Faithful Consistency

Refining Fire

The Scriptures tell us that when God comes in judgment, it often begins with the household of God.  We read:

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But 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. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And,

“If the righteous is scarcely saved,  what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”

Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.  [I Peter 4: 12-19]

Our constant prayer is that God will move quickly and powerfully to arrest and reverse apostasy in the West.  As He does so, we can expect that His people will firstly be refined by hardship and oppression.  What form might this take?  Various forms.


But as criticism of Christ becomes the cultural norm Christians are refined by having to live consistently, which means that we need to be thinking and re-thinking our lives according to God's commandments.  What do we really believe?  Are we followers of accreted human traditions or of God?  We want to make sure that we suffer as Christians, if we are to suffer, not as secular social conservatives.  If we do suffer for authentic Christian faith, then we can glorify God and not be ashamed.

Here is one example of a Christian who has been thinking and rethinking his life around the Scriptures, striving to be consistently Christian.  He has done so in the face of oppression.  In this case, he has been vindicated.  It is yet another case of a Christian business owner who refused to participate in the celebration of evil and was initially sanctioned by the state.

Back in November, I posted about the T-shirt company Hands On Original, whose owner Blaine Adamson had declined a request by the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization of Lexington to make shirts for an upcoming Lexington Pride Festival. Adamson declined, not wanting to violate his religious beliefs by endorsing groups or events he did not agree with:

To be very clear, Hands On Originals does not and never has discriminated against any individuals or groups. As my earlier statement clarifies, we both employ and do business with people from all walks of life.

My decision not to print the shirts requested of us has nothing to do with who was ordering the shirts; it had only to do with the message of the shirts no matter who was ordering them.

In this situation, the message is in disagreement with my values. My faith calls me to love all people regardless of whether they share my values or not.

As result of Adamson’s decision, the Kentucky Human Rights Commission ruled that he had violated a city law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation.  Yesterday, in a heartening decision, a Lexington judge sided with Adamson and overturned the commission’s ruling:

A judge in Lexington has ruled in favor of a shop that refused to print gay pride festival T-shirts.

The ruling Monday by Fayette County Circuit Judge James Ishmael overturns a decision by the city’s Human Rights Commission. The commission had ruled in 2014 that the print shop, Hands On Originals, violated a city law that bans discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation. The shop says it has refused several jobs because of its Christian beliefs.

Ishmael said the Human Rights Commission went beyond its statutory authority in siding with the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization. The judge said that the print shop’s refusal in 2012 was based on the message of the gay group and pride festival and “not on the sexual orientation of its representatives or members.”

Further:

Ishmael said the business never inquired about the sexual orientation of the representatives from the Gay and Lesbian Services Organization. The owners of Hands On Originals have “treated homosexual and heterosexual groups the same,” Ishmael wrote, noting that the business has in the past turned down orders for shirts promoting strip clubs and containing violent messages.

It is the last sentence of the judge which illustrates how Craig Adamson has been seeking to live consistently with Christian principles.  In the past, other jobs had been turned down which celebrated other forms of evil.  This serves a dual purpose: it testifies to the community that Christians believe homosexuality to be immoral and sinful, along with lots and lots of other pagan rebellious behaviour.

Adamson's thoughtful consistency in his business practice does two things: it underscores the fundamental Christian foundations of disciples of Jesus; secondly, it exposes the canted partiality of those who would oppress us.  If opponents would oppress a Christian for his biblical convictions regarding the sinfulness of homosexuality, maybe they want to stand up also to defend strip clubs and the celebration of violence.  But if a Christian is to be tolerated, even respected, for his rejection of some notorious sinful practices, then it is hypocritical special pleading to demand that he celebrate my particular vices.

That is just one small example of the process of purification and maturation necessary for the Church to undergo in the West.