Another Pastor response to Alistair
Pastor Shaun Marksbury: "Controversy about Alistair Begg and Gay Weddings?"
Notable Quotable:
"Even though this may have seemed premature, as AFR had only spoken to Begg’s representatives and not to him, Begg preceded to preach a message to show his determination. His message is titled “Compassion vs. Condemnation” (which you can watch on YouTube) and it is truly disappointing. Begg preached, among other things, from Luke 15 on the story of the prodigal son. He compared the grace that the grandmother would be showing by attending the ceremony to the grace that the father showed toward the wayward son. He further compared the backlash he was receiving to the ungracious attitude of the brother, implying that it is fundamentalism and pharisaical. He further said he would rather err on the side of compassion.
'Of course, this is just a twisting of Scripture. The notable feature of the prodigal son is his repentance! The father did not pursue the son into the world, choosing to sit inside the brothels or to dine with him from the pig slop, for instance. Instead, the father waited (and likely prayed), and was understandably thrilled to see his son returning both to his home and to his senses. The brother’s problem was that he saw no cause to rejoice over the repentance of the prodigal. There is nothing in this account that would justify going to celebrate an unrepentant people participating in an unholy union.
'There is a better biblical account that would fit with this scenario. That would be in 1 Corinthians 5, where a young man is engaged in fornication with his stepmother. The church surprisingly refused to confront the issue. Why? Because it wished to show “grace” to the man. However, Paul told them that their decision was not gracious, and that they needed instead to practice church discipline. While I'm not saying that we need to practice church discipline against Alistair Begg, his comments calling for grace and compassion are far more fitting with the Corinthian error."
Full blog here
