Gaines' Losses

The apostle Paul reminds us that we are to be consistent in our Christian life and we should always be growing and maturing in Him.  We are not to rest on past laurels and we can be devoted to finishing strong.  In 2nd Timothy 4 (ESV), Paul writes:
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Phillippians chapter 3 states:
12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.
13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.

For years, the married duo of Chip and Joanna Gaines has been respected, even revered within segments of the Christian community.  Why, it wasn't that long ago when they received pushback because of their church's teaching against so-called "same-sex marriage."

But, things have changed, and in a really bad way.  A recent Faithwire article says, "Coming off the heels of the debate over the Gaineses’ decision to include a gay couple in the show “Back to the Frontier,” a program setting families out to try and live as people did in the 1800s, the Texas-based couple is once again drawing the ire of some Christians."

The latest flap centers around another show on the Gaines' Magnolia Network that was part of last year's lineup, but was not renewed.  The article notes: "Despite not being renewed for a second season, clips of 'Roller Jam' are making the rounds on social media, with influencers and others highlighting LGBTQ messaging and imagery in the six-episode series."  On Instagram, Real Life Network said: "...the pair is doubling down with a gameshow featuring a crossdressing, LGBT judge and an ‘all-LGBT’ rollerskating team."

The Faithwire article included an embed of a post by Megan Basham of The Daily Wire on X:

Another show that @chipgaines and Joanna Gaines are producing. This blows apart Chip’s pretense that they are merely trying to be kind and understanding to individuals who identify as LGBTQ.  

They are clearly using their positions and influence to promote disordered sexuality and gender behavior.

Chip's response to the critics, according to the article?

“Talk, ask qustns [sic], listen.. [sic] maybe even learn,” he wrote. “Too much to ask of modern American Christian culture. Judge 1st, understand later/never.”

Gaines continued, “It’s a sad sunday when ‘non believers’ have never been confronted with hate or vitriol until they are introduced to a modern American Christian.”

Cultural commentator Anne Kennedy called out the Gaines on her Substack page:

 Chip and Joanna Gaines are not really concerned about questions of hate or love. They are concentrated on the bottom line. And the way that I know that is that the gaudy, over-sexualized, sensationalism of competition television is designed not to speak about the deep things of life, but to sparkle and allure, to create a fog of distraction over the viewer that prevents meaningful thought. If one desires to care for other people, the last place to invite them is a brilliantly lit roller rink to gyrate and vaunt themselves in outrageous costumes designed to turn the mind and heart towards lust.

She notes: "It is self-indulgent for the people roller skating their way down the broad road that leads to destruction, and that is bad enough."  But, she also says, "...it is also self-indulgent for Mr. and Mrs. Gaines. They are enabling all of this."  

She relates that Chip and Joanna "...had wandered happily up and down the country, ship-lapping walls and casting throw pillows hither and yon to the joy and delight of Christians everywhere. No one needed them to make any television show that included men dressed up like women sliding around a shinny [sic] floor thrusting their nether regions into places undesirable and being, unaccountably, congratulated for it. No, they needed to do it to compensate for some deep lack within themselves."

Whether its Chip and Joanna Gaines, or the reported self-indulgence of the recent MTV Video Music Awards, with demonic and woke ideology on display, we see this hedonistic, self-absorbed behavior glorified all around us.  Our decision as Christians is: what are we going to do about it?

For one thing, we have to reject immorality at every turn. It's out there, and it's coming at us quickly and abundantly.  That is certainly applicable for our homes and families, but we have to do more than curse the darkness.  We have to live as people of light - if we are light-bearers of the Savior within, then we have to allow His light to be radiated through us.

We, as always, have to be discerning about what we expose ourselves to, lest we dim that light and reduce the distinction we have from the world's ideas.