Chip Gaines and Joanna Gaines have come under fire due to alleged anti-gay views preached in the church they belong to, but HGTV and the Christian couple's pastor are standing up for the Fixer Upper hosts.
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Chip and Joanna came under scrutiny after BuzzFeed posted a video of their pastor, Jimmy Seibert, delivering a sermon at Antioch Community Church in Waco, TX, in which he affirmed the church's position on homosexuality after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015.
Seibert stated, "God defined marriage, not you and I. God defined masculine and feminine, male and female, not you and I," and that "homosexuality is a sin."
When essentially asked whether the Antioch Community Church is anti-gay, Seibert released a statement to Fox News.
"People don't know what the Bible says anymore on issues of sexuality," the pastor said on Thursday.
"People don't know what God says on homosexuality or any other issue. I felt the need to say we are all a mess -- but the fixed points were set by God -- not us. We are pro-helping people in their journey to find out who God is and who He has made them to be."
Seibert added that the heart of the church is simply to "love Jesus, preach the word of God and help people in their journey."
Many Fixer Upper fans are outraged Chip and Joanna would allegedly support homophobic views. Some followers threatened to cancel magazine subscriptions and ignore the couple's reality show entirely, while others believe Chip and Joanna are being wrongly accused and treated unfairly.
Chip and Joanna have yet to comment on the scandal.
Fixer Upper currently airs on Tuesday nights at 9PM ET/PT on HGTV.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
