed for us, people come to Him.  My hunch is that no one read that magazine article, and was so touched by the denouncement of homosexuality that they immediately committed their life to God.

I am not condoning a cowardly “No Comment” type of answer to the question of homosexuality, but simply a redirection.  For example, let’s pretend that I am somebody and am being interviewed by…say… “Rolling Stone”. Interviewer:  “Mrs. Sparks, do you think homosexuality is a sin against God?”  Response:  “I believe that question can be very inflammatory, so what I would like to say is that I believe everyone is a sinner.  And we all need Jesus to cover over those sins for us.  The most important thing for me to tell you today is that God loves you, and He sent Jesus to pay the price for all of our sins on the cross.  It is not my job, nor is it appropriate for me to judge individual sins.  And it really doesn’t matter what I have to say about homosexuality or any other topic.  What matters is what the Bible has to say about it.  And you can look that up for yourself if you would like.  I would like to tell you about Jesus.  And if you choose to enter into a relationship with Him, He will – in time – reveal any areas of your life that need changing for your betterment.  He is showing me things all the time.”  1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”  It is only after we are walking with God that we can truly understand the “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots”, so we shouldn’t lead with those.  And we, as sanctified believers, have got to stop expecting those without a relationship with Christ to “have the mind of Christ”(v 16)

If you are in a spiritual one on one discussion with someone and that person asks you a direct question about an issue, I am not suggesting that you shouldn’t answer to the best of your ability.  But for an audience that you do not have a relationship with, pray about whether this redirection is more appropriate.  You say you don’t think you will ever be interviewed by “Rolling Stone” OR “GQ”?  What about Facebook.  Are we taking a stand AGAINST things when we should be standing FOR the love of Christ?  Tweets or status updates can be easily misunderstood and it’s hard to convey your heart on difficult topics in 140 characters or less.  So I say all that to sum up with this:  Love others where they are, and let God worry about the rest.