Chip & Joanna Gaines – Discernment?
🕊️ Chip & Joanna Gaines – Discernment?
By Dr. Shawn Michael Greener
www.TrueWordFaithforLife.com
© 2025 Shawn M. Greener. All rights reserved.
🔥 The Controversy Isn’t the Point
Chip and Joanna Gaines have long been known as “America’s sweethearts”—builders, designers, and believers who brought faith and family into millions of homes without apology or theatrics. But recently, the couple became a lightning rod once again—not for what they said, but for who they chose to feature.
Their new Magnolia Network series, Back to the Frontier, includes a same-sex couple raising children. The response? Outrage. Accusation. Praise. Condemnation. Applause. The lines were drawn quickly. Conservative voices decried a perceived betrayal of biblical values. Secular voices applauded their “progress.” And once again, the Gaineses became a symbol of a deeper battle.
But here’s the question I posed in tonight’s podcast:
Is this really about Chip and Joanna Gaines… or is this about our failure to understand discernment?
📖 Biblical Discernment Is Not a Reflex
The Scriptures call us to discern—not just to detect sin, but to distinguish truth from error, light from shadow, flesh from Spirit. In Hebrew, the root word is בִּין (bin)—to understand, to act wisely. In Greek, it’s διάκρισις (diakrisis)—to judge rightly, to separate fully.
Discernment is not suspicion.
Discernment is not fear.
Discernment is not outrage disguised as zeal.
When Chip Gaines quoted 1 Peter 3:15 in response to the criticism, he didn’t deflect. He redirected.
“Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you—with meekness and reverence.”
Peter wrote those words to believers under cultural pressure—those accused, misunderstood, even hated. But he told them to speak truth with gentleness and awe, not with fire and fury.
Discernment listens.
Discernment weeps.
Discernment waits before it reacts.
🧭 Kingdom Response or Cultural Reflex?
We must be careful—very careful—not to confuse cultural guardianship with covenantal discernment. The call to holiness does not include a license to label and dismiss. The Fruit of the Spirit is not replaced by a trending headline.
We’ve seen this before—when someone in public life doesn’t toe our imagined theological line, and we abandon wisdom for warfare. But Followers of the Way are not called to join culture wars. We are called to walk in covenant, with clarity, humility, and conviction. The Gaineses may or may not believe exactly as you do. That’s not the issue.
The issue is: How do you respond?
Are you driven by discernment rooted in Scripture and the Ruach… or by noise?
🕯️ My Challenge to You
Discernment isn’t about celebrities. It’s about you.
Will you become a person who reacts—or responds?
Will you be driven by fear—or formed by the Word?
Will you listen for the whisper of the Spirit—or join the roar of the mob?
If the remnant is to rise, we must walk in the discernment of the Holy One. And that means knowing when to speak, when to stay silent, and how to reflect His character in the fire.
If you're new to faith—or ready to surrender to God—please pray the Prayer of Salvation below. Your name was never meant to be left out of the story.
🙏 Prayer of Salvation
If you're ready to trust in Yeshua right now, pray this with me.
Avinu Malkeinu (Our Father, our King), I come before You with a humble heart, seeking Your mercy and truth.
I confess that I have sinned and fallen short of Your glory. I turn away from my sins, my own ways, and I return to You in teshuvah (repentance).
I believe that Yeshua HaMashiach is the promised Messiah, the Son of the Living God. I believe that He died for my sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day, according to the Scriptures (Isaiah 53, Psalm 22).
I call upon Your Shem HaKadosh (Holy Name), as it is written: “Whoever calls on the Name of Adonai shall be saved” (Joel 2:32).
Today, I surrender my life to You. Fill me with Ruach HaKodesh (the Holy Spirit), and lead me in Your ways.
Teach me Your Torah, write Your commandments upon my heart, and guide me in the footsteps of Messiah.
Thank You, Abba, for Your love, for salvation through Yeshua, and for making me part of Your covenant people.
In the Name of Yeshua HaMashiach, Melech HaMelachim (King of Kings), I pray. Amen.
Praise God! You are now my brother or sister in the faith. Reach out to me—I will help you walk this out.
📘 Resources and Next Steps
💻 Visit: www.TrueWordFaithforLife.com
🎙️ Listen to the full episode: Chip & Joanna Gaines – Discernment?
📖 Order my book: True Word, Faith for LIFE! available on Lulu and Amazon
💬 Share this post with someone struggling to understand truth in a noisy world.
Shalom b’Shem Yeshua,
Dr. Shawn Michael Greener
A Follower of the Way
© 2025 Shawn M. Greener. All rights reserved.
Shawn M. Greener, MTh., D.I.S., DPTh.
I am just a beggar who found Bread, helping other hungry beggars to find Him too. My life has certainly been complex and I my halo has many dents. Heschel said; "Something Sacred hangs in the balance of every moment." I live like it. I teach like it.
As a person who survived a fatal 92 mph vs 51 mph head on crash, after dying and re-animating, and surviving several other brushes with death, my perspective is, let's say, unique. I haven't always been a theologian and I'm living REAL life, just like you... I have my hurts, habits and hangups too.
I've learned a few very important things along the way that I'm confident you'll find useful... butter for the Gluten free Bread so to speak.. Oh, you may chuckle or full on snort along the way, but you might also shed a few tears... Faith for LIFE... That's how it happens.
Flight of the Fragile: Living in the Sacred Now
