The ink from our column last week—the one about sticking up for the religious liberties of the little guys—had barely dried before another family was targeted for its faith.
The headline read, “Christian-owned bed and breakfast must host gay weddings, state panel finds.” Just read that headline again slowly.
What’s truly being said here is, “Christians in the marketplace must participate in gay expressive events and promote gay supportive messages, or you’ll be punished.” The couple was fined $30,000.
It had nothing to do with servicing a gay person but everything to do with servicing a gay event.
Is this the sweet land of liberty? Are you kidding? This targeting has got to be stopped—and the millions of Americans who stood up for the religious freedom of HGTV’s Gaines family need to get in the game and be a voice here as well. The magnolia wreaths on our doors can’t talk, so we must.
If this targeting doesn’t stop now, our first freedom will become a thing of the past.
Here’s what’s happening here, broken down into simple steps so we can clearly see:
- The thought-mafia runs the narrative in the media, targeting high-profile Christians and delivering sound bytes about our values being “bigoted” and “hateful.”
- When the thought-mafia is left unchecked, the LGBT mafia picks up the momentum and targets the little guy (a small business with little resources to defend itself).
- A lawsuit is filed, the family is found guilty and punishment ensues.
- The thought-mafia takes the family’s severed head and parades it around the nation, threatening other little guys to fall in line or be punished.
This is what we are leaving to our grandchildren.
A decade from now, this Goliath-like bully is going to be virtually unstoppable—unless God’s people stand up with the sound truth of God’s word spoken in love and with an unflinching courage to contend for our faith and freedom.
The problem is, many believers today are taught that because they need to come across “loving,” they should not engage. They’re told they can’t speak about God’s boundaries for sex and marriage, which lead to human flourishing, because it will come across “hateful.” So they sit silent, all while the bully continues to get stronger and stronger.
If this isn’t a classic case of David versus Goliath, we don’t know what is. The key here is that David loved God, and he loved His Word. He engaged the battle because love motivated him. He saw God’s people were being targeted and bullied, and he was willing to be God’s man to stand up and contend for His people.
This is the most loving thing we can do—not only for God’s people but for all those trapped in immoral lifestyles that are contrary to God’s best for their lives.
Because true love is compassion with standards. Leave one or the other out, and you don’t have true love.
So here are five smooth stones about love that can slay this giant today in our lives, our homes, our communities and our nation:
- “Let love be without hypocrisy. Hate what is evil. Cleave to what is good” (Rom. 12:9).
- “[Love] rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6).
- “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).
- “And this is love: that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it” (2 John 1:6).
- “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
We can love like this because God first loved us and sent Jesus to die for our sins. He stepped out of His comfort zone and defended us, the jewel of His creation, against the power of the devil.
So the question is, will we love like Jesus? Will we have both compassion and standards, hating what is evil and clinging to what is good? This Christmas season, are you ready to contend as Jesus contended and love as He loved?
The little guys need our help. {eoa}
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