Alistair Begg on the Nature and Limits of Christian Tolerance

Scottish pastor Alistair Begg, who ministers at Parkside Church in Ohio, has courted controversy over advice he gave to a woman who was invited to her grandchild’s wedding, which was a marriage to a transgender person. The grandmother wanted to know whether she as a Christian should attend the wedding. Begg, who opposes same-sex marriage in principle, advised her to attend the wedding and to even bring a gift. By doing so, Begg claimed, she would show her love for her grandchild—even if she did not approve of the union itself. Begg told her:

“Well, here’s the thing: your love for them may catch them off guard, but your absence will simply reinforce the fact that they said, ‘These people are what I always thought: judgmental, critical, unprepared to countenance anything.’”

Since then Begg has received a massive amount of criticism for this advice for a woman to attend an LGBT wedding. His invitation to John Macarthur’s Shepherd’s Conference has been withdrawn and American Family Radio has dropped the broadcast of his podcast Truth for Life. On social media, many have criticized Begg for compromising his Christian beliefs about marriage.

Begg has replied to his critics in a recent sermon on “Compassion vs. Condemnation.” Begg stated that while he might answer differently in a different situation, he affirmed that in this instance “I would not answer in any other way no matter what anybody on the internet as of the last ten days has said. … I’m not ready to repent over this, I don’t have to.” I recommend listening to the sermon!

Begg goes on to explain that there is a difference Between British and American evangelicalism. He said that he’s a product of the same evangelical school as John Stott, Martin Lloyd Jones, Eric Alexander, Sinclair Ferguson, and Derek Prime. “I have never been a product of American fundamentalism. I come from a world where it is possible for people to grasp the fact that there are nuances in things.”

Let me say, I’m with Begg on this, because I too stand in the British evangelical tradition. Here’s why …

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Yes, the church is inclusive but it cannot accommodate godless idolatry, grave immorality, or cruel injustice. As Richard B. Hays writes: “The Christian community as a community of love is not infinitely inclusive: those who reject Jesus are not and cannot be part of it. There is great danger to the church, in Paul’s view, when some people represent themselves as Christians while rejecting the apostolically proclaimed gospel.”

So I’m not a fan of churches with the motto, “You bring it and I’ll bless. Hey, I’ll bless anything in Jesus’s name for $29.95 baby.”

But I reject the culture of separatism that has typified American fundamentalism and some wings of evangelicalism. Where separation from other Christians or from the wider culture was a mark of righteousness and identity.

If Jesus can keep the company of lepers, prostitutes, tax collectors, and Pharisees, without fear that his holiness has been contaminated by encounters with such people, then you need not live in fear of contamination by Democrats, LGBT people, immigrants, or even Taylor Swift fans! If Paul can sell tents to bi-sexual pagans, who did who knows what in the tents he made, worshipped idols or had orgies, then you can do commerce with non-Christians. Peter entered the house of a Gentile centurion and ate with him, he didn’t bless idolatry or bow down to Roman power, but he violated the line between the good guys and the bad guys that many in the Jerusalem church had set up. They accused of failing to keep himself separaste: “You went into the house of Gentiles. You ate with them.”

Jesus taught us to love our children, our neighbors, and our enemies. A kindly gesture of attending the wedding of a gay couple, of a Muslim couple, of a Hindu and a Buddhist, or something like that, shows that we do love our neighbors and do not consider them our enemies. And as Paul wrote, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all people” (Rom 12:18).

Look, I would not preside over a same-sex wedding out of both conviction and my ordination vows.

However, if I was invited to a family member’s same-sex wedding, I would go, out of love for family, and love is the best evangelist of all!

What about you, what do you think? Let’s not speak in anger, let’s keep it all gracious and charitable, but what do you think of Begg’s position?