Last week, The Dissenter reported that Alistair Begg, a prominent pastor associated with The Gospel Coalition, urged Christians to not only attend homosexual weddings, but to also buy them a gift—a position that starkly contradicts the biblical view of marriage as a sacred union exclusively between a man and a woman. This alarming advice from Begg, a respected figure in evangelical circles including the late R.C. Sproul’s Ligonier ministry, represents a growing trend of Evangelical leaders to abandon sound Christian doctrine in favor of man-pleasing cultural orthodoxy. It is a glaring example of the moral compromise seeping into the church under the guise of progressive tolerance.

While Begg continues to state that he believes homosexual marriages are invalid and that homosexuality is wrong, by advocating attendance and gift-giving at such ceremonies, Begg not only disregards the scriptural condemnation of homosexuality but also encourages believers to participate actively in what is portrayed in Scripture as an abhorrent act to God. This is a distressing trend within certain evangelical factions, indicating a troubling drift from biblical authority and the command to flee from sin—not tacitly endorse it.

Yet, despite confrontation with other Evangelical leaders and lay people alike, Begg has doubled down on his position causing American Family Radio (AFR), who hosted his show, Truth for Life, to drop him after 12 years. AFR Vice President Ed Vitagliano along with American Family Association (AFA) Vice President Walker Wildmon, reached out to Begg’s team to ask for clarification or withdrawal of these statements. According to Wildmon and Vitagliano, Begg’s team defended Begg’s comments and said that he would be standing by them.

Now, let me just say from the outset, and then I’m gonna get Walker to join in here too, that the the two individuals that we talked with, as Walker and I with two individuals from Alister Begg’s ministry, they made it clear that Alistair Begg believes that homosexuality is wrong, he hasn’t changed that his views on that he does not believe that homosexual marriage is valid, and that the practice of homosexual activity is, as the Bible says, an abomination.

So all four of us were in agreement with that. But Walker, what we could not get them to change—and they said that Alistair Begg is not going to change his mind—was on the issue of whether Christians should attend because that is what Alistair Begg was saying. Yes, he was saying Christians should attend and bring a gift.

Yes, that’s right. And the goal of the call, and the goal of all Christians when approaching these issues should be reconciliation, but reconciliation and truth. And so that was our goal with a call with Alisha Begg’s team. And unfortunately, we didn’t get there. But we did press the issue multiple, multiple times. And we even asked point blank, “So are you guys stating that Pastor Alistair Begg is standing by his original comment? He has no regrets? He didn’t misspeak? He doesn’t want to further clarify? Nothing?” and they said, “Yes, he’s standing by his original comment.” So very disappointing.

AFA and AFR presidents also argued, as we did, that attending a homosexual wedding is, in fact, a tacit approval of the abomination and that there really is no escape from that truth. They gave the example of a man who wants to divorce his wife and marry his secretary. If this man were to ask one of them to be his best man, would you do so? According to Begg’s line of reasoning, the answer would be yes.

Let’s be clear, Begg has embraced an extremely dangerous teaching that if worked out to its logical conclusion, is a damnable heresy. Hopefully, he will see his error and repent, and hopefully, other influential leaders who surround Begg and his ministry, such as Voddie Baucham, Steven Lawson, and even John MacArthur, will press this issue with hm call him to repent of these statements. We understand that even the best among us can make mistakes and have blind spots, but the fact that he has now doubled down on these statements is extremely disturbing and not something his ministry partners should take lightly. We are grateful that AFR has done the right thing, and we agree with them that the goal is always reconciliation, but reconciliation in the truth.

You can listen to the full audio at this link: