Why Do We Always Shoot for the Lowest Common Denominator? Sorry, I am NOT Josh Duggar!

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective

Recently, in a blog titled, “God’s Girl Julia” the author wrote about Josh Duggar, who was not only caught up in the Ashley Madison debacle, but stands accused of having “rough” sex with a female stripper and porn star. He allegedly did this while his wife was five-months pregnant.

God’s Girl Julia offers her disgust at first, but then comes to the realization that what Josh Duggar gave into as a “sinner” is common to us all. She claims she is Josh Duggar and that we are ALL Josh Duggar. I beg to differ.

Folks, I will readily admit that we are all sinners, myself included. There is no debate. Romans 5:12 states, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Emphasis added)

God’s Girl Julia’s basic point is that we are all sinners, all in need of God, and no sin is greater or less than another because all sin separates us from God. To God, sin is sin. Yes, I agree with that, but it is only one side of the coin. She’s completely ignoring the other side of the coin when she fails to point out that sin has consequences in this life. Certain sins have greater consequences than others in the here and now.

In the Old Testament, there are clear differences between “good” people and “bad” people. Even though all equally sinned, the “good” people (those whom God saw as good due to their faith in Him), were seen by God in a certain way. He looked ahead to the cross of Christ knowing the people whom He called “good” were so only because of their faith in Him. Had they known of Jesus and His redemptive work, they would have put their faith in Him without question. In the Old Testament, God looked ahead to the cross of Christ to justify people. Today, He looks back to the same cross to justify us because of our faith in Him.

Daniel was human and a sinner (cf. Romans 5:12), yet there is never even a hint of anything sinful in his life. God wasn’t focused on Daniel’s sin and chose not to reveal his sins to us. God painted a picture of Daniel as though he was faultless. At one point, Gabriel comes to Daniel in response to prayer and tells him that he is “highly esteemed,” (cf. Daniel 10:11). Do you think Gabriel would say this to Josh Duggar? I’m not even sure he would say it to me.

Conversely, look how angry God became at King David when he not only lusted after Bathsheba, but slept with her, causing her to become an adulterer. To make matters worse, David had her husband Uriah killed in battle…deliberately. You can read the entire sordid narrative in 2 Samuel 11. Notice how God sends Nathan to rebuke David (2 Samuel 12). God is angry but He still loved David!

Had David lusted and gone no further, he would still have sinned (cf. Matthew 5:28), but he would not have physically involved Bathsheba in his sin and the consequences that occurred in real-time would not have happened. For men, sometimes lust comes into our brains faster than we realize. When that happens, we have several options. We can turn from it, immediately replacing lust with something else that is not sinful, or we can enjoy it. David enjoyed it, which led to a desire to have sexual relations with Bathsheba. Once he had committed that sin, it led him to try to cover it. He had Uriah murdered. Wow. Just wow. Read 2 Samuel 12:7-15 to learn just how angry God was with David.

Josh Duggar pretended to be faithful to his wife when he was not. He not only lusted, then committed adultery, but he lived a life of lies in order to cover himself. Some want us to not condemn Josh Duggar’s actions because we also condemn ourselves.

I believe that this mentality misses the much larger picture. That thinking is nothing more than emotional virtue or vapid sentimentality, which has no room in the life of the Christian. Not once did God’s Girl Julia refer directly to Scripture in her article. It’s all sentimental hogwash, religious emotional virtue, that ignores God’s Word. While we should never condemn Josh Duggar, we should also never whitewash what he did. Forgiveness does not mean cancellation of consequences.

God’s Girl Julia states, “We’re not perfect, so I think it’s time that we stop acting like we are. I think we all need to be more vulnerable. I think we all need to be more open about those ‘super bad sins’ that we struggle with.”

I get her point, but the reality is that though our sins are terribly sinful to God, in this life, in this dimension, we also deal with the consequences and ramifications of our sin. While on one hand, I am already seated with Christ in the heavenlies (that’s my position; cf. Ephesians 2), I still live in this world and I will bear the consequences of my sin. We need to stop excusing ourselves when we sin. It brings the Name of Christ through the mud!

If a “Christian” robs a bank, gets caught, and goes to jail, that is the correct consequence. Justice is being served. We should not condemn the Christian, but we should certainly applaud the judicial consequences that were meted out because it is for his/her own benefit. Certainly, God can and will forgive that sin through repentance, but He will not wipe away the consequences of that sin.

If we follow God’s Girl Julia’s advice, then we have to ignore Paul’s advice to both Timothy and Titus with respect to people in the church who fall. How can we be true to God if we ignore His mandates? This is what constantly got Israel in trouble with Him and why they are out of fellowship with Him still.

We need to stop coddling Christians like Josh Duggar and realize just how reprehensible sin is to our holy God. He despises it because of what it has done to His Creation and because it is such an affront to Him. Yet, we coddle it, we entertain it. We dabble in it then expect people to not “judge” us when we’re caught.

Josh Duggar certainly needs help but going into rehab for “sex addiction” (what is that anyway?!) is probably not the place to be. God’s Word says to rely on God and His power to overcome our propensity to sin. Duggar could have nipped the whole thing in the bud by not lusting after another woman or by stopping as soon as he realized he was doing that. Not only did he lust, but he went out of his way to go a strip club, spent hundreds of dollars on a particular stripper, then paid her close to $2,000 to spend a few days/nights with her. This is not what a Christian does, folks.

The world laughs and they have every right to laugh. I am upset for what Duggar’s escapades do to the reputation of the very Christ he says he worships.

I’m not arguing that Christians need to go on witch hunts after other Christians. I’m simply stating that we need to stop coddling those Christians (and ourselves!) who destroy their own testimony with their blatant, unrestrained sin as if they have no clue at all about how offensive sin is to God in the first place and what to do about it.

Paul asks this sobering question in Romans 6:1, “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” He follows that up with a resounding “God forbid!”

God certainly forgives our failures, but the consequences remain. The world laughs and sees just another Christian hypocrite. The real tragedy is what this type of behavior does to the cause of Christ in the world. Brothers and sisters, it shouldn’t be. While we should not condemn Josh Duggar, we should firmly point out that he needs to get right with the God he claims to worship and follow.

Our obligation is to die to self, not invest in it or fan it into life. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded,” (James 4:8). God never tells us to do something that we are incapable of doing.

Theology and Politics from a Conservative, Biblical Perspective