Of course, that's not how it worked. The Duggars did have their own show and they did remain of interest to people despite their quaint, conservative Christianity and homeschooled family and "backward" values. And then came Josh. Josh, I'm sure you've heard, made the national news when last month the public was told that when he was 14-15 years old he molested five girls, some of whom were his sisters. Well, now we have Evil #4 and the end of the Duggars.
It was unfortunate (read "stupid") that the media decided that a moral failure of this magnitude (and let no one tell you that a teenage boy molesting girls is not a massive moral failure) meant that the Duggars were a failure and their values were meaningless. It was brutal what today's god of truth, social media, opted to say about the Duggars--"stupid", "hypocrites", "justifying evil". But I doubt that anything I would say about it would make a difference to them.
I want to talk to you Christians about this. There is a serious lesson here. The Duggars, from all appearances, are the "real deal". They are sincere believers with biblical values. No one is perfect, and they are the perfect example, but who among us is without sin? If this family is a truly Christian family and if this kind of heinous sin can come out of a truly Christian family actually working hard to prevent it, what does this say about you and your family?
Christians, from a family perspective and from a personal perspective, the problem isn't just "out there". It's "in here". Too many Christian families don't take their responsibilities seriously and they leave their kids open to all sorts of influences from the world while failing to equip them for these evils. Some families are more serious about this. Regardless of which it is, it isn't enough, either in raising kids or in personal holiness. The threat is not merely the world. It is lust. It is pride, It is self.
In Romans 7, Paul describes himself.
What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, "You shall not covet." But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? (Rom 7:7-24)(I know ... "TL/DR". Too much to read. But you can get the gist, right?)
The Apostle Paul describes himself as a "wretched man" who does not do the good he wants to do and does the sin he doesn't want to do. The problem, he says, is "Sin dwells in me." Folks, if you think you're better off than Paul, you're sadly mistaken. If you think you have better strategies than Paul in keeping yourself or your family from sin, you're deluded. As God told Cain, "Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." (Gen 4:7)
I make no comment here on Josh Duggar, his actions, his responses, or the responses of his family. Not the point. The point is that sin is a problem. It's a problem for Josh, for his family, for you, and for your family. Instead of complacency or mechanisms, Paul commands us to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil 2:12) with the fact that "it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Phil 2:13) behind it. Sin doesn't negate truth. Failing is not hypocrisy. On the other hand, failing to work at holiness, both personal and for your family, is not wise. A lesson we can learn from the Duggars.
2 comments:
On FB it seems that the Vanity Fair cover caused Christians to devour each other. We were told that we are suppose to love Bruce Jenner, whatever that means, and those who spoke out about Jenner in less than loving terms were ridiculed as being un-Christian. But I didn't see the same response to Josh. No one ridiculed anyone for speaking too harshly against Josh. It never came up. I have a theory on this and it is simple. Most people get their marching orders from Culture which is a constant accuser of the brethren. And one of the things they accuse us of is being unloving, and so many base their lives on not being what the accuser says that they are, as if they will somehow prove him wrong. But they will never satisfy his accusations. He will always find more because, as you say, we are sinners.
It's a simple process. "You guys are supposed to love everyone. Now ... substituting whatever I wish to mean 'love' ... clearly, you don't." Because "love" in Josh's case is "Point out where he's wrong" but in Jenner's case it's "Don't."
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