The question of religious liberty – and what constraints should exist on it – continues to be debated from the blogosphere to statehouses around the nation. In the South, the governor of Georgia vetoed a bill from the state legislature that would have protected pastors from facing any penalties should they decline to participate in same sex marriages. Though the governor stated his veto was not in response to any outside pressure, one cannot help but to notice that some of the powerhouse businesses within the state (as well as several outside of it) were leveling some pretty serious economic threats against the state should the legislation be signed into law. Other states, however, chose a different path, with North Carolina’s governor signing into law a piece of legislation requiring individuals to use the bathroom of their birth gender and Mississippi’s governor approving a bill to protect a person’s desire not to be involved in a same-sex marriage (either by providing a service or good to be used in said ceremony). Similar pieces of legislation have met varying degrees of success in other states as well, such as Kansas, South Dakota, and Missouri.
There can be a tendency at times to view such defeats as reason to despair. Some of us might worry about what these mean in terms of our personal freedom. For instance, will the day come when a homosexual couple calls the church to request the use of our facilities for a ceremony and asks me to ordain their union? It may (and should it happen, you can rest assured the answer to both of those questions will be a kind, but firm, “no”), and the consequences for such a response may mean not only civil penalties (lawsuits, fines, and a loss of tax exempt status), but criminal penalties as well. This question has been on my mind lately as we have been studying Philippians. Paul wrote while under arrest for his religious views, yet continued to proclaim Christ and call the church to live in unity and joy. What an example for us today!
As believers, we must remain secure in God’s sovereignty over all things. While it may be tempting to think that all this chaos we are witnessing here on earth is outside of God’s control, it is decidedly not. While it may be outside of ours, it is not outside of His. Even if things in America become like they were in the Roman Empire of the first, second, and third centuries A. D., we still serve the Living God who reigns over all of His creation! We must also resist the urge to think that our rights and liberties are either conferred by the government to us or that they exist only insofar as the government allows them. Yes, our Constitution says that we possess a freedom of religion, but our Declaration of Independence notes that we are endowed with such liberty by our Creator – not by any human government. Yes, our Supreme Court might interpret what the Constitution means when it says we have freedom of religion, but there is nothing that nine justices can do to prevent us from worshiping and giving glory to the only One who is worthy to receive it. We must be observant and engaged, but we must never become despondent simply at the direction of our government. After all, our citizenship is not of this world. Just something to think about…
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