Chip Gaines Has Finally Responded to the Controversy Over His Family's Church
Back in November, Fixer Upper stars Chip and Joanna Gaines found themselves at the center of a controversy around their pastor, Jimmy Seibert. A BuzzFeed article reported that Seibert preaches against homosexuality and same-sex marriage, and noted that the Gaines have never featured a same-sex couple on their HGTV show.
The network stood behind its hosts, but aside from a few tweets, Chip and Joanna kept quiet. But Chip has now written an inspirational message about people getting past their differences, and it's being seen as a response to the controversy around their church.
In a blog post published Monday, Chip wrote about his New Year's "Revelation," as opposed to a resolution. Though he didn't specifically call out the controversy surrounding his family's pastor, he did generally discuss political division in America and the need for everyone to come together.
"This past year has been tough. In my lifetime, I can't recall humanity being more divided. Plenty of folks are sad and scared and angry and there are sound bites being fed to us that seem fueled by judgment, fear and even hatred. Jo and I refuse to be baited into using our influence in a way that will further harm an already hurting world, this is our home. A house divided cannot stand."
He then spoke more specifically about the need to accept and love everyone, even if they are different from us. Chip specifically references sexual orientation and gender in this part:
"Joanna and I have personal convictions. One of them is this: we care about you for the simple fact that you are a person, our neighbor on planet earth. It's not about what color your skin is, how much money you have in the bank, your political affiliation, sexual orientation, gender, nationality or faith."
Chip also discusses how he and Joanna have felt like people misunderstood them this past year.
"Jo and I don't want to hide, we want to live brave & bold lives and we wish that same thing for you as well. But words can cut deep and having someone misunderstand your intentions can hurt as much as just about anything."
But overall, Chip writes that getting America unified "could be one of the greatest restoration stories of all time." And that is a message everyone can get behind.
Read Chip's full New Year's blog post here.
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