-Pastor Robbie Cheuvront
Some of you may be aware of a quiet little controversy being stirred between mainstream media and the evangelical world. It’s not something new, either. Rather, it’s been going on for quite awhile now. This controversy, of course, is the one surrounding homosexuality. And every now and again, a new chapter arises.
Louie Giglio, founder of the Passion Conferences, had been asked to give the benediction at President Obama’s inaugural celebration this month. However, recently, Pastor Giglio quietly withdrew his acceptance. The issue is over a sermon that Pastor Giglio gave in the early 1990’s, concerning homosexuality, which has caused some controversy here of late (given the fact that he had been asked to do the benediction). Pastor Giglio gave a gracious statement, but never waivered on his position, and withdrew from the invitation.
So there’s the background. Now its your turn.
This whole issue of homosexuality has begun to take hold of our society. For whatever reason, it has morphed into the greatest debate of our century, even surpassing (in its coverage and notoriety) the ever-so-volatile, but never forgotten abortion debate. The military is up in arms (pun intended), the politicians are running their races on whether or not they support gay marriage (in stead of the ever-growing deficit problem), the general population has taken sides, and even the Church (big “C”) is divided, which by the way, is a whole other problem that needs to be dealt with.
So here’s my question: When did we become a people who identify themselves by their sexual preference? And why is the mainstream media so bent on forcing this issue down America’s throat?
I believe what Pastor Giglio did was admirable. Rather than compromise his integrity, he simply withdrew his acceptance of the invitation. There are several positions floating around out there about it from “Reverse discrimination against Christians” (referring to the flack Pastor Giglio is being given for his “controversial” sermon, to “We (the Church) should just shrug it off and say Whatever!, to He should’ve never accepted the invitation in the first place.
I’d like to know your thoughts on the whole thing. If you’d care to, please respond with your thoughts about the inaugural benediction, but also post your thoughts on the two questions I asked above. Perhaps, since it seems as if it is not going to go anywhere soon, this is a debate that needs to be settled once and for all.
What Say You?
-robbie cheuvront