Amy Grant's Divorce

Letter From the Editor

An Open Letter to Christian Singer, Amy Grant

by Jon Hanna

The Bible says that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God . Do not be deceived. Adulterers will not inherit the Kingdom of God . (1 Cor. 6:9&10)

Amy, I must first tell you that my wife and I, and many of our friends have grown up listening to your music in the early 80's. We remember you as an awesome minister of inspiration and encouragement for our growing faith in Jesus, and God's word, which are really one and the same. For years you sang music for the glory of God, which edified our young Christian hearts, but then something happened. You began to change the lyrics in your songs and even began to sing other secular songs.

We would later tune in to see you on evening talk shows that we normally wouldn't watch. We had great anticipation of you bringing glory to God, and praising Jesus on those popular worldly shows, but it never happened. Then, after many years of a secular music career, you began to return to the Christian music arena once again.

Now, however, your comments after your divorce from your first husband Gary Chapman, and your new marriage to Vince Gill, do not reflect repentance and are contrary and confusing.

Amy, I must also lovingly and humbly remind you that the soul that sins shall die. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. But in order for us to be delivered from our sins and their consequences we must all repent. The Bible says that God is willing to forgive anyone who confesses and forsakes their sins. This is the good news for all of us. My prayer is that this letter will help you make a clean break from your sins of adultery and their ramifications, and help you to lead others to God's word and to Jesus.

I am also writing this open letter to you according to scripture so that others will not fall by the same sort of disobedience and sin. I Timothy 5:20 says, "Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear."

The Bible says that the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God . Do not be deceived. Adulterers will not inherit the Kingdom of God . (1 Cor. 6:9&10).

Amy, I am not sharing God's word with you because of the rumors in Nashville during the early to mid 90's, which suggested an ungodly affair between you and Gill. I am not writing this because People Magazine (Nov. 29, 1999) says that Gill's wife Janis divorced him after finding a love note with your name on it in her husband.s golf bag. I am writing this due to your obvious actions and comments that clearly run contrary to God's word, the Bible.

CCM 1999 quoted you as saying that you told your pastors, who were counseling you regarding your first marriage, "I believe I've been released from this (marriage). And I say this knowing that the heart is deceitful."

By your own admission it was your decision, apart from God's word and apart from the counsel of your pastors, to divorce your husband.

Yes, Amy, the heart is deceitful. Although the Bible says that divorce is only permitted in cases of sexual immorality, you decided to leave your first husband anyway, citing 'irreconcilable differences', claiming that no adultery occurred.

But Jesus said, "And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery." (Matthew 5:32)

In Mark 10:12 Jesus said, "And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery." This is also confirmed in Romans 7:3.

Amy, according to the word of God, you sinned when you divorced your first husband. Then you compounded your sin of adultery by marrying Vince Gill. These are not human judgments, but God's judgments according to His word. So Amy, please be careful not to insinuate that those who declare God's judgments are being judgmental. When you accuse those who obey and declare God's word, you're the one being judgmental.

In a 2002 interview with ABC, you are quoted admitting that you wrote a song about how you coveted Gill while you were still married to Gary . You are also quoted by Primetime admitting that during your first encounter with Gill you "went up behind him (Gill) and just hugged him as hard as I could while he was singing." You also confessed that you told Gill, "I just needed to hug you all night." You boast now, but this is how you conducted yourself while still married to Gary . This type of boasting does not reflect Godly repentance (forsaking sin) but is a mocking of the sin your guilty of.

Also in 2002, ABC reports of Gill's confessed desire for you in a song he wrote with you in mind, "I lie awake at night wishing you were mine", although he was still married to his first wife at the time he wrote it.

These kinds of statements from you and Vince blatantly wink at your sin of adultery. Amy, your beliefs that validate divorce for reasons contrary to the direction of Jesus Christ, are dangerous to yourself and others. Yes it's messy, but more than that it is false doctrine on your part, and a sin.

CCM quoted you in December 1999, after your divorce, as saying "If you have two people that are not thriving healthily in a situation, I say remove the marriage." These are not the words of a person who has repented for adultery, but rather the testimony of a deceived person seeking to justify their sin.

Your first husband, Gary, said that he believes God's word regarding marriage that it.s meant to last a lifetime. With God's help and Gary 's willingness to work through your difficult and painful marriage, you could have had a marriage that glorifies God, revealing His love and restoration power.

Rather than waiting on God to bring the healing to your marriage, you divorced Gary . Rather than to wait for God to restore you and your marriage, you married Gill.

Yes, we all need God's grace and mercy, but we must repent to be forgiven.