There seems to always be much controversy anytime a Christian business owner is sued by a would’ve-been customer for refusing to make something with a gay theme. I’ve been meaning to elaborate on this topic for a while now, and I hope it is easy enough to identify where I’m coming from.
A type of question I see a lot in response to this kind of scenario is the ‘whataboutism’. It starts with the baker who refused to make a specialty cake for a gay wedding, but what about the married man purchasing flowers for his mistress; or what about the bridal boutique servicing those who’ve been divorced or those living in sin or having premarital sex? Or what about the baker making a birthday cake for the unruly kid who breaks God’s commandment to honor his parents.
The fault with these scenarios is that it is being wrongly assumed that the business owner is discriminating based on his/her perception of sin – when in reality, the business owner just doesn’t want to be forced to help facilitate a sin. Also, the assumption is being made that the business owner knows all about the client’s personal life. But business owners are not in the habit of asking a potential customer’s sexual preference or other personal info. If a customer is gay – its either quite obvious when the customer orders the service, or the customer tells them. That’s really about the only way the business owner would know.
Unless the baker refuses to sell the gay couple ANYTHING, we cannot assume he is discriminating based on sin. We are ALL sinners, and the Christian bakery owner knows this. The baker has sold plenty of pastries to hungry consumers off the streets without knowing if they’re part of the LGBT. Eating has nothing to do with sexuality, whereas a specialty gay wedding cake does. Therefore, it’s not a sin to eat. But the baker cannot violate his own conscience by helping the gay couple celebrate their gay wedding by making a gay-themed wedding cake.
As far as the flowers for the mistress are concerned, in what world would the florist know the flowers were for a mistress? But let’s say, for whatever reason, the man let it slip that he was cheating. In that case, the florist would be within his rights to, again, choose not to participate in facilitating the sin.
The bridal shop scenario is the same in a sense, but different in another. It’s the same in that unless they’re dealing with some chatty Cathy’s, how would the bridal shop know if the bride- or groom-to-be has been once, twice, or thrice married already? I don’t think the issue can be taken with the Christian who would help facilitate a wedding, but the one who would help facilitate a divorce. On the same note, a couple living together before marriage shouldn’t be an issue because God WANTS us to do the right thing & get married.
I feel like the kid that disrespects his mother is quite a stretch. In the case where the cakemaker was Christian and knew the kid disrespected his parents and the request was for a birthday cake that had a message on it attesting to the kid’s wonderful respect for his parents? I suppose THEN the cake baker could justify it?? Or if the kid was purchasing his own birthday cake and wanted the baker to make an obscene message about his parents on it? Okay, ya got me there… But again…if not asked to specialty make a cake the baker should have no problem with a birthday cake for a kid. I just wanted to throw this one in there to show you the lengths that people are going to in order to demonize Christian business owners.
In each of these scenarios, it’s not about turning someone down who is a sinner, it’s about *not helping to facilitate the sin.* There are dozens of Bible verses instructing Christians not to help or encourage sin, but here’s just one from 1 Timothy 5:22.
“Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure.”
No, as Christians we are not perfect. But God has forgiven us. We do not deserve it, but because He did forgive us, we honor Him by trying to live a life that would please Him. It would not please God to encourage or celebrate something He has declared to be a sin.
The Armentrout Shout-out 