Posted on 05/25/2015 10:05:12 AM PDT by Kaslin
I have no desire to pile on with more comments about Josh Duggar, who appears to be a very serious and committed Christian who has made no excuses for the sins of his youth and who deeply desires to make a positive impact for the Lord in the years ahead. I simply want to share some redemptive thoughts, supplementing some of the excellent statements made by others, including former governor Mike Huckabee and Southern Baptist leader Russell Moore.
1. Jesus really does change people. While critics of the Duggar family want to indict them (along with other, evangelical Christians, especially those with large families) for Josh’s actions, and while many seem ready to throw Josh under the bus, the fact is that while he did sin grievously, through repentance, faith and counseling, he became a new man. Jesus really does transform sinners.
How many of us did wicked things as teenagers? I was shooting heroin at the age of 15 and broke into some houses and even stole money from my own father before being radically converted at the age of 16. I was profane, filled with pride, anger, and lust, yet the Lord had mercy on me and totally turned my life around.
Some of us continued to live like this into our adult years, only to find mercy and new life then, meaning that the transformation was even more dramatic.
For me, the first lesson from this story is this: Whoever you, whatever you’ve done, there is hope in the Lord. As Mike Huckabee said, “‘inexcusable’ . . . doesn’t mean ‘unforgivable.’”
As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
2. There’s no excuse for sin, so own up to it. In today’s culture, almost no one is guilty of anything. It’s someone else’s fault, someone else’s responsibility, not our own. We’re all victims, and the reason we do bad things is because someone else wronged us. Isn’t that how we think today?
I’ve even heard athletes apologize for some really heinous actions by saying, “I’m not happy with the way things happened,” rather than saying, “What I did was wrong and I have no excuses. Please forgive me. I’m seeking to get to the root of my problems and address them.”
What a vast difference between the two attitudes.
As Proverbs states, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).
According to the accounts we’ve all heard, Josh confessed his sin to his parents as well as to the proper authorities, and as a family, they worked through the issues. Now, half a lifetime later (he’s 27 and is married with four children), when confronted with a police report about his past, he did not minimize his sin nor did he excuse it. He also resigned from the fine Christian organization for whom he worked, not wanting to bring any negative attention to their work.
When I see someone respond like this, I am filled with hope. In fact, over the years, I’ve seen that people who committed uglier sins but took full responsibility and repented did far better than those who committed less serious sins and tried to sweep them under the rug.
3. Even godly families have kids who mess up badly. Nancy and I only had two kids, and we sought to be godly parents and set godly examples. Yet our older daughter went through a real period of rebellion in her teen years.
As parents, we felt miserable, and I would wonder what I was doing wrong.
Of course, we dealt with her rebellion head on and prayed like crazy for her to really encounter the Lord, but while it was happening, it was terribly deflating spiritually. What kind of father am I? How can I be so ineffective?
Today, we all laugh about those years, and our daughter, who is now 37 and is a devoted wife and mother, is so grateful for the way she was raised. (She and Nancy are the best of friends and are in constant contact.)
The fact that the Duggars, who successfully raised 19 children in the Lord (who can imagine that?), had to deal with one of their kids committing serious sexual sin at 14 should actually encourage other parents rather than discourage them. And perhaps, they can teach us today how this tragic incident helped them come together as a family and draw closer to the Lord.
4. Josh can be an ambassador on behalf of the abused, even helping the abusers as well. While it can feel like your life is over when your past, largely private sins become public (how many of us would like for that to happen?), the fact is that Josh’s future can be bright in the Lord.
He can call on others who are sinning to come clean and get help, using his own example redemptively. And he can encourage those who have been abused to realize that they are not guilty and should not feel shame, also encouraging churches to embrace those who come for help rather than making them feel as if there is something wrong with them.
Why should those who have suffered abuse be stigmatized? They should be our priority for healing and restoration.
5. We need to be careful how we judge. There are many fans of the Duggars who are upset with what they feel is a witch hunt against a godly family, representing one more attempt to remove them from reality TV. (Let me say without qualification that there is life after reality TV, and if the Duggars never do another broadcast, their lives can still be overwhelmingly blessed.)
But would we have had this same attitude of mercy and forgiveness if this was the child of a gay couple? Would we have said, “This proves that gay parents are no good!”?
I certainly believe that kids deserve a mom and a dad and that, optimally, they will do best with a mom and dad, but I don’t indict all gay couples because of the failings of one of their kids
So, if you want to show mercy, be consistent. We can all fall into the trap of selective compassion.
6. There are consequences to our actions, but with God, our worst mistakes can become stepping stones to spiritual growth.
Most of us have done things we wish we could take back, and in some cases, the consequences of our bad choices and sinful actions last for decades. Yet with the Lord, no matter how great the stigma of our sin, if we will humble ourselves before Him, He can take those stumbling blocks and turn them into stepping stones, to the point that the worst things that ever happened to us become the best things that ever happened to us.
To the core of His being, God is a redeemer, and I’m personally praying and believing that for Josh Duggar and his entire family, God will turn this painful situation around for greater good.
Let’s watch and see.
She also didn’t go to work for the Family Research Council
Are you serious?
Did not cover it up? They did not report it to anyone for over a year, and when they did, it was to a state trooper who they knew, and who did not take any action other than a stern talking to.
Oh, and that state trooper was himself convicted of child porn.
Oh, and all of this was happening right at the start of their TV show. Do you think TLC would have aired the show for so long if the molestation had been properly reported?
What I thought was creepy were episodes like the one where two of the girls got wisdom teeth pulled. Making money out of your children going through a difficult and scary time is creepy.
Having read most of the responses here....at Free Republic.....I am personally sickened by the braying mob attitude you all are expressing....
Dear mercy......I never thought I would see this on Free Republic
...and I’ve been here 16 years.....
....I can only imagine the diatribe against me after I post this.....
Dear mercy
Anyone who disagrees with you or has a different approach is slammed and shamed into silence,
Is this really Free Republic?
You will not be satisfied until this young man and his family are personally destroyed.
Very sad.
I saw the segment that was mentioned and it was creepy as hell.
“The father brought the son to that state trooper back in 2003, immediately after the son returned from the three-month “treatment program.” Click here for page 14 of the police report.”
The state trooper who, despite being a mandated reporter under Arkansas law, did not report the incident and instead gave Josh a stern talking to? That’s the action Jim Bob took to protect his daughters? Ha!
It is an online forum where different opinions are expressed.
Here is the essential problem (for me). This isn’t just boys being boys and it was not dealt with appropriately at the time. It is being handled as damage control for political and financial reasons.
The Duggars chose to do this to their family, not me. Now that the cat is out of the bag, they can suffer the consequences they deserve.
The kids are the victims in all of this. That is entirely my point. Jimbob and Michelle are horrible parents.
I can only think of what charges the parents could have faced by covering it up and also, child protective services would have been breaking their door down to remove the kids from the home.
Well, I’m not going to endorse that, LOL. But another factor to consider is whether Josh himself was abused, and if so, by whom.
Exactly. And there goes the money. So cover it up and hope for the best.
A note tucked into a book is the only reason we know about it. God works in mysterious ways.
As a heart attack. Just go to youtube and type in "duggars golf course."
I am no prude but that disgusts me.
It was mostly tongue in cheek, but even the Amish let them run wild for a season. I think that was on TLC, too. lol
Well, that's true, but the hypocrisy is still there
Molesting your sister whether you are a professed Christian or a whacked out progressive lesbian shank, like Durham, it still wrong and the left barely made a peep about her actions and basically were like dogs trying to cover up her droppings...
Very few people on the right, even Christian right are going to bat for him, yet the left is demonizing this guy...while their own are barely touched...
Literally rubbing in what they are allowed as parents to do that the kids can’t. Sick and distorted but not surprising when control and oppression seem to be all this so-called family is about.
Just saw it. They are creepy.
It's the same with me. I knew the Duggars were a bit off, but that shocked me.
What goes around comes around, and some posters have a full dish coming their way.
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