{This post was written by Ken.}
The new revelations about
Josh Duggar signing up for a most heinous website looking for affairs has all
Christians grieving and some of us pondering our defending him and his parents
over the molestation issues of a few months back. This may shock you, but this
revelation does not shock me, although it is a grave disappointment to us, and
to all Christians. Imagine what the Duggar parents and the family feels like
right now having to go through another of Satan’s blows as he does all he can
to try and destroy and devour them. What is the warning we have from God’s Word?
“Be sober-minded and alert.
Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour” {I Peter 5:8}.
Satan found someone in Josh
to devour. It probably started as a kid of 12-13 years old when sexual sin took
its root and built its tentacles into Josh Duggar’s life. From what we know of
his struggles with sexual temptation and giving into it, we knew that his road
to healing would have been a hard one. Yet, by listening to his words, and
watching the fruit of his life; his growing up to be what we thought was a
godly husband, father and leader at the Family Research Counsel, we fell for
his hypocrisy and assumed incorrectly that he had repented.
Now the truth comes out just
as surely as God promises ~
“Be
sure your sin will find you out” {Numbers 32:23}.
The lessons the Josh Duggar sordid affair can teach us are many, and they are lessons we all should have learned
long ago in a mature Christian walk with God.
~ Lesson 1 ~
It is not our job to judge
any believer who has fallen into sin and then claims repentance. We are the “family” of God,
and a family loves and accepts its own even if we must sadly rebuke or expel a
member from the church for gross sins. The apostle Paul says it clearly ~
"Brothers, even if
anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in
a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will no
be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ"
{Galatians 6:1-2}.
~ Lesson 2 ~
I am not fond of the phrase, “but for the grace of God go I,” because it is used far too often as a cop out from personal responsibility. But in this case it has some merit. We
have the blood of the risen Lord coursing through our veins so that He has
given us all we need for life and godliness. But let the believer always
beware, and especially wary of childhood sins that may have a stronghold on
you. There may be constant battle to remember who I am in Christ, and that I
can say “NO” to sin, yet we are all far too aware that we can at any time also
say “yes” to sin which gives it a foothold for evil to burn us and our family
down.
"Therefore let him who
thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall"
{1 Corinthians 10:12}.
~Lesson 3~
Satan will attack much more
those who are in the spotlight of the Christian world so as to deliver a double
blow. This hypocrisy and scandalous behavior not only hurts Christianity,
but it also has the ability to create many more mockers and scoffers, only driving them away from Jesus; Josh has blasphemed the Word of the Living God. Not
only are Christian leaders more prone to fall into temptation, they seem
especially prone to sexual temptation. He failed to heed the exhortation to "Flee immorality." The reason why the Josh Duggar news does
not shock me, however, is because I have watched a regular parade of Christian leaders
over the past 20 years fall into sexual sin as they are far too susceptible to
what I call the "Nebuchadnezzar Syndrome."
Nebuchadnezzar was perhaps
the wealthiest king to ever live and one evening he was looking out over all
that he had built of the hanging gardens of the city of Babylon proudly admiring his
work, and POOF! In an instant, God struck him down and he spent the next five
years of his life grazing like an animal as a crazy man. But the story does not
end there. When he turned his eyes to heaven, and acknowledged the God most
High, God restored his sanity and he went on to live a restored life. One of
the great tributes to God in the Bible is spoken by a pagan king who found the
Creator God and honored Him after his fall and restoration. {Read Daniel
4:34-37}
~Lesson 4~
If the world understands that
a fallen person can be rehabilitated and useful, certainly Christians should
know this. If you say you are repentant
and want to receive the forgiveness of our Lord Jesus, you are welcome with
open arms into my life and church until you have proven otherwise.
I have learned this lesson
the hard way having received those who professed Christ and repented of gross
sins, only to be taken advantage of and deceived. One woman asked Lori if she
should trust her husband who has had affairs in the past, and my response would
be, “Yes, trust him in what he is proving trustworthy. Is he a good provider?
Is he a good father? Is he a husband you can count on to protect you when
danger arises?” Trust him in all the areas he is trustworthy and pray that he
will earn back trust in the areas where he has violated your trust. Trust is
both given and earned, and both are a necessary part of any healthy
relationship. Trust with accountability may be a necessary part of living with a man who has proven untrustworthy in the past; if he will let you be a help meet to him in this way.
We, as part of the body of
Christ, know that Christians are made perfect by the blood of the Lamb, but
until we are home with Jesus, He has left us the choice each and every day as
to “whom will you serve.” The true story of the believer is that we choose God
with our hearts, minds and souls, but that little selfish will that we continue
to let hang around, and keep burning its starter light, can quickly turn into a
flame and then a forest fire before we can stop it, if we allow it. And then we can do nothing but sit in the ashes of our shame.
~Lesson 5~
Beware of emotional
attachment to celebrities, including your pastor and those who are public
figures. Lori tells me that the chat
room is quite devastated by what has been announced, and rightfully so, but
perhaps some have built too much of an imaginary connection to the Duggar family.
