Modern 'Tolerance' Does Not Include Bible Believers

Issue Date: September/October 2007

So far in the U.S.A., Bible believers have avoided paying fines for speaking out against homosexuality.  But a recent case in Houston shows just how one-sided the tolerance is.  A local gardening service called The Garden Guy Inc, run by Todd and Sabrina Farber, was approached for a bid on a gardening service job.  After discovering that the couple desiring the bid were homosexual "partners," Sabrina sent a polite email to them that they "choose not to work for homosexuals."

This refusal triggered a fire storm of intolerance.  The "couple" began an email campaign to stir up a boycott of The Garden Guy. All the abusive terms were thrown at the Farbers: homophobes, bigots, including a challenge to "their brand of Christianity."  Some even made physical threats to kill them and "sodomize their children."

Fortunately, the Farbers live in a city that has not included sexual "orientation" in its anti-discrimination laws. Several other cities in Texas and around the country have included homosexuals as another "protected class" along with race, religion, ethnicity, etc. Such laws forbid businesses to deny service to anyone who belongs to one of these classes. When the national news began to pick up the story, Christians weighed in on the Farbers` side.  In the end, The Garden Guy got a lot more business than he lost.

The militant sodomites want more than just acceptance.  They are determined to silence anyone who disagrees with them, including God. Homosexual legislators and their sympathizers in government are currently pressing for "hate speech" laws to silence everyone who speaks out against their perversion. 

In other countries where such laws have been put in place, soul winners quoting the Bible have been arrested and charged with incitement to hate.  There have been a few cases in this country but so far, our constitutional freedom of speech has dismissed the charges.  This may not continue to hold if Bible believers do not let our elected representatives know where we stand. 

The great commission is our mandate from Jesus.  But the freedom to carry it out must be protected.  America`s founding fathers gave us that freedom, but we must not allow ungodly legislators to take it away.  They have to feel the heat from us and know that they will be voted out if they do not preserve that freedom. 

Meanwhile, Jesus said to work while it is yet day.  We need to redeem the time by sharing the gospel every chance we get.  In our hurried lifestyle it is often impossible to stop for a discussion.  But it takes only a couple of seconds to put a tract into their hand. Then we know that their blood is no longer on our hands. (See Ezekiel 3.)