Alan Robertson of 'Duck Dynasty': My Father Phil Is a '21st Century Prophet'
WASHINGTON – Phil Robertson of the A&E reality TV show "Duck Dynasty" is oftentimes compared to John the Baptist for speaking about the Gospel unapologetically, said his son, Alan Robertson.
Alan, a guest speaker at the Family Research Council's "Watchmen on the Wall 2014" event on Thursday, addressed a crowd of hundreds of pastors to encourage them to continue preaching the Gospel without compromise – much like his family is known to do on their show.
"My dad has the heart and mindset of a prophet and is most compared to John the Baptist … for speaking the truth in a culture that isn't prepared to hear truth," Alan said. "That doesn't change my dad's view at all. Prophets tend not to care about their public image. They tend to talk about their judgment as if it's real and they speak what God gives them to speak ... so he is, in that sense, a 21st century prophet."
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The event, aimed to remind Christian leaders about the nation's Judeo-Christian heritage and inform them about the moral issues being debated in the public square, was the ideal platform for Alan's message.
Alan addressed his father's controversy late last year when he spoke against homosexuality to GQ magazine during an interview. At the time, Phil shared his belief that homosexuality is a sin, causing outrage among the gay community and network executives that threatened to suspend their show.
Despite warning that Phil's comment would create an uproar of discontent, Alan says his family stood by their beliefs as a united front.
"Our local newspaper guy came up to me and said, 'Al, we got a problem. If this gets out, you guys are in trouble. This is going to cause you guys a lot of grief because this message is not politically correct,'" Alan said. "Well, in December it did hit the fan and it hasn't changed us one bit about who we are and what we believe."
Alan called his father a "culture-changer" because of the incident, and also compared his boldness to other prophets in the Bible, like Elijah and Jonah.
In the same manner, Alan urged the group of pastors to speak the Gospel's truth regardless of how their public image may be perceived or how they will be judged. However, he also noted the importance of preaching grace as well.
"This message is for us to learn from these prophets. I want to encourage you guys to tell the truth. As a family, we're going to do that," Alan said.
He added, "Our message for people is God is God. Therefore, I am not. I have no reason to put myself in His judgment seat, but I can learn that God has a job for me … the country is going terribly, what can we do to change it? But you know what, 'I have 7,000 reserved that have not bowed their knees to Baal,'" he said, referencing 1 Kings 19:18.
