Pat Robertson joined Joe Biden this week as part of the “Old White Guys Saying Crazy things” Club. Sadly what Pat Robertson said was much worse because it was a tragic distortion of the gospel. The following video is a shocking response to a single woman who is raising three children she adopted internationally.
Instead of commending this woman for her love and compassion, he essentially belittles her, while still justifying that he believes in supporting orphans. Because the background of internationally adopted children can be uncertain and can include “brain damage, sexual abuse, cruelty, and food deprivation” Pat Robertson believes people should be careful of adopting internationally. He goes on to say “You don’t have to take on someone elses problems.” He concludes by saying that he believes in caring for orphans around the world, but “That doesn’t necessrily mean I have to take all the orphans around the world into my home.”
This negative view of adoption displays a tragic lack of understanding of the gospel and Christ’s work on the cross. Because of the cross, and God’s great love and mercy every single Christian has been adopted into God’s family and are children of God, our heavenly Father. God adopted into His family people who did things so horrific that He was forced to sacrifice His Son on the cross. We rebelled against God and spat in His face, “but God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ-by grace you have been saved… So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are members of the household of God.” (Ephesians 2:4-5, 19) One of the great beautiful truths of the gospel is that God brought all those He saved into His house as children, not grudgingly in anyway but welcoming them with open arms. God loves us regardless of our past. He is a “father to the fatherless.” The “friend of tax collectors and sinners.” He is the father of the rape victim, the abused, the poor and homeless, and even the brain damaged, starved, and those who are cruelly treated. God loves us sacrificially and unconditionally, and this is the love Christians need to exude to the world because it is the love with which we have been loved. Tragically Pat Robertson does not understand how central adoption is to the Christianity and the gospel and has distorted Christianity to the world as a result.
The heart of the gospel is that God adopted as His own children people who were worse than “weird,” people who rebelled directly against Him and whose sins required the crucifixion of His son, and people who have the most messed up lives ever. If the gospel and the cross don’t encourage and inspire someone to adopt or at least appreciate people who adopt needy children, then he clearly has a very twisted view of the gospel and what God has done.
When Christian leaders teach a twisted view of the gospel it is crucial that Christians stand up and respond. While the silence was deafening during the Doug Wilson controversy, thankfully Christian leaders are very quickly responding in this instance. One of the first to respond was Russell Moore whose response is well worth the read. This is yet another time where Christians need to stand up and defend Christianity by saying unequivocably, “That man does not speak for us.” To quote Pat Robertson’s cohost on the 700 Club, Pat Robertson’s comments were #JustWrongonEveryLevel.
Willie Deutsch 