2024-01-26 16:55:56
A pastor who suggested that faithful Christians could participate in LGBT union ceremonies was removed from programming by a radio station where he had a program. His stance was considered an act of infidelity to God.
Pastor Alistair Begg has suggested that Christians can “build bridges” by accepting invitations to attend same-sex marriage ceremonies. The repercussion of his statement was immense, and the radio American Family Radio (AFR), which is supported by a conservative Christian ministry, decided to remove it from its programming.
Begg made the statement while participating in a podcast about your new book, The Christian Manifesto (still no official translation into Portuguese). In the interview, he stated that he was approached by a grandmother concerned about her grandson, who was “about to marry a transsexual”, and whether she should attend the ceremony.
The veteran pastor then said that in the conversation with this grandmother he questioned whether her grandson understood that her belief in Jesus prohibited her from accepting his life choices. Faced with the woman’s positive response, he replied: “Then it’s okay. As long as he knows this, I suggest you go to the ceremony. And I suggest you buy them a gift.”
Begg, 71, is senior pastor at Parkside Church in Cleveland. He is widely known for his radio show Truth For Lifewhich is broadcast on nearly 1,800 stations across the United States.
The veteran pastor’s stance had negative repercussions on social media, forcing American Family Association announce the decision to “no longer broadcast” the pastor’s program, something that had been done for more than a decade.
“It has come to our attention that Pastor Begg has made statements that are unbiblical and that do not align with the decades of faithful adherence to Scripture that listeners have come to expect from him. […] Already American Family Association we believe it is an act of unfaithfulness to God to participate in a ceremony that celebrates any union outside the biblical model of marriage as being between a man and a woman. […] As a result of this, we will no longer broadcast the program,” the broadcaster said in a statement.
LGBT union is not marriage
Although he suggested that a Christian’s participation in an LGBT union ceremony could “build bridges”, Alistair Begg himself adopted a stance in line with Christian doctrine.
According to information from the portal The Christian Post, in 2022 – during a series of sermons he promoted on the apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans – Begg addressed LGBT union in the sermon entitled “God has abandoned them”, and highlighted that the idea of two people of the same sex living together, practicing homosexuality, is not just “an alternative lifestyle”: “It is an unnatural decision. It is an expression of rebellion against God.”
In Brazil, pastor Heber Campos Jr recorded a video response on the topic and emphatically stated that “there is no such thing as ‘homosexual marriage’” [veja aqui]and that Christians should reject invitations to participate in these ceremonies:
“If you are invited to participate in a homosexual ceremony, remember that biblically I cannot call it a marriage, nor should you call it a marriage, and we should not be participants in it. Then you’ll say ‘pastor, but I’m not going to this ceremony, where’s the love?’. Remember that you don’t love people by approving their rebellious acts, you love people despite their rebellious acts”, he summarized.
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