How should Christians stand with Phil Robertson?

I would like to start off by saying I am probably one of the biggest Duck Dynasty fans you will ever meet. I counted down to the first episode like it was Christmas. Most of my friends laughed at me and called me a redneck. I didn't care. I loved the show and the entire family from the very beginning. 

I have walked a long road in the last seven years, and part of that journey has been God showing me how I am to love people even when I don't agree with them. One of the cancers in the American church today is division. Jesus prayed that all believers would be united because that it is how the world will know who Jesus is and that He loves (John 17:22-23). Our enemy knows that if he can cause division, then we become less effective in our mission of sharing Jesus with the world. I think he has hit that mark in America. We are probably more divided than any other group in the world. I am not saying that we will all agree all the time. Even the first believers didn't agree all the time, but we can and should be united in love. We differ on doctrine and practice, but we should at least agree to love the world as Christ did. What I have come to see over the last several years is, we do a lot of things in the name of Christ, but loving the world as he did is often last on the list if on the list at all. 

My journey started when I was reading through the Gospels in my daily devotions and started to be really bothered because the Jesus I was reading about made me very uncomfortable. He was homeless. He walked up to prostitutes and lepers and beggars and started talking to them. He befriended them. He touched them. He was moved with compassion by the lowliest of society: the ones no one else would get near. He didn't knock on doors in clean, rich neighborhoods and walk through the Romans road with them. He didn't drop evangelism material on tables and in drive thru windows. He didn't leave measly tips at restaurants and write "Smile, Jesus Loves You!" on the receipt and consider that sharing Jesus. This Jesus was nothing like the person I was learning I should be in church. This Jesus was much more like the missionaries I had met over the years that I steered clear of because "that wasn't my calling." I explained away the call to "go to all nations" because some were called as missionaries and others were called to be teachers. That was me... a teacher, called to serve the church. I began praying that God would shake the things that could be shaken, so that what cannot be shaken remains (Hebrews 12:27). I asked him to remove any parts of my theology and practices that were man made and not from Him. I will tell you, not much was left when He was done. That began a journey of virtually relearning everything I had learned since I was a child. I began trying to look at Scripture through God's eyes and not human eyes. What I began to see overwhelmed me. I believe I have only begun to truly understand God and his precious Son. I love Him more everyday. I love his children more everyday. All his children. Not just the saved ones. I am moved with compassion for the poor and the needy more everyday. 

I say all that to preface what I am about to say regarding the controversy over Phil Robertson. First of all, please, please, PLEASE be informed before you make any statements! Don't just blindly trust everything you see on Facebook. For example.

      

        “It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”

Read More http://www.gq.com/entertainment/television/201401/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson#ixzz2nvmBCtw4

I agree that homosexuality is a sin. But I also believe that drunkenness is a sin. And lust. And gluttony. One sin we praise the day after Thanksgiving and laugh about. The other we treat as a contagious disease. I agree that the basic premise of what Phil is saying is biblical, but I don't know that the crude and crass way it was delivered was appropriate for a widely circulated magazine. I don't know that this makes Jesus famous? However, I also cringe at the thoughts of what might have made it into print had GQ interviewed my grandfather as he was 4-wheeling through the woods. GQ knew exactly what they were doing when they interviewed Phil. They knew what they would get if they asked him about his beliefs on homosexuality. Why else would they have asked? Why did they even go there? To get this response. From him and from us. GQ has probably had more people read that article than have read any article in the last several years. The enemy is tempting us to act like lunatics and further maim the name of Christ. We are giving him what he wants. Again. 

This, however:

       As far as Phil is concerned, he was literally born again. Old Phil—the guy with the booze and the pills—died a long time ago, and New Phil sees no need to apologize for him: “We never, ever judge someone on who’s going to heaven, hell. That’s the Almighty’s job. We just love ’em, give ’em the good news about Jesus—whether they’re homosexuals, drunks, terrorists. We let God sort ’em out later, you see what I’m saying?”

