Alan Robertson, of the “Duck Dynasty” Robertson clan, left his pastoral position after 20 years of service to join season four of the show and hopefully reach a more global audience with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Although he has not previously been on the show, the eldest Robertson brother leads devotionals at the Duck Commander headquarters each week.
Alan says he was the first Duck Commander employee, helping his father make duck calls in the family business as a teenager. In those days, he says, he was living a secret life. Though he attended church, he would be “running around, drinking, and cutting up” when others weren’t looking. “I was in the church, but I wasn’t a Christian, and I wasn’t living for Christ,” he said, noting that he never could have imagined that he would become a Christian pastor later on. Alan eventually realized that he needed God to take away all of his sins, and welcomed Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.
After twenty years of pastoral ministry, Alan has stepped down in order to utilize opportunities that his family’s success on A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” has given him to share the Good News with others. Alan and his father Phil travel around the country preaching the message of repentance and forgiveness in Christ - Alan joked that his role is to get the people laughing and Phil comes in like a “sledgehammer,” telling people what God has done for them in Christ and exhorting them to turn to the Lord and to walk in all His ways.
Every episode of “Duck Dynasty” ends with a family meal and a prayer before dinner, but - other than their Christian lifestyle and values - not much more of the family’s faith is prominent on the show. “Our faith is the main part of our lives, but it’s better to be subtle ... When Jesus talked in parables, He wanted people to seek and find. I think it’s better that it’s funny, and while faith is there, for people who want more, we have that in our books,” Alan said in an interview with Religion News Service.
Alan hopes that being on the show will give him more opportunities to share Christ with others. “I really feel like God has prepared us for such a moment as this,” he says. His mother Kay prays sincerely that God would take all of their money and fame away if it distracts their family from Christ. Alan agrees - “We can come from nothing [and] we can have all these things now, but ultimately none of it matters except that we’re saved – we’re going to be in heaven forever with Christ,” he says.
Alan wrote “The Duck Commander Devotional,” to be released in October. “We’re kind of the John the Baptists of the 21st century. It’s how you imagine, with the wild hair and the locusts,” he said.
