Interview with Alistair Begg

Below is an interview with Alistair Begg on faithfulness, the Man in the Middle and the Grandmother Controversy. Begg was the senior pastor at Parkside Church for over forty years and well known for his Truth for Life sermons.

The interview ought to be encouraging for its grace and faith elements. Sadly, people hone into the controversy where Begg counseled a grandmother regarding attending her (transitioning?) granddaughter’s wedding ceremony. Read the comments below the video.

When the debacle first exploded on X (formerly Twitter) several commentators accused Begg of bowing to the LGBTQ+ culture. In fact, Begg had just finished a series of sermons on Jude affirming the biblical response. I was there at Parkside listening to them. There were (and still are) comments about Begg not finishing well, and questions asking what happened to him.

One Christian leader publicly denounced him. Perhaps ironically, that same man was no stranger to controversy himself: a self-described “journalist” made it part of her life mission to expose any fault she could dig up in an attempt to destroy his ministry. Friends defended him on social media such as X, and rightly so on most occasions, as did I.

I disagree with Begg on this point, yet I wonder how many actually listened to his reasoning; that he said he might not offer the same advice in a different case. Unfortunately for Begg, people focused on that single point and threw him under the bus, assuming the worst.

Spurgeon and Wesley

In his book gospel people, Michael Reeves notes Charles Spurgeon’s defense of John Wesley (p 95):

To ultra-Calvinists his name is as abhorrent as the name of the Pope to a Protestant: you have only to speak of Wesley, and every imaginable evil is conjured up before their eyes, and no doom is thought to be sufficiently horrible for such an arch heretic as he was. I verily believe that there are some who would be glad to rake up his bones from the tomb and burn them, as they did the bones of Wycliffe of old – men who go so high in doctrine, and withal add so much bitterness and uncharitable-ness to it, that they cannot imagine that a man can fear God at all unless he believes precisely as they do. (Spurgeon, The Two Wesleys)

This is not to infer that Begg’s critics are raking his bones. However, there’s a curious culture on social media platforms where some are shown patience and grace, whereas others are not. Agree with Begg or not on that particular controversy, the point is that he hasn’t suddenly gone bad and capitulated to the culture. Maybe don’t accuse him of selling out or not finishing well unless you know more about the man and his current ministry.

Show the same grace God has shown us.

Maranatha!