"Gideon Not Welcomed Here"

I learned today of a major hotel contacting a local Gideons group, asking them to pick up all the Bibles placed in their rooms. They said it was no longer their policy to keep religious materials in their facility.

That's their prerogative, of course. Hoteliers are under no obligation to stock freely-accessible Bibles in their rooms. (Or $5.00 waters in their mini-fridges, for that matter.)

Nonetheless, it strikes me as a strange decision. The hotel is a privately-held company; there are no Church-State issues involved. And the Bibles are tucked away in drawers; nobody is forced to read them. (Though I have read of one-time atheists who came to faith in Christ as the result of reading a Gideon Bible in a hotel room one night.)

I suppose some might be offended by the presence of a Bible in the top drawer of their bedside stand and that this is what the hotelier is reacting to.

It just underscores the fact that we are living in an increasingly intolerant culture--much of that intolerance incited by so-called Christians bullying rather than loving their neighbors--and that, if Christians want to see Jesus' great commission (Matthew 28:19-20) fulfilled, we cannot rely on others to fulfill it. (We never should have relied on anyone else to do it anyway!) We must prayerfully prepare for opportunities to share the hope that we have in Jesus Christ by building loving relationships with those who don't yet know or believe in Him. As a former atheist myself, I can tell you that it was people who were prepared to tell me about the hope they had in Christ who opened me up to knowing Jesus and appreciating the Word of witness about Him we read in the Bible.

(By the way, the Gideons are preparing to distribute the Bibles they've collected from the hotel in other ways. So, Gideon checked out, but he's going no doubt, to find a place for his Bible.)

[I'm the pastor of Living Water Lutheran Church in Centerville, Ohio.]

Speaking of Gideon Bibles, this seems like a good place for the Beatles' Rocky Racoon.]

Freedom of speech and freedom of religion trashed by Oregon's labor commissioner

Remember the Oregon couple who got sued for refusing to bake a cake for a same sex wedding?

The bakers in question are Christians who did not want to violate their consciences by providing a cake for a same sex marriage celebration. It wasn't a matter of discrimination, since the Sweet Cakes Bakery had taken orders from gays and lesbians in the past. Their objection was to same sex marriages.

The same sex couple sued for emotional damages and the Oregon labor commissioner has ruled, evidence to the contrary, that the bakers were guilty of discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Furthermore, the husband and wife team who own the bakery have been ordered not to speak of the case.

Out goes freedom of religion and freedom of religion for this couple in one fell swoop.

This disturbs me as an American. I hope that the couple will appeal.

Here's the story from The Oregonian.

Welcome to Orwell's World: The Chick-fil-A Controversy

Chick-fil-A president Dan Cathy recently underscored his belief, based on both the Old and New Testament, including the words of Jesus Himself, that the covenant of marriage is between a man and a woman (a husband and a wife), period.

A firestorm of protest ensued. The mayors of both Boston and Chicago have said they would like Chick-fil-A not to operate in their cities.

But the last time I checked, the freedom of speech and the freedom of religion still are guarantees in the United States. Mr. Cathy's exercise of those freedoms in no way threatens the freedoms of others.

Personally, I believe that his position is the correct one. I also believe in full civil rights for all people, including those who are gay and lesbian.

These are not mutually exclusive positions. Indeed, both spring from the same place: a belief in the God of love revealed to the world in Jesus Christ.

Christians have no interest in coercing others to agree with every facet of Biblical morality. Indeed, it's only when people are free to disobey the will of God that confessions of repentance for sin and faith in Christ have any meaning.

Out of love for God and others, my call as a Christian is to speak God's truth in love. Fully cognizant of my own sinfulness and utter dependence on Christ's grace for forgiveness and life with God, I don't pretend to be better than others. I don't think Dan Cathy pretended superiority either. Nor did he express "homophobia" or hatred in the statement he made on God's will for marriage.

The Christian is free from the enslavement of sin and death, but not at liberty to say that God is wrong in His revealed will for the human race. When God and we disagree on something, the Christian is bound to admit that God is right and we are wrong. God clearly does not approve of some things. Injustice, prejudice, thievery, deception, gossip, using His Name for anything other than prayer, praise, and worship, and sex outside of marriage are some of those things that displease God. Not to earn God's love in Christ, but to express gratitude for it, Christians seek to align their lives with God's revealed will.

And the Christian who is grateful for the undeserved gifts of Christ's grace is commissioned to speak the truth that God has revealed: the truth about what is sin and the truth about the forgiveness of sin and new life that belongs to all who repent and entrust their lives to Christ.

People may not like to hear what we believe are God's revealed truths, but no one is threatened by their expression. And it is sloppy, Orwellian thinking to describe sentiments that spring from love as "hate speech."

But in the United States of 2012, the intolerance exhibited by the mayors of Boston and Chicago and those who agree with them are seen as tolerance, while Christians who accept the rights of others to engage in behaviors God reveals to be sinful, while having the temerity to underscore what they believe God teaches, are called intolerant. That is Orwellian.