They are wonderful people, and such reality shows are built on sucking us into
the emotional connections as if we are right there with their highs and lows.
There are many others who were hoping for one of the Duggar children to fall away from
the fold so that the other children might follow and the family come crashing down. These people spend hours analyzing the family and looking for every little flaw,
hoping that this day of celebration would come. It has arrived, and all it
should tell true believers is we have just one perfect example that we must
follow, Christ Jesus our Lord. Let us pray that the Duggar family keeps their
eyes on Jesus and not on an older brother. Imagine that God may have permitted
the first leak of information on Josh precisely to lessen the blow of this much
bigger scandal of sin when it finally hit at the hearts of this precious family.
I hate to even mention this,
but Jesus makes clear that He allows the wheat and tares to live side by side
in the church because even God is concerned about not uprooting the healthy new
buds of wheat just because a seeming believer is amongst us. None of us truly
knows the heart of another, although most of us can discern the heart for Jesus
if you give us just a few minutes of conversation. The only proof we have for
anyone’s salvation is the fruit of their life, and so far, Josh may need to
find Jesus for real.
~Lesson 6~
Pornography and sexual sin
will tear wife from husband, sister from brother and children from parents. Lori has spent many posts speaking on the evils of pornography as
it often leads to even greater sins. How Josh Duggar could have grown up in
this godly family and turned out so fallen in sin is astonishing, but no
mystery at all. God’s Word says clearly,
“But each one is
tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when
lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it
brings forth death” {James
1:14-15}.
A man’s greatest battle is
his sexual drive and desire, just as a woman’s greatest battle is her emotional
make-up and need to control those closest to her to try and get her seeming
“needs” met. Neither of these battles are ending any time soon, so marriages
will be rocked, devastated and destroyed by both sets of sins, unless Jesus
takes the wheel of the home and becomes Lord to both spouses. There is a great
divide in Christianity between those who call Jesus their Savior and those who are
willing to go the next step and call Him Lord, and do as He says. I fear that
the “get out of jail free card” that too many christians are holding may not be
recognized by Jesus because Jesus is in the business of changing lives today,
not just in eternity. This is the power of the Gospel.
~Lesson 7~
Don’t blame the spouse or the
parents when a husband or child falls into temptation and great sin. God’s Word is very clear that the sins of the Father are not to be
held against a son, nor the sins of a child against a parent. Anna has done nothing to be a participant in Josh’s
fiasco, nor have his parents. This is where I take great exception to Matt
Walsh’s recent post where he appears to lay blame at the feet of the parents
for putting the family into a ten year highly successful television program. I
love you, Matt, and you are spot on with 99.7% of what you write, but you are
dead wrong here.
How can someone second guess
what God has greatly blessed and used for ten years of ministry? God built up
the show and millions were blessed through it, including thousands of added
babies who were probably born to parents who would have never dreamed of having
their fourth, fifth and sixth, apart from watching the show. Christian marriages and families around the world were ministered to by the Duggar family on their show learning that kids can be well behaved and wives can be joyfully submissive and lead wonderful lives together. It is not time
for second guessing what God has done, nor second guessing parents who still
have 18 wonderful God-fearing children. Perhaps just one sheep has gone astray,
but the Good Shepherd is on the job for the rescue.
~Conclusion~
There are certainly many more
lessons that we can learn from this sad story in the annals of Christian
history, but until we get to heaven we will not know who is truly saved and who
is playing the hypocrite. If you were Satan, would you not place some strategic
tares in the midst of a truly godly family? Would you not do what many of the haters wanted in finding a chink in this godly family that consistently models God’s ideals; in a church, in a Christian
organization, where the armor of God is not applied, and then wield the sword of
sinful destruction? That’s his job as he is the Devil, the father of lies.
We must never lose hope. Our
God will be riding in soon on a white horse and He will set everything
straight. He will rescue His people and will bring judgment to those who choose
not to be covered by the blood of the Lamb. Another one of ours has fallen and
if he really belongs to the body of Christ, God will once again, after a time
of true repentance and healing, stand him to his feet and redeem him. Is that
not our hope? Who amongst us can cast the first stone? If the blood of Jesus
cannot cover molestation, pornography and adultery, then we cannot trust it can
cover our sins. Our sins may be different, and God’s grace may allow us to walk
more closely with Him, nor stumble into grievous sin, but either all the sins
of the whole world were laid on the cross of Jesus for all who wish to look at
Him and be saved, or we cannot trust our salvation, as some falsely teach.
Our salvation was never about
what you and I do, or don’t do, but about what God has done through Christ Jesus
to rescue and save you, me and a Josh Duggar.
God’s Love + The Cross +
Faith Alone = It is God who Saves Me.
Now may we all learn to walk
as mature Christians who honor the name of the Lord and what He has done for us
so that we may not be ashamed at His coming.
Consider it all joy, my
brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of
your faith produces endurance. And
let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking in nothing.
James 1:3
James 1:3
