Don’t you cringe when trying to think and act like Jesus brings you up short and makes you look at things from a whole new perspective? I hate it when that happens. My sensibilities are turned upside down but, then again, isn’t that what Christ and his teachings are supposed to do to us? It is very uncomfortable and I can’t really judge my own success—it’s not about me after all.
So the story goes like this. Joel Belz, from World Magazine, threw down the gauntlet to us readers to come up with a way to winsomely but directly address the issue of baking cakes and taking pictures for same-sex weddings. He wanted responses to his challenge to dare us to think like Jesus, to bring people up short and to elicit cries of blasphemy from the (self)righteous. I had toyed with some ideas but generally they failed in the area of winsomeness and neglected to challenge my notions of justice, right and wrong, yada, yada, yada, so I did not make an offering to the discussion the first time around. Then Mr. Belz came back this week with a forlorn plea to keep thinking because as of yet he had received nothing that fit the bill. So I thought about the issue backward. What would encourage those seeking a cake to think about what they were asking a Christian to do and what might cause believers to choke on their cries of blasphemy?
Here is what I sent in:
Jesus’ parables grab your attention, unleashing comments of “blasphemy” from the most righteous. So when approaching this scenario what would catch the attention of both the couple asking for the wedding cake but also bring cries of blasphemy from believers? It brought to mind the passage in “Little Men” when Professor Friedrich takes young Nat into the shed to receive what will presumably be his punishment for a wrong he had done. The usual punishment would be a couple of smacks on the hand with a ruler and Nat was prepared to receive them. The Professor could see the torment in the boy but then did something shocking, because he loved the boy. He took the punishment himself that young Nat deserved. Nat was undone by this sacrifice and it proved to be the impetus for him to give up his naughty ways. So maybe we, as Christians, need to consider assuming the punishment that others ought justly receive. In the case of the wedding cake for same sex couples, instead of charging them for the cake, we bake the cake accepting no payment. The point being that we will bake their cakes and take their pictures and we Christians will suffer the loss of doing so and refuse payment. This will catch everyone off guard. (I can hardly believe I am suggesting this, but there it is.)
In re-reading my remarks I can see where I assumed that the same-sex couple were not Christians–that is the rub but I must set that issue aside for now. It is not the focus of this blog and I think I would word it differently upon reflection. We will see what World has to say—most likely nothing, but it was a worthy endeavor nonetheless. Of course, I don’t bake cakes or take pictures for a living.
theologicalcudchewing 