SCRIPTURE: “And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” -Matthew 9:10-13. [source]
COMMENTARY: Mormons preach equality and love, and then complain that legalizing gay marriage would force them to do things that are against their religion. It seems to me that this is exactly the sort of hypocrisy that Jesus exposed among the Pharisees. But what do I know? I’m just another apostate.
Jesus ate with sinners, but he didn’t condone or support their sin
read the whole Bible, and you will understand
Yes, thank you. That is exactly my point. Just as Jesus could share a meal with a sinner without condoning the sin, it is entirely possible, and even Christian, to bake a cake for a sinner without condoning the sin.
The problem willfully overlooked here is that none of the sinners Jesus ate with ever DEMANDED that He CONDONE their lifestyle, not to mention to sue Him and take away His Carpenter’s license if He still refused to acquiesce to it. Jesus said,
Matthew 9:13 NKJV
“But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to REPENTANCE.”
No mercy is desired by the gay couple because no repentance of their sin is desired either. The baker, if you cared at all about the whole story, wasn’t against baking them a cake. They were against condoning what God clearly states is a perversion and in need of repentance. Context is king. Didn’t you read the whole text you just used? E-mail me. This sinner would love to have my cake with you and eat the whole context of it with you too! [: )
*See both Old & New Testaments on this subject: Romans 1:18-32; Jude 5-7; 1 Kings 14:24; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 2 Kings 23:7; Deuteronomy 23:17; Judges 19:22; Job 36:13-15.
Yep. And nobody is asking the baker to condone any lifestyle. They are asking the baker for a cake. If the baker refuses to provide a cake and is sued, he is being sued for discriminating against gays in his commercial services being offered to the public, not for refusing to condone something he disagrees with.
Actually they were… read the actual story.
Thanks for your comment, James. This may come as a surprise to you, but I did read the story. The baker was asked for a cake. Do you have information I haven’t seen on additional requests made by the couple? If so, I would love to read that part of the story. This article, typical of other articles I have read on the story, indicates no such additional request: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/26/gay-couple-devout-baker-take-cake-fight-high-court/875305001/