On July 12, Amy Grant appeared on Apple Music’s Proud Radio with host Hunter Kelly. She participated as part of a conversation about the LGBTQ community’s place in Country music. She was also there, in part, to promote the 30th anniversary of the release of one of the most significant albums in Contemporary Christian Music history, her Heart in Motion.
Grant’s name and her rise to popularity in the 1970s is synonymous with CCM. And Heart in Motion, with songs like “Baby, Baby,” cut the path for today’s Christian crossover artists, like Needtobreathe and Lauren Daigle. In addition, Grant’s influence on other artists is axiomatic, and many owe their careers to her Christlike, selfless support (such a moment is featured in the film I Can Only Imagine).
I say that to say this—even a Christian whose reputation is nearly iconic and whose influence is generally beneficial can sometimes be just plain wrong.
Before I continue, I’ll admit that I am extracting and somewhat interpreting her meaning from words she spoke in the moment, and from that I am applying both affirmation and criticism. But I think this is fair for two reasons. First, she knew the purpose of the podcast and the subject matter before she arrived, so she was prepared to respond. And second, I am interpreting what she said the same way Kelly himself did, as shown in a lengthy string of his Twitter posts that followed the interview.
In the interview Grant exhibited the tendency of cultural Christians to conflate something that is right with something that is wrong, something that is biblical with something that is unbiblical. And to elevate preferences above truth.
Here’s what I mean.
First she got it right
Grant described to Kelly, who is gay, how she thinks Christians should interact with the LGBTQ community. She told Kelly that she believes it’s important to “set a welcome table” to all people, regardless of sexual orientation.
“Who loves us more than the One who made us?” she said. “None of us are a surprise to God. Nothing about who we are or what we’ve done. That’s why, to me, it’s so important to set a welcome table.…Gay. Straight. It does not matter.”
So far, so good. She affirms a simple and prominent biblical truth that, sadly, Christians tend to forget. God created everyone, and He wants to have a relationship with all people (2 Peter 3:9). His love doesn’t hinge on who we are, how we behave, or what we look like. It hinges on who He is (John 3:16, Rom. 3:23).
Jesus embodied this truth. Jesus readily ate with people, laughed with people, and loved on people that the Pharisees called “unclean” and unfit to be around (Luke 5:27-32). And there is no stronger illustration of God’s unconditional love than Jesus’ death on the cross motivated solely by God’s willingness to love people unconditionally—even before they knew they needed grace and forgiveness (Rom 5:8).
So, yes, God loves all people, because He created all people, and His love is not contingent on how we behave (Ps. 8:3-8, Rom. 8:38-39). But does that mean it doesn’t matter how we behave?
But then she got it wrong
With one fluid motion, Grant immediately transitioned into a common error, especially popular in our postmodern culture, when she extrapolated from this fundamental biblical truth a wholly unbiblical falsehood.
She said, “It doesn’t matter how we behave. It doesn’t matter how we’re wired. We’re all our best selves when we believe to our core, ‘I’m loved.’ And then our creativity flourishes. We’re like, ‘I’m gonna arrange flowers on your table and my table.’ When we’re loved, we’re brave enough to say yes to every good impulse that comes to us.”
Translation: Unconditional love is the same thing as unconditional approval. That is to say, because God loves us, He condones any “impulse” we might have or behavior we prefer. And we must do the same for one another.
But nothing could be farther from biblical truth.
Does it matter how you behave? Of course it does. The Bible teaches that your conduct is the product of your character, and your character is the product of your spiritual condition. But Grant’s point reflects our cultural falsehood. That is, that it shouldn’t matter to other people “how you behave” if they truly love you like God loves you.
In her defense, Grant is an entertainer, not a theologian. But this is not thick theology that needs research to comprehend. Nor is it a foggy principle that requires hours of discussion to clarify. “It doesn’t matter how you behave” is simply unbiblical. Wholly, consistently, and obviously unbiblical. And it doesn’t follow from the first assertion at all. God loves me, sure. But God cares a lot about how I behave. Why? Because–He loves me.
In other words, unconditional love is not the same thing as unconditional approval.
How God loves
Unconditional love—God’s love—embraces the humanity of those in need and those in sin, but such love is too loving to approve of all that we do. Instead, true, biblical love acknowledges the truth about who we are, and that includes a clear grasp of the sin that keeps us from a relationship with God. God doesn’t celebrate our sin. He exposes it so that we can be forgiven (1 Cor. 13:6).
Jesus loved the Samaritan woman enough to point out her sin (John 4:1-18). Jesus ate with sinners, but He did not affirm their sin or approve of their behavior (Mark 2:13-17). Jesus rescued the woman caught in adultery, but He pointed out the sins of both the presumptuous religious leaders and the adulterous woman. And He told her, “Go, and sin no more” (John 8:1-11).
God detests our sinful behavior. That behavior is produced by the corrupt nature that causes us to sin (Rom. 7:24). And to claim that such sin does not exist, or that our behavior must be confirmed rather than cleansed, or approved rather than confessed, is an unbiblical fallacy that prevents us from having a relationship with our Creator through Jesus Christ (1 John 1:8).
And sometimes that corrupt nature produces “impulses” that are contrary to God’s design for us. That is why, in His unconditional love, God does not embrace and validate any behavior that simply bubbles to the surface of human nature. Sexual sins particularly fall into this category because those sins are contrary to His created order and His design for humanity (Rom. 1:26-27, Heb. 13:4, 1 Thess. 4:3-4).
By accommodating to culture, Amy Grant missed an opportunity to explain one of the most powerful truths of God’s unconditional love. That is, that real unconditional love is not the same thing as unconditional approval. It’s better than that.
That’s good news! God brings you to Himself not to affirm your behavior, but to forgive you and change your life by giving you a new nature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17, Rom. 6:4, 23). He wants you to produce behavior that pleases Him. And He loves you enough to help you do that (1 John 1:9).
Because after all, it matters how you behave.
But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8