The Implications Of The Christian Baker And The Supreme Court Ruling

What are the implications of a baker who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple?

Rights, Like Dominoes

Have you noticed a trend in our nation and in the nations around the world? They are all slowly ridding themselves of anything to do with Christianity. These include crosses on public display, gravesites with crosses on them, and the Ten Commandments which are falling like dominoes around the nation…and now, a Colorado baker, Jack Phillips, who refused to bake a wedding cake for a same-sex couple because of his religious convictions, and standing on his right of freedom of religion expression, may be forced to go out of business…simply because he believes the Bible. If the U.S. Supreme Court rules against Mr. Phillips, he will either have to bake that cake for the couple, or be taken to court, fined, and perhaps even imprisoned. The fact is, Mr. Phillips has no choice. He knows he must obey God rather than man, particularly when man’s laws violate God’s laws (Acts 5:29). The baker is following his conscience, which is influenced by the Word of God, and he knows that same-sex marriage is sin and that he cannot participate in this wedding. To him, it’s not a biblical marriage. The baker is not judging the couple or condemning them, but just doing what used to be every business’ right…the right to refuse service. Mr. Phillips right to refuse is based upon his belief about biblical morality, and not just human opinion, which you can’t even hang your hat on!

Expect Persecution

When I read the verse where it says Satan was cast out of heaven and knows his time is short, I think it means that he’s going to make the most of the short time he has. He’s going to ramp up his war against the saints (Rev 12:12). That would certainly seem to be the case today. The growing secularization of the nation and the world will leave little or no room for believers to express their faith. In Canada, you can be arrested for hate speech if you preach against homosexuality as a sin. Even though the Canadian pastor that was arrested for this “hate speech” wasn’t condemning or judging homosexuals, and he certainly doesn’t hate them, he was simply stating what the Bible says about sin, including same-sex marriage. The same pastor also preached on the sin of drunkenness, adultery, and sex outside of marriage (fornication), but no one said anything then. It was only when he got to the part where the Bible says those who practice such things (such as sexual immorality, drunkenness, etc.) will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal 5:19-21) that he got in trouble with Canadian law enforcement. By the way, that trend is spreading throughout the world, and it will only get worse before the Day of the Lord. We must remember that “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you” (John 15:18), “and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt 10:22). The Christian baker has received several death threats, and more than once, been publically harassed, but what he and we must learn to do when this happens is to “rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Pet 4:13-14).

What’s Next?

What’s next may be a public muting of Christian witnessing on the street; making it a crime to refuse a service for someone or something that is against one’s own conscience; and bans on public property of religious symbols (i.e. crosses) that are viewable to the general public. I believe one by one, our religious rights and freedoms are falling. Slowly but surely our religious freedom and rights are eroding, both in the public square and in the private sector. Will the day come when a Jewish baker is forced to bake a cake for a neo-Nazi organization or be sued or arrested? One of the justices asked, aren’t there other comparable bakers in that area that could have been used, instead of going through such an enormous legal process? Some believe it is a form of fishing for victimization. It is their way of destroying those who they don’t agree with. Ironically, in that area, a Christian couple who were openly critical of same-sex marriage were themselves refused service by a bakery owner. It seems to be a double-standard, although again, we could ask, why didn’t they just use a Christian bakery? But at least the religious couple, when refused, went elsewhere. And they didn’t contact the press and make a huge public spectacle out of it. I will grant them that, because they could have.

Conclusion

If this Colorado baker is forced to bake a cake for a wedding of a same-sex couple, then, as I mentioned earlier, what’s to stop the state from forcing Jewish bakers to bake a cake for a group of Nazi’s, or an African-American baker from baking a cake for a KKK celebration? This Supreme Court Ruling (Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission) of Jack Phillips, the Colorado Baker, verses Charlie Craig and David Mullins, or the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, on behalf of the same-sex couple who requested a cake for their wedding, has huge implications for the Christian community, and especially the Christian business man or business woman, but if the ruling goes against Mr. Phillips and his Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. , it might also force Catholic Legal Services to provide a same-sex couple with legal services related to their wedding, even if it violates Catholic teachings on marriage. If you were put in the baker’s place, what would you do? Would you be willing to go to jail? Would you be willing to lose your business? Or would feel forced to do provide services to the same-sex couple? My question is, if this is really a fight for free speech and religious freedom, what about the freedom of speech the baker should have had? This ruling will impact Christian-owned bakers, florists, photographers, and caterers, by the thousands. But it will impact all of us in one way or another.