Don’t Reduce Faithfulness To Neutrality: A Response To David French And Chip Gaines

Nearly a decade ago, Chip and Joanna Gaines came under public scrutiny not for anything they said or did directly but because of their membership in an evangelical church. The hosts of the hit HGTV home-renovation show Fixer Upper were criticized because their church and their pastor were on record as opposing same-sex marriage. The controversy marked one of the first times the couple faced widespread public criticism and highlighted the challenges faced by Christian celebrities in a post-Obergefell America.

Despite the criticism, Chip and Joanna maintained their commitment to faith-based values as they built a lifestyle empire that includes a real estate company, television networks, restaurants, a magazine, best-selling books, and various retail ventures. One of their latest reality series, which premiered on July 10, follows modern families as they attempt to live as 1880s homesteaders. Included on the show are a same-sex couple and their twin sons.

Many Christian viewers took to social media, expressing betrayal and calling for boycotts. They were dismayed that a once “safe” Christian alternative in entertainment had capitulated to the LGBT+ agenda. In response, Chip called for more conversation and less judgment among Christians. On his social platforms, he wrote,

Talk, ask [questions], listen.. maybe even learn. Too much to ask of modern American Christian culture. Judge 1st, understand later/never. 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.

In his recent column in The New York Times, David French spoke up in defense of Chip and Joanna. He presents a case for what he calls the “Golden Rule” approach to cultural engagement. French argues that Christians should extend the same marketplace freedoms to others that we desire for ourselves. But his analysis suffers from reducing Christian faithfulness to neutrality.

Witness vs. Participation

French’s central thesis rests on a false equivalency between participation and witness. He argues that if Christians want protection from discrimination based on our beliefs, we should extend that same courtesy to others by participating neutrally in cultural productions that celebrate lifestyles we believe are contrary to God’s design. But this view fundamentally misunderstands the nature of Christian witness and the difference between protecting someone’s civil rights and actively participating in the normalization of behaviors we believe are harmful.

The issue isn’t whether gay couples deserve basic human dignity and common legal protections. The question is whether Christians are called to be neutral participants in cultural narratives that celebrate what Scripture clearly identifies as contrary to God’s design for human flourishing.

The question is whether Christians are called to be neutral participants in cultural narratives that celebrate what Scripture clearly identifies as contrary to God’s design.

Surprisingly, French cites 1 Corinthians 5:9–13 to argue that Paul advocated for Christians to engage neutrally with the world’s moral standards. In these verses, Paul distinguishes between judging those outside the church (which isn’t our role) and maintaining clear moral standards within the Christian community (which is our obligation). Paul doesn’t suggest that Christians should participate in or celebrate behaviors we believe are sinful but simply says we shouldn’t withdraw from the world entirely.

In this, Paul is following Jesus’s example. Consider, for instance, Jesus’s approach in John 4 with the woman at the well. He treated the woman with dignity and compassion while clearly identifying her lifestyle as problematic (“You have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband,” v. 18). Jesus didn’t shame her, but neither did he pretend her choices were morally neutral.

The Christian faith isn’t just a privatized belief system. It’s a comprehensive worldview that speaks to all of life. If we truly believe that God’s design for sexuality and family is both true and beneficial for human flourishing, then pretending to be neutral in our public roles is a form of practical atheism. This approach also fails to recognize that so-called neutrality is a moral position. By including a same-sex couple in their show without any acknowledgment of different perspectives about family structure, the Gaineses aren’t being neutral. The show actively holds out a particular view of family and normalizes same-sex marriage.

Path of Principled Engagement

Christians can and should treat all people with respect while being honest about our convictions. We can support the dignity of all humans while believing that God’s design for marriage and family is both true and ultimately better for human flourishing. We can be kind neighbors to everyone while being clear about what we do and don’t feel comfortable celebrating in our professional work.

The Gaineses made a choice that reflects their personal convictions about how to engage their cultural moment. Other Christians who would make different choices about their participation in cultural productions aren’t necessarily being bigoted or hypocritical. They’re simply expressing different—and I’d say more biblical—convictions about faithful witness in their professional work.

If we truly believe that God’s design for sexuality and family is both true and beneficial for human flourishing, then pretending to be neutral in our public roles is a form of practical atheism.

Christians believe that God’s design for sexuality, marriage, and family isn’t arbitrary; it reflects deeper truths about human nature and what leads to genuine happiness and fulfillment. Christians need not apologize for having strong convictions about what constitutes healthy human sexuality and family life, nor for allowing those convictions to influence our choices about cultural participation. Nor should we be selective about the sins we tolerate. We shouldn’t engage in hypocritical cultural warfare that condemns same-sex marriage while turning a blind eye to other public acts of sexual sin, such as adultery, cohabitation, or the normalization of promiscuity by other public figures who identify as Christian.

Our goal isn’t to win culture wars but to bear faithful witness to a better way of life. That witness is undermined both by harsh and selective judgment and also by pretending our deepest convictions don’t matter. We can and should treat all people with dignity while maintaining clear convictions about what leads to genuine human flourishing. And we can trust that faithful witness to God’s design will ultimately prove more compelling than performative neutrality ever could.