Keep It To Yourself

In the fray over Arizona's attempt at protecting the free exercise of religion, I saw a lot of this kind of thought: "Your religion matters in your church. Keep it in the pews." You know the idea. Believe what you want, but just keep it private. In fact, this seems to be a very popular perspective. People are assuring me that they are in favor of religious freedom ... as long as it's not visible.

There is, in this line of thinking, a very serious disconnect, and I'm trying to figure out where it comes from. First, the disconnect. People seem to think that religious beliefs are like clothing -- something you can put on or take off as it suits the moment. "Oh, yes, by all means wear that, but not on this occasion. It doesn't suit this occasion." You know ... no white after Labor Day. (So, I've always wondered -- when can you start wearing white? But I digress.) That approach doesn't fit the concept of "religious beliefs". They aren't merely things we can take on and put off. They form the entire structure of life. Religious beliefs tell us what is good and bad, right and wrong, favorable and unfavorable, truthful and false. Religious beliefs tell a Christian shop owner to deal fairly with customers just as well as they might prevent a Christian photographer from assisting a homosexual couple from celebrating a union. So we want that Christian shop owner to be fair because his religious beliefs tell him to be, but we don't want him to have any views with which we disagree. Religious beliefs are not merely the facts to which we mentally acquiesce. They are truth, that which forms a worldview, which colors every aspect of life. A Christian politician (you know, assuming such a thing exists) would propose and vote on legislation based on his or her religious views, not separated from them.

"Private religious beliefs" -- the phrase they like to use -- are not actual religious beliefs if they do not affect how you live. This is what we learn clearly from James (you know -- faith without works is dead -- James 2:14-26). Humans always act on what they truly believe. You can say you believe something, but if there is no actual response to that belief, you don't really believe it. And nothing about religion in general and Christianity in particular allows "only in private". We are commanded to make disciples, treat people certain ways, defend the truth, stand firm, and so on. "But only in private" doesn't work.

"You can believe what you want; just keep it to yourself." "Believe" and "keep it to yourself" in our case are mutually exclusive. In fact, biblically "just get along" isn't an option. I anticipate, with the current tide of hate rising against people who actually believe, I suspect we will see that this is indeed true in the not-too-distant future.

So, the other question. Where is this error that you can "keep it to yourself" coming from? It isn't rational and it isn't biblical. Obviously it comes from Satan, but what are his favorite tools in this debacle? I know it is skeptics and the debased mind, but the thing I'm wondering is how much of it is coming from "believers"? Are we attempting to "believe" without acting? Are we aiming at segmenting the sacred and the secular? Are we trying to demonstrate that a genuine faith can be kept private? I have to wonder.