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Op-Ed: Religious Freedom Restoration Act — Christians, who do you serve?

It seems that the laws of the land are now once again challenging both religion and sexual orientation. The LGBT communities, along with its supporters, see that Indiana’s Restoration of Religious Freedom Act (RFRA) as ways someone can discriminate against them without penalty. Major corporations are already pulling out of states like Indiana until the law is revised so that discriminating against the LGBT community doesn’t happen, although there is no text specific to sexual orientation in the law. Indiana Governor Mike Pence now wants to fix the law, because he never intended it to be a “license to discriminate.”
For Christians like me, we are called not to condone sinful acts. After all, homosexuality is considered a sin, so why should I as a business owner be forced to serve homosexuals? 1st Corinthians 6:9-10 reads:
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
It seems pretty cut and dry as to who will not inherit the kingdom of God, but I’d like to illustrate a larger point to my fellow Christians. Let’s pretend you own a pastry shop and apply these verses in these hypothetical but realistic situations:
1) Mr. Jones and Miss Smith are an elderly couple who love your pastries. They’ve been dating for quite some time go to the same church as you, and have even come over to babysit your kids. One day you find out that they have been living together for almost a decade which can be considered sexually immoral since they are unmarried. Will you continue to serve them?
2) Mr. Jackson buys two pies a week. You noticed that his church and small group attendance is spotty during basketball season because he loves the Chicago Bulls. When they lose, you won’t see him at service because he’s too depressed. If they win, he’ll come and brag about the victory before and after the sermon. It looks like his idol isn’t Jesus but it’s the Bulls. Will you continue to serve him?
3) In a message about adultery, your pastor cites what Jesus said in Luke 16:18:
Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery
The context of this verse is that Jesus was speaking to His disciples about men who act selfishly instead of worshiping God. Jesus spoke of this in the context of understanding our Father hates divorce but allows it in the cases of infidelity or if your spouse is no longer a believer.
You realize that your best employee could be considered an adulterer. She had a horrible first marriage. She and her ex-husband constantly fought. He also lied about wanting kids and didn’t reveal the truth until after they got married. They didn’t go to counseling. She filed for divorce and has been happily remarried with no regrets for 10 years. Will you fire her?
No Asterisks In The Bible
We could come up with even more real life scenarios that don’t involve pastry shops but involve every day encounters, much like the ones Jesus had when he traveled. Certainly a line has to be drawn somewhere when it comes to someone or some entity stepping on your ability to worship. The Federal RFRA law in 1990 was partially established because two Native Americans lost their jobs for using peyote during religious ceremonies. Could you imagine a Catholic church getting shut down for serving less than an ounce of wine to underage parishioners as part of communion?
If we’re going to be honest Christians here, we all have sinned in a manner somewhere in those 1st Corinthians verses or in the Ten Commandments. So does that make us any better than the gay customer who isn’t bashing your beliefs at the service counter? Are they really “substantially burdening” our religious beliefs simply because they sin differently than we, your friends, or your best customers do?
Turning someone away from your business just because you disagree with a lifestyle that isn’t truly burdening your faith is turning away someone who may need to know Him more. Galatians 3:26 says we are all children of God through faith. We serve Jesus through the Great Commission, His commandments to love one another and spreading the Good News that believing in Him saves us from the condemnation of death for our sins. There is no asterisk that denotes “except gays.”
Fellow Christians, this goes beyond the pastry shop. It’s about conducting a biblical lifestyle that invites others to want to know Jesus, not finding reasons to push people away from you or him. Serving people who sin does not equate condoning it, or else you will starve to death. If you aren’t serving Jesus, then who do you serve?

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