Thoughts on Masterpiece Cake Shop

As I was reading once again about the intersection between anti-discrimination laws, free exercise of religion, and freedom of speech publicized by the back and forth between Masterpiece Cake Shop, some of its potential customers, and the State of Colorado; I was reminded of something that Jesus once said.

Matthew 5:38-6:6

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. When you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.

 

I will not be thinking about this issue from the perspective of law, or our American definition of freedom of religion or speech…but from the perspective of our God’s expectations. Jesus lays out some world inverting thoughts here in his Sermon on the Mount. Our knowledge of how God ordered the world, and his definition of good and evil, allows us to live as God intended, which is a great blessing. We are doubly blessed to live in a community that uses many of these definitions in our government; thereby ensuring a more just government than most places in the world.

But what happens when our community doesn’t share those definitions? How do we respond when our neighbors or the government want to punish us for living according to God’s definitions? Do we declare those who would persecute us the enemy and hate them? Do we try to force them to our views and refuse to conduct business with those who don’t comply?

Jesus has an answer for this in the above passage. Do not resist.

I’ll repeat it because it probably didn’t sink it. Do not resist. Offer your other cheek to be abused. Let the person suing you take MORE than he asks. Give of your time and effort twice what is demanded of you. Don’t refuse to provide resources.

“But wait a minute!”, I hear you say. Aren’t we supposed to be the light of the world? Aren’t we supposed to be showing the world the TRUTH? How can we let them declare that what is EVIL is actually GOOD without resisting them? How can we allow obviously evil people to use our government to force us to personally sacrifice for them?

And yet, Jesus said, “Do not resist.” And not only that, he said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”

Here, I’ll close that jaw for you.

This is not what we want to do, and is not what the ‘conservative American christian’ thinks is appropriate. We must ‘win’ the culture war, or so I’m told. But what does ‘winning’ mean? Are we really sure that Jesus’ words here are applicable to the cake shop situation? Someone actively trying to troll me into working and producing product that I know will be used to celebrate evil is something that I must resist, right?

First, let’s examine what Jesus says in his discourse. “...and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles…” I am told that the occupying Roman army could force anyone to carry their equipment for a mile. This would apply on the Sabbath or at any time. Let’s look at that Sabbath case, as I think it has interesting parallels to the Cake debate. Carrying that pack on the day of rest would be a clear violation of the law. It would be a visible and clear celebration of the Roman occupation of the Holy Land. And yet, Jesus says to go twice the distance. Not to do it grudgingly but to go into territory that other Jews would say was collaboration with the enemy. How could this be justifiable?

What is the purpose of the Sabbath? Jesus himself worked on the Sabbath to perform healings, yet his most important healings did not concern the physical body. They concern the healing of the relationship between sinners and God. Jesus came not for the righteous, but for sinners. On several occasions, he entered cities and stayed with the most notorious criminals in town. He was especially noted for being the companion of sexual sinners. It would seem that he actually loved his enemies, and prayed for those who would and did persecute him. 

To Jesus, establishing and displaying the power of the gospel was more important than the appearance of righteousness. We are told that the best way to encourage righteousness is to criminalize unrighteousness. We are told that we must shun the sinner and punish them so that they will learn the truth. But Jesus gives us a different way. He says that if we only love those who love us…we are no better than the rest of the sinners. If we are to be ‘sons of your Father in heaven’, then we must behave as he behaved towards our persecutors.

But why is this important?

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them…” Our behavior is often motivated by a desire to be seen as righteous. We take great pains to ensure that our public life is that of a righteous person. But how often is it our righteous image that calls people to repentance? Is our following of the law the path to other people’s salvation? Obviously not.

Can we, in our zeal for public professions of righteousness, erect barriers to our neighbors seeing the gospel? Consider the example of the Pharisees throughout the gospels. They were outwardly righteous, and took great pride in their ability to remain separated from the world. Yet they were utterly incapable of helping others to know God…because they were hypocrites. They didn’t love their neighbor. They didn’t follow God because they loved God, but followed their rules because they loved themselves. We often do what is right not because we love God…but because we love being seen to be righteous. This is how we can think that refusing to do business with our neighbor is righteous when he demands that we provide resources for his sin.

God, on the other hand, sees our hypocritical heart. He also sees our refusal to take an opportunity to love a fellow sinner and to share God’s love and gospel with them. What is more important? Being seen to be righteous? Or effectively sharing the gospel?

The reality is that the only power that can change sinners is the gospel. We will never be able to legislate sin from our community. The law cannot bring about righteousness; it only brings knowledge of sin. We must always remember that the truth of the knowledge of sin must be paired with the love and relationship of the gospel. Sometimes, when evil people come to abuse us we are being offered an opportunity to show how God loves even sinners. Sometimes, we are called to suffer so that others can see real love and the gospel in action.

We should not think ourselves exempt from the expectation to suffer as Jesus did for us. When the opportunity comes along, let us take up our cross and follow Christ. Not for the glory of martyrdom, but because doing so is obedient to his expectation of us, glorifies him, and communicates his gospel in the most effective manner. For only the gospel could motivate such selfless love.

Let us, therefore, be less concerned with our appearance of righteousness; and more concerned with the effectiveness of our communication of the gospel.