The Duggar Dispute

The press is having a field day with the Duggar family revelation that the oldest son had committed a sexual abuse crime years ago as a young teen. There's the criticism of many that a family that goes on TV as an advocate for Christian values is highly hypocritical given this issue within their own family. Their defense and that of their allies is that Christianity is about forgiveness and they have all forgiven their son's transgression. Then the Duggars and their allies criticize the criminal justice system for making public details of this case that is supposed to be closed due to the juvenile age of the perpetrator.

I find the public debate of Christianity to be quite disturbing by both the pundits who question the Duggars (such as Meghyn Kelley) and the responses given by the Duggars and others who try and present their position as Christians. The point seems to be that Christianity is only about family values and forgiving transgressions. What an excellent opportunity to actually discuss Christianity in what it really is - a relationship with the person Jesus Christ. I have not heard any Christian asked about this in the public forum of ideas ever divert the discussion away from family values to the relationship with Christ.

The obsession of society with Christianity as the advocate of family values and morality is really interesting. One is that somewhere Christians have failed to be a testimony to their faith when others see them as something unrelated to what they are. While Christians value morality, the Christian is not the banner carrier for morality, social justice, and traditional values. Jesus actually had the harshest words for the moralists in His day, the Pharisees. In watching the TV documentary "AD: The Bible Continues" we see a portrayal of the early Christians. They were seen as those committed to the person Jesus, whom they proclaimed to be alive and King. They were not persecuted because they were hypocrites and politically incorrect defending family values as the Duggars are (and many many other Christians).

Its not unexpected that the world would "persecute" Christians even in the USA. Jesus told us that the world would persecute us, not because we are hypocrtical advocates of morality but because we believe He is the only way to truth and life. While most churches certainly preach the Gospel for the most part, why does the world see Christians incorrectly. What is it about our lives that do not shout "we trust Jesus for life"? The contrast I see in the early church and today's church should be a sobering reminder of what we should proclaim as Christians.

The Duggar dispute would be a fantastic opportunity to defend the hope that is in us, not the Pharisee in us.