Christian reality TV star Chip Gaines has defended his newest television series, which features a same-sex couple, saying it is consistent with the Christian commandment to “love one another.”
“Back to the Frontier,” a new series from executive producers Chip and Joanna Gaines, which premiered on Thursday on the couple’s Magnolia Network, features a gay couple as one of three couples living as homesteaders did in the 1800s, without access to running water or electricity.
Jason and Joe Hanna-Riggs appeared on the series along with their two children, Realtor.com reports. Chip and Joanna Gaines, best known for hosting the home improvement reality TV show “Fixer Upper,” have been outspoken about their Christian faith over the years.
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Chip Gaines reacted to the negative reactions to his new show featuring a same-sex couple in an X post published Sunday.
“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,” Gaines wrote.
Gaines’ response led to further interactions between him and social media users, with one X user describing herself as “extremely sad” that the show features a same-sex couple. Gaines replied to the post, lamenting that “‘Christians’ have certainly come out in full force as if they do know. … ‘Judge not….’ ‘Love one another’ it’s not difficult.”
Gaines’ initial post deriding “hate” and “vitriol” from Christians prompted additional responses from prominent public figures.
Conservative Christian Blogger Matt Walsh told Gaines: “Maybe you should endeavor to understand the basic moral teachings of your own alleged religion before you give lectures to other people about their lack of understanding.”
Joel Berry, managing editor of the satirical website The Babylon Bee, replied to Gaines’ post by assuring him, “You’ll see no hate from me.” According to Berry, “I’m just sad. I can’t let my kids watch your show now, since I’m trying to protect their eyes and hearts from the lies of the world — lies you’re now participating in.”
After urging Gaines to “filter out some of the online vitriol and consider taking to heart some of the substantive concerns and heartbreak from the Christians who make up your fanbase,” Berry stressed: “We should love the sinner — that doesn’t mean we celebrate and promote the sin and participate in the multibillion dollar industry dedicated to destroying the family.”
Gaines engaged Berry, maintaining: “I sincerely appreciate the advice about taking some of the thoughtful, heartfelt, encouraging constructive criticism to heart. … And I certainly will.”
Gaines simply responded with a heart to another post from a pastor proclaiming that “My job/your job/our job/ is not to convict people of sin” because “that’s the Holy Spirit’s job,” adding “By this will all know that you are my disciples, when you love … one another!”
After news that Chip and Joanna Gaines attended a church whose pastor is opposed to same-sex marriage first made headlines in 2016, Chip Gaines shared his belief that “Disagreement is not the same thing as hate.”
In a 2021 interview with The Christian Post, Joanna Gaines reacted to allegations that the TV star and her husband were anti-LGBTQ because they belonged to a church whose pastor denounced same-sex marriage by asserting, “It’s so far from who we are.” The church they attend is Antioch Community Church in Waco, Texas.
In a statement posted to Facebook Saturday, the Rev. Franklin Graham of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and the charity organization Samaritan’s Purse reacted to the news by declaring, “If it is true, it is very disappointing.”
Graham insisted that “While we are to love people, we should love them enough to tell them the truth of God’s word.”
“His Word is absolute truth. God loves us, and His design for marriage is between one man and one woman. Promoting something that God defines as sin is in itself sin,” Graham added.
The American Family Association shared a statement from its vice president, Ed Vitagliano, in an X post published Friday.
“This is sad and disappointing, because Chip and Joanna Gaines have been very influential in the evangelical community. Moreover, in the past, they have stood firm on the sanctity of marriage regardless of the personal cost that has entailed,” he said.
“We aren’t sure why the Gaines have reversed course, but we are sure of this: Back to the Frontier promotes an unbiblical view of human sexuality, marriage, and family – a view no Christian should embrace,” Vitagliano concluded.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
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