Domenick Nati, Lauren Daigle, & Homosexuality

Lauren Daigle recently made headlines for an interview with Domenick Nati. Right near the end of his clip with her, he said he wanted to ask about her stance, as a Christian, on homosexuality and whether it’s a sin. Her response:

“I can’t honestly answer on that, in the sense of I have too many people that I love and they are homosexuals. I can’t say one way or the other, I’m not God. When people ask questions like that, I just say, ‘Read the Bible and find out for yourself. And when you find out let me know because I’m learning too.'”

Domenick’s response to her was, “Wow, you’re a pro already!”

Domenick Nati’s Latest Statement

Christians far and wide reacted to the interview in a variety of ways. Mostly, expressing frustration that Lauren failed to speak the truth in love about homosexuality being a sin. I believe that she has become a very popular Christian singer because of the integrity and reliability of her music, so people were genuinely rooting for her to answer it a certain way.

Excellent articles and books have been written dealing head on with the issue of homosexuality and whether or not it’s sin. We can be certain that it is sin and I recommend you search those out. This piece has a specific purpose.

The producer for the Domenick Nati Show reached out to me asking if I would be willing to post some or all of his statement concerning the backlash that Lauren Daigle received over her recent interview. I thanked him for reaching out and promised to review the statement closely and, if I felt it to be helpful, I’d interact with it in a spirit of fairness to Domenick’s effort. After reviewing the statement, I believe it’s important to clarify some truths for professing Christians. Anyone claiming to be a follower of Christ has a responsibility to be faithful to His Word, the Bible. Therefore, if someone is asked a question about the Bible and they “don’t know,” that’s fine to admit, but that doesn’t change the truth about the Bible.

Here is the statement from Domenick Nati, and my responses underneath. His words are in bold, mine are in italics:

“The backlash Lauren Daigle received from our interview has been very disappointing to witness. I was shocked by the amount of attack and assumption there was on someone simply saying “I don’t know”. The truth is YOU don’t know. You don’t know if she was being honest, you don’t know if she was dodging the question, and you don’t know if she was lying… and neither do I.”

In general, this is fair. There is nothing wrong with a person saying, “I don’t know.” In fact, it’s advisable if you don’t know something. It’s better than lying. Truth is, we don’t know what Lauren’s motive was, whether or not she lied, or what the state of her heart is before the Lord. For the most part, if we just take Domenick’s words at face value, there isn’t much to disagree with here.

“I know that Moses thought it was a sin and I know Paul thought it was a sin, but Jesus didn’t speak on it. And Paul and Moses didn’t always get things right in their writings nor was it always recorded, copied, and translated correctly. John 16:8-9 says “When the Holy Spirit comes He will expose the world concerning sin, concerning righteousness, and concerning judging. Of sin that they are not believing in Me.” Jesus identifies sin as not believing in Himself. Not our sexual preference, or wrongdoings, but rather our unbelief. So it’s possible that someone doesn’t know what is considered a sin and what isn’t, and neither does anyone else. Not Moses, Paul, you, me or Lauren Daigle because they’re “not God”.”

Here is where I do take exception to his statement. To be blunt, he’s flat out wrong from a historically orthodox Christian point of view. In other words, Christians for thousands of years would disagree with him, proper teaching for thousands of years disagrees with him, and only those who abandon the inerrancy, authority, and sufficiency of Scripture could do with Scripture what Domenick did here. I am not saying he is evil or malicious, but I am saying that this response is from a position that we, as Bible-believing Christians, reject.

