by Steven Gledhill
While I am not known by any of the Duggar family, we are family in Christ. The world has no idea that there is a familial bond in God’s family that is entirely authentic and full of genuine compassion; love even. The passionate feelings of Christians go beyond that “How dare you attack my TV family.” The drive and intensity for righteous vindication comes from a place of compassion for brothers and sisters in Christ. The world cannot understand that.
Those on the outside looking in cannot discern things that are divinely spiritual. The reality is that unbelievers want what Christians have—peace, joy, mercy, generosity, favor, patience, humility, self-control—and want some sense of peace for eternity; but are unwilling to pay the price to attain it; that cost being surrender into the generous favor and unwavering love of one merciful Savior. The opponent to surrender is defiance. What we are seeing all over the media is defiance against the call of letting go of selfish ambition and entitlement and receiving the righteous best of sovereign almighty God. From a place of (perhaps unconscious) conviction, they must counter their own sense of spiritual emptiness and attack those of us that assuredly have what they are missing.
Pundits and media celebrities cannot wait to tear down anyone who stands for sensible right best living, which is what so-called Christian values promote. All the Duggars do, really, is testify of the work of Christ in the life of their family, how they have been blessed in the experience of God’s favor, and that they want to extend the blessing to others by telling their story on television. Not everything they “put out there” is planned. It can be spontaneous and things are said that perhaps could be said better, but… oh well.
Folks who are offended by other folks that don’t live a licentious lifestyle are offended from a place of conviction. If someone is offended by someone else who takes a moral high ground, feels a sense of judgment against him or her, the question is, “Why?” They weren’t talking to you, specifically. They don’t even know you. Why take what the Duggar family says and promotes so personal unless there is something sensible in you that recognizes internally that all is not well and good and right. Therefore, it becomes necessary to defend the wrong inside that one has justified in his or her heart to be alright (i.e., abortion and gay marriage).
Who better than the Duggars and imperfect families that have experienced healing and both sides of repentance and forgiveness, to advocate for the gospel of redemption, recovery, and restoration. Honestly, I typically watched the TLC show because my wife had it on. The family may be better off never again being on television… I don’t know. But I look forward to these lovers of truth continuing to advance the case for sensible godly values and taking the moral high ground in how they live; that they do so in the strength and confidence of whose they are in relationship with Jesus 
Christ.
There is no doubt that what Josh Duggar did as a teenager, as he said, was inexcusable. But thank God, He is merciful, and puts in His children hearts full of compassion and mercy. Should he eventually speak to the media or church congregations or however that may manifest itself down the road, he need not do the apology tour. He repented before God, the only one who forgives sins, and he made sincere amends to his family and close friends. He need not relive the shame that has been removed as far as the east is from the west.
Even King David insisted in his prayer of confession that he sinned against God and God alone. David conspired to commit murder and may have behaved like a serial sexual deviant with teenage concubines and Bathsheba. And yet David is recognized as a man after God’s heart. The apostle Paul murdered Christians until confronted by Jesus himself who tabbed him to preach good news to those who would not have heard if not for his ministry.
Like Paul and David, Josh has experienced deeply his Lord’s mercy. What a beautiful thing.
At the conclusion of the interview below, Jessa, says the family was sitting around and she said, “Guys… people might be stirring things up but look on the bright side. At least none of us are feuding. At least, we’re all in harmony as a family and we all love each other like crazy.” As the producer is bringing their mics down since the interview is over, you here Megyn Kelly utter, “Remarkable.”
The critics of the Duggars will not relent. They will criticize what was said in these interviews. They will continue criticizing these girls for even doing the interview. They will continue to criticize Christians for our imperfections. They are right when they call me a hypocrite, blind to the hypocrisy behind their attacks. I do have a tendency to say one thing and do another. My response to that is that I judge myself against what I say and promote. I repent of my offenses against God. I make amends for the harm I have done to others when I behave wrongly.
The attacks against the Duggars and all of the Christian family along side them validates the good in the message and our efforts in God’s strength to model the message. Jesus said that we would be persecuted for His name’s sake. As crazy as it sounds, persecution is good attention for what is right and best and eternal in relationship with Jesus Christ.
My prayer is that the entire Duggar family, including Josh, continue to proclaim the good news of what life is and what it looks like (Christian values) in relationship with Jesus Christ.
The following is the interview Jill and Jessa did on FOX NEWS with Megyn Kelly:
