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.
Although I always got the feeling they kept churning out kids to keep sponsors happy and the show on the air. When there is no camera around to ensure a profit from continued drama the pressure is off the older kids and they can finally start to slowly break away. Must be an incredible relief to actually live a little after those many years of programmed nonsense.
Wasn’t that nice? /S
And that’s the family whose females have a code word to whisper so that the males can quickly lower their eyes and not be “tempted” by a female. Yet it was perfectly fine for the girl’s fiancee to witness that.
I’ll be honest, Michelle’s baby voice made me clench my teeth.
I bet she could swing a paddle with the best of them though.
From what I have read, the church elders “disciplined” Josh, whatever that means. But his father is also an elder, and there was some blame laid upon the victims as well...something along the lines of cautioning them to be modest. That advice is a joke considering the boy entered their rooms at night and forcibly fondled them while they were in bed.
The problems were indeed covered up. They were given a TV show to portray themselves as moral examples, and nothing was known about it until now. Only the Gothard cult and fellow members knew.
Also, the Gothard counseling material for sex abusers has become widely distributed online. It lays quite a bit of blame on the victim. It was said that Josh underwent counseling; if so, that’s what he would have received.
I suppose the girls slept suggestively. Vile Vixens.
Wow I’m sorry they should have told you first. They did not cover it up. This was to be handle privately. The only cover up is that the public was not inform about it. Well tough luck, like I said this is a private matter that should be handle privately and they did.
This happen before they had the show so why bother to bring up the past?
Also what wholesome image? They never said they were perfect. Anyone who watched their showed and think they were perfect got rocks in their head. I enjoyed their show, because they demonstrated self reliance, family, and Faith. I do not recall 1 episode where they said they were perfect.
So you are saying that a criminal matter is to be handled internally? Based on what exactly?
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.
Then, in 2006, someone else found out what happened back in 2003, and that person called the police department (click here), which started an investigation. By then, the statute of limitations had expired (click here).
Where did you see that information?
So why was it not acted on when first “reported”? Maybe some good ole boy network?
Reminds me of why I refused to jump on the Newt bandwagon with the rest of the FR back in 2012, after Newt reinvented himself as a devout Catholic from Virginia.
And the five year-old. Ugh.
Well she did sit on his lap in her nightie. Someone should have told her that was not modest.
I wish I could give you a source, but I've been reading different accounts over the past couple of days. I know I read that in more than one place.
i think I might have lost a friend over this mess. She and I have been emailing back and forth since before 9/11. I told her what I thought of the Duggars, and she seems to have stopped speaking to me.
I really don’t get the worship of this family.
Probably. Maybe he just wanted to teach the son a lesson by scaring him a little bit. I hope it worked.
I actually pity Josh in a way. He grew up in that stifling hellhole with no outlet. He went way to far with his desires, for whatever reason. That said, what is done cannot be undone.
Had Gothard had the good sense to recommend that young men be taken to the local whore house with 500 dollars, this may not have happened.
It was 4th degree sexual assault. Are not Christians bound to obey the governing authorities? Why didn’t anyone involved contact CPS?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.