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Controversial Pastor Robert Jeffress Was Really Not Happy Tim Tebow Canceled His Scheduled Appearance At His Church

Remember that whole hubbub over Tim Tebow being scheduled to speak at a church with a controversial pastor – an appearance Tebow later canceled? Thought it was over when Tebow released his statement and the First Baptist Church in Dallas released its statement? Not quite. Robert Jeffress, the pastor in question (we collected some of his work here), addressed the controversy in his sermon over the weekend. That’s to be expected – you can’t well have a week like he did where you’re all over the news, only to pretend it never happened when you’re in front of your congregation.

And Jeffress certainly didn’t act like it never happened. Rather, he delivered a 10-minute monologue in which he alternately choked up, thanked his supporters for sticking by him… and avoided mentioning the name of a certain quarterback, even when it sure sounded like he was referring to him. The whole clip below is worth a listen, but the specific Tebow-centric (or what certainly sounds Tebow-centric, anyway) part starts at the 7:23 mark:

“Wimping out when it gets a little controversial,” eh? Wonder what that’ll do to Tebow’s desire “to come to First Baptist Dallas to speak at a future date” that the church noted in its statement when Tebow first backed out? That bridge is nothing but burnt embers now – Jeffress take strong stances; give the guy that much. But the obstinacy that produces those strong stances also leads Jeffress to miss what seem to be inherent contradictions in his positions, like this one shared at the 2:35 mark above:

“It’s amazing to me that we’re called anti-gay simply because we say sex ought to be between a man and a woman.”

So… it’s amazing to him that he and his church are called anti-gay simply because… he thinks what makes gay people gay is wrong? Sounds like a pretty solid reason to be called anti-gay to me, really. After all, if you’re going to condemn homosexuality (as Jeffress has certainly done), isn’t anything less than fully owning that condemnation just another form of wimping out?

[USA Today]