Responding to Oppression II

I'm not very political. At all. My theology has developed over the past two decades to the point where I am completely immersed in the methods of Jesus and the Sermon on the Mount. I do not march, picket, boycott, protest, sue, vote, write to my congressman, or engage in any activity that I think employs the political methods of this world. Instead, I get on with the slow, steady, work of the Kingdom in full assurance of my success and the success of the Kingdom.

Therefore, I do not delve into or am bothered by the daily machinations of the current culture war. I really couldn't care less. If a nativity scene or cross or monument to the Ten Commandments is taken down from a public place, it doesn't faze me. I don't cry out for justice when someone is told not to use Jesus' name in a public prayer or if prayer is "prevented" at all.

However, I am extremely bothered when the government begins to order private citizens to go against their personal faith.

I have been closely following a number of the legal cases around the country in which businesses own by Christians are being forced to provide abortion causing drugs to employees and in which florist and cake-decorating businesses are being forced to provide their services to same-sex marriages. I find this completely unconscionable.

I read an article this morning in which a judge ordered that a Christian baker must serve gay couples for same-sex ceremonies despite his religious beliefs or face fines. Obviously, the gay couple who sued this Christian baker could have gotten a cake elsewhere (and probably did). Their interest and objective was not to get a cake but to employ the government to force the owner of this private business to deny his religious beliefs and acquiesce to how they believe all society should behave.

According to the article, the baker and his legal team are considering their next steps.

Now what if this case goes all the way to the top of the American judicial system and the final decision is that this baker and all other Christian businesses are to be forced to provide their services to same-sex marriages, what should the Christian response be?

The decision is actually very easy though the implementation is of the upmost difficulty.

Three choices:

1) Acquiesce and submit to imposed government authority and violate Christian faith

2) Close up shop and seek a business or sphere of society in which one is not confronted with challenges to Christian conscience

3) Ignore government imposition and carry on in defiance

Let's be honest: human nature being what it is (Christian or otherwise), the vast majority of believers will choose one of the first two options (probably the latter rather than the former). More's the pity. Most people have neither the guts nor the faith to actually take their religious beliefs all the way to the logical conclusion. They will voice outrage and protest if a nativity scene or cross or monument to the Ten Commandments is taken down from a public place because it's easy to do so and one risks very little by participating.

Nevertheless, the correct choice is number 3, to completely ignore what the government says in this matter and proceed as before in full knowledge that you are doing the right thing. Again, this is actually a very easy choice to make but the implementation of it is extremely difficult and requires much self-sacrifice.

Here's how it would go:

- The government states that you as a baker must violate your Christian faith and provide their services to same-sex marriages.

- You refuse.

- The government fines your business.

- You refuse to pay the fine.

- The government orders your business to close.

- You refuse to close your business.

- The government arrests you.

- You go to jail, but, as soon as you are released, you reopen your business.

- You continue to mind your business in defiance of the law and in good conscience until either the government relents or you yourself are spent to the very core of your soul.

Of course, this is easier said than done, and I do not believe that most Christians have the faith to defy society and government to this extent. However, this is really what Christians should do and it is the only way in which freedom of religious practice and expression is to be realized.