De-Served?

     In recent days the debate over "gay rights" was refueled by bills before state legislatures dubbed "freedom of religion laws."  The poster child in many of the debates was a Christian couple who had a bakery. They were sued because they refused to bake a cake for a gay couple's wedding. As has happened at every juncture in this controversy, the debate has grown heated.
     As Christians, how should we think about these issues? Unfortunately the arguments on both sides are often ill-informed or overly simplistic.

     Any number of comparisons might be drawn on either side. Would we think it acceptable for a bakery to refuse to bake a cake for a minority couple's wedding? Would we accept the argument that a company could refuse to hire an otherwise-qualified applicant merely because they are female? Of course not.
     On the other hand, could we insist in good conscience that a Jewish printer be forced to print signs for a neo-nazi rally under threat of lawsuit? Would we be willing to require that an African-American tailor take a job sewing hoods for a Klan event? Only the most callous or fanatical among us could answer yes.
     Who's right? Can there be any winners in this contest of laws and wills and morals? And which of these comparisons is most appropriate?
     In the first scenarios, someone is being discriminated against because of an indisputably innate physical characteristic that doesn't otherwise impair their ability to pay for services or perform the work. Some argue that sexual orientation is no different -  that people are born with one sexual orientation or the other.
     In the second set of scenarios, someone is forced to ply their trade in support of something they find deeply offensive. Should anyone who owns a business be forced to support something so morally repugnant to them, so violating of their consciences, even if that event will not impact them personally?
     The argument over whether being gay is by nature or by choice will likely rage for years to come.  All humans are born with sinful inclinations, but all humans also choose their actions. It's possible that both sides are equally right (or equally wrong), so how can this be resolved?

     Sadly, it seems unlikely that either side of the debate will ever be willing or able to walk a mile in the others' shoes. It's too easy for some Christians to wag an accusing finger at the advocates of homosexual rights and insist that they shouldn't be required to condone sin, because hating the sin is always easier than loving the sinner. It's also too easy (and often astonishingly hypocritical) for the LGBT community to hide behind inflammatory epithets like "bigot" or "homophobe" because nobody wants to hear that someone considers their choices morally unacceptable. Sadly, both sides end up succumbing to the same disease - an inability to show compassion (or even tolerance) for someone whose convictions differ from their own.
     One might hope the homosexual community could show the tolerance and acceptance it craves, but at this point that is a remote possibility. Christian-sounding groups have burned too many bridges, and high-profile activists on both sides have drawn lines that entrench them in perpetual, angry intolerance. While anything is possible with God, it appears to be a remote possibility that either side will soften their hard hearts.

     This issue, as with many others, seems destined to remain part of the ammunition with which the church is assaulted and persecuted. From John the Baptist, who was beheaded because he preached against Herod stealing his brother's wife, to Henry VIII, who split the church so he could get the divorce(s) he wanted, people will go to great lengths to defend their sin from the word of God. We should expect no more and no less.
     Against this, God's word calls us to a different path. We are called to do what others cannot - forgive as we have been forgiven, love our enemies, and pray for those who persecute us. We are called to follow the perfect example of Christ, to eat with sinners, and even if we were qualified to cast the first stone, to withhold it instead. Unlike the world, we are called to love as we have been loved, sin and all. We are called to always be ready to explain our hope with gentleness and patience, not skimping on Law or Gospel, but persisting in love. It's an almost impossible demand, and the world is not called to this, but we are.

     So, what of our couple who refused to bake the wedding cake for the gay couple? No doubt they were as well-intentioned as the Jewish printer or the black seamstress, and they truly objected to what the wedding cake would symbolize and celebrate, and according to God's word, rightly so.
     But did refusing to make the cake serve God's purpose? What was the goal? I don't know anyone who takes the presence of a wedding cake as a sign of the bakery's sanction of the marriage. Why, then, should baking this couple's cake imply approval of their partnership? Would the baker also refuse to make a cake for the wedding of a couple who divorced their previous spouses to marry each other? Would they even ask? Would they refuse to bake for a couple that had lived together before marriage? If the purpose is to not condone sexual sin, why pick on the gays and not the adulterers or the fornicaters? Singling out one sin and ignoring the others means the message is lost in the noise of inconsistency and hypocrisy, doing little good and great harm.

     Sometimes the Christian's best witness is setting a silent example and turning the other cheek. I have had three different gay friends ask me how I could be a Christian and also be their friend. I always give them the same answer: I don't think God approves of your choices, but when I get done cleaning out my own closet I'll have time to start on yours, and that isn't likely to be for a very long time. The humility of recognizing and acknowledging that we are no less sinful than the gay or lesbian in front of us advances God's kingdom farther and faster than strident condemnation ever will.
     How, then, can we bear witness, be faithful, and love our sinful neighbors as Christ loved our sinful selves? That is a thornier question. If the couple were to bake that cake, would they be loving their neighbor or betraying their Lord? If we don't put God's disapproval of their lifestyle in their face at every opportunity, are we living the Gospel or merely abandoning the Law?

     Perhaps the question must be answered on an individual basis. It's entirely possible that not all Christian bakers should give the same answer, or even that any one Christian baker shouldn't give the same answer to every couple. Our witness needs to be as individual as the individuals we witness to. 
     The administration of Law and Gospel is a pastoral decision, not one that can be made legislatively and applied uniformly. Therefore neither church nor government can or should dictate one response for all circumstances. No pastor can reasonably pass uniform judgment on those who choose to bake, and under our Constitution with its Bill of Rights guaranteeing freedom of religion, no U.S. government should force someone with an established religious conviction to violate their consciences.

     And just as Muslim extremists have brought rejection and persecution to Muslims in the U.S., so Christian extremists are bringing rejection to U.S. Christians. The Taliban and Westborough Baptist are unfortunate bedfellows, bringing great harm to both friend and foe.
     This leaves Christians in a lose-lose situation. If the bakery bakes that cake they are assaulted from one side, and if they don't they are assaulted from the other. Despite Constitutional protestations to the contrary, freedom of religion is rapidly becoming a thing of the past.

     So what do we suggest the bakery do? The only advice I have to give is to pray - a lot - and when they follow their consciences, to be prepared for the backlash, from whichever side it may come. Whether it comes from one side or the other, Jesus' words remain true: "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."  (Mt. 5:10-12)