Chip and Joanna Gaines’ new show features a gay couple

My wife and I have been fans of Chip and Joanna Gaines for many years. We watched their home renovation show Fixer Upper weekly, if not more often. When we drive through Waco, we usually stop at their restaurant to eat. I have written often with gratitude about their very public faith amid the opposition they have faced for their evangelical beliefs.

Then came news that their new show features a gay couple raising two adopted sons.

“Judge 1^st, understand later/never”

According to the Dallas Morning News, Back to the Frontier “follows three families in the Canadian Rockies as they navigate a technology-free, laborious summer meant to mimic the lifestyle of 1880s homesteaders.” Among the participants is a gay couple from Dallas who share a cabin with their adopted ten-year-old twin sons.

When Christians responded to the news by voicing their disappointment and reaffirming biblical sexual morality, Chip responded to their criticism:

Talk, ask questions, listen…maybe even learn. Too much to ask of modern American Christian culture. Judge 1^st, understand later/never.

It’s a sad Sunday when “non believers” have never been confronted with hate or vitriol until they are introduced to a modern American Christian.

Another person posted, “We are extremely sad because of how much we have grown to admire and appreciate you both,” to which Chip responded:

Well I appreciate that…sincerely. So if you admire and appreciate us so much. Any chance there’s more to this? But that’s my point…no one knows. But the “Christians” have certainly come out in full force as if they do know. “Judge not…” “Love one another.” It’s not difficult.

Why I didn’t want to write this article

I didn’t want to write this article, not only because I admire Chip and Joanna Gaines and have no interest in criticizing them, but also because I find no joy in addressing the larger issue this controversy highlights.

I am the opposite of a “homophobic” person. Not only do I have no fear of homosexual people, I have numerous gay friends. I gain nothing from writing in ways our secularized culture finds “hateful” and “dangerous” to society. It would be much easier for me to avoid this subject altogether today.

But I agree with Franklin Graham, who responded to the Gaines’ new show:

While we are to love people, we should love them enough to tell them the truth of God’s word. His word is absolute truth. God loves us, and his design for marriage is between one man and one woman. Promoting something that God defines as sin is in itself sin.

In addition, I am more concerned than ever with the normalization of unbiblical immorality in our culture and even in many churches. The gay couple in Back to the Frontier stated clearly that they went on the show to “normalize same-sex couples and same-sex families.” One of them told an interviewer yesterday that they want people to see them as “just like every other family.”

I am afraid that by promoting them in this way, Chip and Joanna are also normalizing their lifestyle in ways that will influence other Christians.

Five ways to “contend for the faith”

So, let’s respond to Chip’s response, “‘Judge not…’ ‘Love one another.’ It’s not difficult.” It’s not “judging” people to speak biblical truth, knowing that following Jesus and living by his word “will set you free” (John 8:32). Conversely, it’s not loving to withhold the truth and condone that which is harmful.

The Bible warns, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 16:25). King Solomon, the author of those words, proved their truth with his own sexual immorality that led to the eventual dissolution of his united kingdom. His father proved them as well with his adulterous sin with Bathsheba and its horrific consequences.

The key is “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). How can we do this effectively in our post-Christian culture?

1. Know why we believe what we believe. With regard to today’s topic, I suggest my article, “What does the Bible say about homosexuality?” and other resources on our website.
2. Expect opposition. Those who reject biblical truth are likely to reject those who proclaim it. John MacArthur warned: “The more like Christ you are, the more the world will treat you like they treated Christ.”
3. Choose humility. Your sins may not be mine, just as mine may not be yours. The Bible forbids homosexual sexual relations, but it also forbids heterosexual sexual relations outside monogamous marriage. We are but beggars helping other beggars find bread.
4. Offer hope. After including “men who practice homosexuality” in a list of moral failures, Paul wrote, “And such were some of you. 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” (1 Corinthians 6:9–11). To paraphrase St. Augustine, God loves each of us—whatever our temptations and sins—as if there were only one of us.
5. Never give up. The darker the room, the more necessary and powerful the light. Every generation of Christians is to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3). Other generations have had their cultural conflicts. This is ours. (For more on engaging our culture effectively, please see my new website article, “What do Cal Raleigh and Superman have in common?”)

Beware “rowboat Christianity”

The key to persevering in obedience is recognizing our impotence and seeking our Father’s omnipotence. As God said to Zerubbabel, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). Now we need to rely on the Spirit by submitting to him daily (Ephesians 5:18), seeking his power and provision, and trusting his leading for our best.

It’s the difference between a rowboat powered by our effort and a sailboat powered by the wind. Max Lucado distinguishes between them this way:

Jesus invites us to hoist the sail. Rowboat Christianity exhausts and frustrates. Those who attempt it are left depleted and desperate at the attempt. Those who let the Spirit do the work find a fresh power. Life still has storms, but they are not left to face the fury on their own.

As we face the storms of our broken culture, will you “find a fresh power” today?

Quote for the day:

“We must see even our most passionate critic not as an argument to be vaporized but as a neighbor to be evangelized.” —Russell Moore

Our latest website resources:

• Astronomers discover a planet 35 times larger than Earth: Why God’s omnipotence is good news in hard places
• What do Cal Raleigh and Superman have in common?
• Mother, daughter shot while cooking lunch at their church
• When God doesn’t seem to keep his promises
• How to talk to your kids about the flooding at Camp Mystic