President Barack Obama decided a few weeks ago to invite Pastor Louie Giglio to close his inauguration, which was held on Jan. 21, with prayer. Giglio announced on Jan. 10, after previously accepting, that he would be declining the invitation for the Jan. 21 inauguration.
Giglio, a pastor from Atlanta, Ga. known for founding the “Passion” conferences, has been taking a lot of heat since Obama invited him to pray at the inauguration. Some have shown their disapproval in Obama’s choice because of a public sermon series conducted by Giglio back in the mid-90s where he took a respectful stance against the rising gay-rights movement and called Christians to do likewise.
Because of the controversy, Giglio respectfully declined Obama’s invitation. According to Giglio, he said he did not want his prayer in Washington to be a platform for people to push their agendas, but rather he wanted it to be fully focused on God alone; something that he thought he would not be able to do because of this recent controversy.
Giglio was in an extremely difficult spot. If he decided to go and pray amidst the controversy, he would have enraged many supporters of the gay-rights movement and possibly have taken the spotlight off of God. Now that he has declined the invitation, there are some Christians who think he should not have backed out of an opportunity to sincerely lead our country in prayer, while others are calling him a “cowardly bigot” for shying away from controversy.
Before I give you my opinion, there are a few things that should be mentioned. Shortly after Giglio declined, Obama invited gay-marriage supporter and Episcopal priest Dr. Luis Leon to replace Giglio and close the inauguration in prayer. Also, in his statement he issued to the White House, Giglio never addressed the issue of gay rights. He simply said he wanted his prayer to be about God and not about political agendas.
No Christian can blame him for wanting God to be the total focus. But with that being said, I want to argue that I think Giglio should have accepted the invitation amidst the controversy.
It speaks volumes to Giglio’s character that he wants the focus to be about God and not about the issue of gay rights. But since he has stepped down, I think the prayer has become even more about gay rights, especially with his gay rights-affirming replacement, Leon.
Also, I do not like the idea of dodging the issue. Gay rights is an extremely controversial and volatile issue in America. Now is not the time for leaders of God’s church (or Christians in general) to be dodging difficult questions and passing them off to some other person hoping to not offend anyone. We need pastors and ministers who do not shy away from uncomfortable but important issues.
Let us not forget a simple truth. Jesus’ teaching was incredibly offensive to numbers of people; it was so offensive that many people wanted to kill him. Things got heated in Jesus’ ministry; they were much more heated than the current gay-rights issue. And Jesus didn’t back down from controversy. He never crumpled under the pressure.
He had courage and stood up for the truth. He stood up for the Word of God. And in doing all of that, God said that he was “well pleased” with him.
Giglio’s heart may be in the right place, but I want to call Christians to stand up for the Word of God even if it means taking some heat for it. God promises a great reward to those who dare to take a stand.
Join with me and pray for our country during this difficult time of dissension.