Jesus didn’t speak directly about a lot of things including racism, child-abuse, or vandalism, yet that doesn’t make those “not sin.” Also, to pit the words of Moses and Paul against what Jesus did or didn’t teach is foolish. Jesus quoted from 24 books in the Old Testament, including all of Moses’ writings. Think they don’t matter or aren’t reliable? God Himself quoted from them. As for Paul, Jesus appeared to him, converted him, then commissioned him to be an Apostle (Acts 9). Countless scholars agree that he wrote nearly 50% of the New Testament letters. Further more, N.T. writers were “carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21) and guided “into truth” by the Holy Spirit (John 16:13). Finally, to take one little verse and say that it defines all of sin is what we call proof-texting or eisegesis. It’s basically taking something way out of its context. In John 16:8-9 Jesus is explaining that the Holy Spirit is going to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and “judgment” (not judging, as Domenick wrote). This means that the Holy Spirit is going to tug on people’s hearts and make it clear that they are sinners who need to repent, trust in Christ’s righteousness, and that He is going to judge them if they don’t. This is not a nullification of what is or isn’t sin. This is not a “get out of jail free” card for homosexuals. This is clear teaching that if you don’t repent of what the Law says is sin, you can never be made righteous in Christ. The Law says homosexuality and many other things are sin. That’s why we need Christ. We cannot keep the Law and therefore, are damned in our sin without trusting Him in faith. Therefore, we need to admit what is sin and turn to Him.

To true Christians, Scripture is not flawed or false. We believe it’s the literal “God-breathed” word to us and for us. We believe that Moses, Paul, and Jesus do not disagree with each other. We believe that even though time has passed God’s word will not (Isaiah 40:8). We believe that God has preserved His Word. It teaches us about Him, how to be saved from our sin, and how to live for His glory.

Lastly, for everyone that is accusing me of “setting a trap” for Lauren. I want to clarify two things. Number one, I have had a relationship with Jesus for eighteen years, however The Domenick Nati Show is not a “Christian” show, it is a pop culture/entertainment show that happens to be hosted by a Christian. The tagline for the show is, and always has been, “Maximum Exposure, Minimum Censorship”. Every celebrity guest knows that I always ask tough, provocative, and sometimes invasive questions that produce shocking content and news headlines. That is the show and it was not a secret before Lauren was our guest. Lauren was the first Christian artist we’ve ever had on the show and she does not deserve the backlash that she received.”

I don’t know Domenick and I want to believe the best about him. Let’s say he didn’t try to trap her, it still looks like he did. Beyond that, he achieved his goal of asking a tough question and producing shocking content and news headlines. Since his show aims for that, perhaps he should stick to dialogue with celebrities or artists about their work and lifestyle, rather than their theology or ethics (or lacktherof). If talking theology and ethics is his goal, then it’s pointless to dialogue with people who can’t answer his questions the way more knowledgeable Christians would. For example, if you want to talk basketball, call LeBron. If you want to talk Christianity, call a theologian or a proven Christian with a working knowledge of the Bible. If art is your aim, stick to art. I can see why people have a hard time ignoring that the question seemed to be a pre-mediated trap designed to drive “clicks.”

As for why Christians are upset with her, it’s important to be fair to their point of view, Domenick. People are upset with Lauren because she didn’t uphold biblical truths yet she claims to be a Christian. She represents “us” on platforms around the world. If she fails to tell the truth, she fails to uphold our collective witness. People are upset with Lauren because they expected better from a well-known Christian artist. People are upset with Lauren because they are tired of “celebrity” Christians misrepresenting our orthodox beliefs.

Compromising Christianity

As frustrating as it is to see Lauren miss the chance to suffer public backlash for proclaiming the truth, my heart goes out to her, and to you, Domenick. I don’t know your story, but so many professing Christians in celebrity culture, like you and Lauren, need to be encouraged and reminded that capitulating to the world’s pressure is not respectable. They’re owning you when you bow to their agenda. You’re not the influencer, you’re the influenced. To be a Christian is to stand upon convictions that transcend fans, fame, and followers. Being a Christian is about allegiance to Jesus Christ and His unchanging Word (Hebrews 13:8).

When thrown into the deep waters of mainstream media a Christian must determine to swim. What Lauren did was drown, and you helped. I don’t know if Lauren Daigle was lying, but I do know that as a professing Christian you lied to her. She’s not “a pro already.” She’s compromised the convictions that the Bible teaches and you’ve comprised your claim to be a follower of Christ. I hope you’ll give serious thought to that and consider what it means to follow Jesus (Luke 14:25-35)

The Bible is clear. Take God at His whole Word or take nothing at all.

Recommended Reading:

What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality– Kevin DeYoung