The “Duck Commander” Phil Robertson is the patriarch of the most famous bearded family in TV history. His story is the foundation of Duck Dynasty but sometimes folks are surprised to found out that the foundation in Phil’s life is Jesus.
The family’s faith is evident on the show but it isn’t overcooked. However, once you see Phil preachin’ in the following clips you’ll know that his heart is one that is on fire for his faith.
Robertson is an official Elder at the White’s Ferry Road Church of Christ in West Monroe, Louisiana. His conversion to Christianity was written about in detail in 2009 by the The Christian Chronicle.
In the 70’s Phil left behind a life of drinking, fighting and carousing to follow his new spiritual calling. He said, “I looked at my life and I said, ‘Man, I am lucky to be alive! What in the world good did I ever get out of all that?’”
For many years he hosted a house church and would conduct weekly Bible studies. His son Alan (who preaches at White’s Ferry) added that it was a normal occurrence during his raising to have people still at the house studying scripture when he went to bed. “I would get up for school, and there would be two to three people asleep on the couch, their wet clothes over a chair. At some point Dad had baptized them in the river near our house.”
Friends of the family guesstimated at the time that Phil had baptized over 300 souls in the nearby Ouachita River. This spirituality is just another aspect of the Robertson’s lives that makes them so interesting and so adored by fans of the show. Even if you don’t follow his chosen path it’s refreshing to see a man and family led by their convictions, even in the face of immense wealth, and now, fame, that leads so many away from their core self.
I found myself fascinated by Phil’s faith and came across the following clips of the Duck Commander doing a little preaching and just like everything else about the family it sure comes across as authentic as all get out. He’s got the beard, the camouflage attire, the duck call in hand and he’s also eloquent and straight spoken about the faith that guides his life.
In the first clip Phil tells a great story about how he converted a man who was just calling him to order a duck call:
“He and his buddy both, they balled. They cried on my living room floor. I took ’em down to the river and I baptised ’em in the river.”
In this 2nd clip Phil is on the pulpit at the Berean Bible Church as he demonstrates his mastery of the duck call and his thoughts on family and faith. He concludes with the same story as above:
“I’ve never gotten around to buying a suit, I’ve never owned a cell phone, I’ve never turned on a computer. They wanna say this man has no idea what he’s missing… but I do. I know exactly what I’m missing. Just clutter, too much clutter.”
There’s many reasons why the Robertsons of Duck Dynasty are so popular, perhaps one of the biggest is the faith that drives their collective spirit.