Read More http://www.gq.com/entertainment/television/201401/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson#ixzz2nvsOFoHJ

And this...

         “If you simply put your faith in Jesus coming down in flesh, through a human being, God becoming flesh living on the earth, dying on the cross for the sins of the world, being buried, and being raised from the dead—yours and mine and everybody else’s problems will be solved. And the next time we see you, we will say: ‘You are now a brother. Our brother.’ So then we look at you totally different then. See what I’m saying?”
I think so?
We hop back in the ATV and plow toward the sunset, back to the Robertson home. There will be no family dinner tonight. No cameras in the house. No rowdy squirrel-hunting stories from back in the day. There will be only the realest version of Phil Robertson, hosting a private Bible study with a woman who, according to him, “has been on cocaine for years and is making her decision to repent. I’m going to point her in the right direction.”


Read More http://www.gq.com/entertainment/television/201401/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson#ixzz2nvtuTB8Y

Now that, I can get on board with. I appreciate Phil for not being afraid to voice his beliefs. I appreciate that he made sure to say that although he disagrees with homosexuality, we are called to love people. No, I don't like the way he said it, but I do believe in his right to say it. What we have to remember as Christians is, we have tried to censor the other side for a long time. When they lose their rights, we lose ours. Yes, I agree that it has swung pretty far in the other direction. Televisions, magazines, and radios broadcast smut, but the minute anyone says that they believe homosexuality is wrong, there is an outcry of bigotry and hatred. The problem is, we have given the world centuries of proof of so-called Christian hatred, violence, and mistreatment. What we have to remember is, we all have the right to turn the channel, turn off the television, tell our children, "NO, you may not listen to or watch that." 

Am I upset about A&E suspending Phil? Absolutely! They knew what they were getting when they hired him, and they have made millions off of him. The issue is, most people in the LGBT community are pretty big supporters of our right to free speech as well. I believe their cause would have been much better supported by issuing a statement that they do not agree with or support Phil's beliefs. Anyone who did not think that was enough could simply not watch the show. However, by suspending Phil, they have whacked a hornet's nest that has people on both sides acting crazy! 

Here's the thing. The Robertsons were millionaires before A&E, and they will be just fine without them. If anything, Phil will probably be happy to see the cameras go. So, what can we do to support them? Well, I won't be watching the show without Phil. We have yet to see what the rest of the family will do. I hope they will all be able to quit and go on without the show, even though I will miss it dearly. I don't know much about contracts and all that, so I won't claim that if they don't quit they are liars and pagans. I believe they know my Jesus, and He will guide them on the right path. It is not my place to say whatever decision they make is right or wrong. I believe we can support the family without supporting A&E, but I don't know if storming the offices is the way to do it. I don't really see Jesus attempting to overthrow the government? And  I am trying to see through His eyes, not human eyes. 

I would love to see the Christian community stop protesting and boycotting and start loving people again. There are times that we need to be strong and fight. We need to fight against human trafficking and racism. There are causes worth dying for. TV is not one of them. Let's stop giving the world more reasons to claim that we are filled with hate. Let's stop treating sinners as the diseased and start loving them the way Jesus did. Let's let God worry about whether or not they are going to heaven or hell. Should it matter to us? Are we called to love only those we believe to be saved or are we called to love our neighbors as ourselves? None of the disciples knew that Judas was the traitor, because Jesus treated him exactly the same, knowing all along he was the one who would betray him. Why do we excuse some sins by claiming no one is perfect, but become outraged if someone else dare bring their sin into our churches? Let's treat EVERYONE the way we want to be treated. Let's turn the other cheek. Let's go the the extra mile. Let's honor God with our wealth. Maybe we will see God in a different way. Maybe the true church in America will be revived and be a haven for hurting people again, and not just a source of pain and bitterness for so many.