Carrie Underwood’s Appearance at Passion 2017 Criticized
At least one prominent person in the Christian community was upset that Carrie Underwood was allowed to perform at Passion 2017 on Monday. In fact, Engage Magazine’s Wesley Wildmon was frustrated, disappointed and saddened that she was allowed on stage.
Underwood’s well-known acceptance of gay marriage is what spurred Wildmon to pen an open letter to Louie Giglio, an Atlanta pastor who started the Passion conferences in 1995. “Carrie Underwood encourages and supports homosexual marriage which the Word of God does not,” Wildmon says, referring to 1 Corinthians 6:12-20.
He goes on to say the Word of God calls for Christians to flee from homosexuality and other sexual sins. “Why would you choose one who publicly states homosexuality is not a sin,” he adds. “Would you invite a well-known artist who stated publicly that using porn is honoring to God to speak or sing at Passion?”
I do not ask this with a facetious attitude but the sincere hope of making a point. God has given you such a major platform with Millennials it is disheartening to see your lack of concern for biblical clarity on marriage in such a chaotic era. Your approval gives thousands of unsaved or weak Millennials an untruthful image of what the Bible says about marriage. It should go without saying, but I will say it anyway: her denial of God’s Word should not keep you from being friends and encouraging her, but it should give you hesitance in inviting her to partner with your ministry.
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Underwood was not scheduled to appear at Passion 2017, but was a surprise guest. She sang her Grammy-winning song “Something In the Water” with David Crowder at an event geared toward the next generation of Christians. The song was a hit on country radio, and spent 26 weeks on Christian music charts. Underwood first expressed her views on gay marriage to the Independent in 2012, saying, “As a married person myself, I don’t know what it’s like to be told I can’t marry somebody I love, and want to marry. I can’t imagine how that must feel ... I definitely think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to love.”
In addition to the social media coordinator at Engage Magazine, Wildmon is also the director of outreach at the American Family Association.
“God is right about marriage,” he says in a letter that also extols the value of the Passion conferences. “Carrie Underwood is wrong.”
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