Cut It Out! Please!
A few weeks ago, the Internet was set ablaze over what many considered a scandalous development regarding the internationally acclaimed streaming TV series called “The Chosen.” Headlines screamed things like, “The Pride Flag Flies Proudly On The Chosen Set?” There were even photoshopped images of Dallas Jenkins (the series’ producer) and the actor who portrays Jesus superimposed on an LGBT+ flag. Many saw this development as the producers endorsing the LGBT+ agenda, an unforgivable betrayal of the Bible’s teaching on marriage.
Let me be clear. I am a follower of Jesus who believes the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, infallible word of God and that salvation is available only through Jesus. And I believe I have a highly attuned “heresy detector” and can readily spot teachings that undermine the heart of the Christian message.
Having said this, I am weary of Christians who seem to delight in finding blasphemy where none exists and stirring up needless, destructive controversy. There are a few very minor things about “The Chosen” I might do differently, but it is absolutely God-honoring and is bolstering the faith of millions worldwide.
Dallas Jenkins produced a short video response about this controversy in which he does a great job of:
Exposing the exaggeration and even misrepresentation of this LBGT+ flag firestorm. The fact is it wasn’t a flag at all, and it wasn’t “flying” over anything. It was a small 3” sticker an independent contractor had on his personal equipment that happened to be on the set.
Explaining that, as a private company and not a church or ministry, “The Chosen” does not practice content censorship of independent contractors they employ. As he says in the video, “The Chosen” does not in any way endorse the LGBT+ agenda but neither does it suppress the personal views of its cast and crew. He points out that Christians are rightly upset when the shoe is on the other foot, and they are prohibited from expressing their faith views in the workplace and other public settings.
I recently had a similar thing as this LGBT+ flag controversy happen to me. Back in 2007, I was blessed to have my book THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION: WHAT TO SAY WHEN YOUR FAITH IS CHALLENGED published by David C. Cook publishers. And I was further blessed that renowned apologetics expert Ravi Zacharias wrote a strong endorsement that appears on the front cover.
Last month, someone contacted me and told me they were going to buy my book until they saw Ravi's endorsement and asked if I could remove it.
The answer is no for three reasons:
Since the books were printed in 2007, there is no way to remove his statement from the front cover.
Ravi's personal problems were extremely unfortunate and left a huge blemish on his life and ministry. However, his personal moral failures don’t negate his intellectual skills as an apologist for the Christian faith. I have sin in my life and the person who wanted to remove Ravi's endorsement undoubtedly has sin in their life. Does that mean no one can attempt to represent God or make public statements about the faith until they are sinless? As Jesus said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" (John 8:7).
I had absolutely nothing to do with Ravi's unfortunate personal behavior. I never met the man, nor did I reference any of his works in my book. Do his private problems in any way invalidate my book’s content? I think not.
So, no. The endorsement is not being removed.
To my fellow Christians, PLEASE quit straining out gnats and swallowing camels (Matthew 23:24). I am 100% for doctrinal purity on the core points of Jesus' deity, our inability to live up to God's standards on our own, and the need to trust in Jesus' sacrificial death as the only way to salvation. But we should be about promoting the message of Jesus' love and forgiveness and the need to follow him, not looking to condemn everyone who does not hold identical views as we do on EVERY SINGLE aspect of Christian doctrine and life.
Thanks for letting me ventilate!