“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14).
“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Phil. 4:8).
The Good, the Bad, and the Grace of God: What Honesty and Pain Taught Us About Faith, Family, and Forgiveness.
The Robertson family is at it again. This time it is Jep and Jessica’s turn to tell the world how bad they have been, how abused they have been, and how immoral they have been. I wish the whole clan would just hush and stop swimming in the cesspool of sin, for several reasons.
It is unnecessary. Basic Christian theology teaches that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). The Bible declares what every honest human heart will admit, “there is none righteous, no, not one.” Why then does Jep and Jessica, like so many other family members, have to go into painful detail about their personal wickedness? The fact that they are sinners in need of the Saviour is the status of every person on earth.
It is a violation of the known will of the Lord. When a person is forgiven by God, the past is the past. Former sin is not held against a person, or brought up as the basis of condemnation. “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psa. 103:12). There is no need to remember, record, and set before the world what God has sealed in His mercy. The Lord cannot be honored with sensational headlines such as, “Duck Dynasty” Dark Secrets! The article continues to say that Jep Robertson’s wife will “tell all!”, implying salacious details. Another headline screams out, “9 Biggest Bombshells From Jep and Jessica Robertson’s New Book: From Belt Whippings to Porn Addiction.” Is the Lord really glorified with this commercialization, and exploitation, of His grace, and their sin? Jep and Jessica, do you have no shame?
It is spiritually subversive of God’s grace. The apostle Paul wrote against individuals, “Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teachings things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake” (Titus 1:11). If the Robertson family was not making so much money talking about their past evil lifestyles, would they be writing their books? If not for money, why? They write because they know that sex sells. To justify writing their questionable book revealing their personal depravity, the grace of God is invoked. But how can God be glorified when individuals write in detail about the things that He has forgiven, forgotten, and put away? The world does not have to be invited to swim with the “Duck” family in the cesspool of their memories of their transgressions, and these individuals should not be writing about the evil they have done.
People will be caused to sin because of the lurid images that the confessions conjure. Soap operas are popular because millions of individuals live out a fantasy life vicariously. Long ago the Duck Dynasty family became the spiritual version of a Christian soap opera by telling story after story of messed up lives. It is enough to make the angels blush.
Here then is a word of gospel exhortation to Jep and Jessica, and all the other Robertson family members willing to swim in the cesspool of sin by wallowing in their memories. In the name of all that is holy and decent, just hush. Let there be a holy hush. It is enough to say with Isaiah, “Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts” (Isa. 6:5).