An Open Letter to Amy Grant
Dear Amy,
I’m an evangelist who appreciates your contributions to Contemporary Christian Music. When I used to program an Internet radio station, your songs were on my playlist. I also saw you perform at a Billy Graham crusade in Minneapolis.
Years before, your music planted seeds that later resulted in my salvation. In 1984, my sister bought a copy of “Straight Ahead” after seeing you in concert. I wrote a mostly positive review of your album for my college newspaper and predicted you would hit the Top 40 in a couple of years. The following year, I got excited when “Find a Way” debuted on “American Top 40.” Six years after that, I found The Way (John 14:6).
It’s sad when religious folk become judgmental of us. I remember you got criticized when you started recording more secular songs such as “Baby Baby” (which hit #1 a month after I got saved). I can also relate to the flak you received for getting divorced and remarried. I’ve had the unfortunate experience of going through two failed marriages.
Nevertheless, Christians need to stand for Biblical truth and not be afraid to correct brethren living in sin. That’s why I’m writing this letter regarding you hosting a same-sex wedding for your niece. You told the Washington Post: “Jesus, you just narrowed it down to two things: love God and love each other.” I have to agree with Franklin Graham’s response: “Yes, we are to love God and love each other. But if we love God, we will seek to obey His Word. Jesus told us, ‘If you love Me, keep My commandments.’” (John 14:15)
Why are you encouraging a relationship the Bible forbids? Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, “Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites…will inherit the kingdom of God.” Fortunately, verse 11 offers hope to those who repent: “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
The Apostle also wrote in Romans 1…
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves
25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another
Paul went on the say in verse 32, “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” Christian leaders who endorse sinful behavior are treading on dangerous ground.
What about your fans struggling with their sexual identity? Your decision to host a same-sex wedding may influence more of them to embrace alternative lifestyles. What if your niece and her significant other die without getting born again? Have you thought about what the Lord will say when you stand before His throne? He might remind you of Ezekiel 3:18, “When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.”
I read that you have a sizable following in the gay community. If you care about them, please be bold enough to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). You may lose many of those fans, but prevent others from being lost for eternity.
“Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” - Galatians 4:16
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