As we contemplate the real, spiritual dilemma that brought Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties to a showdown here at the nation’s highest court, I am reminded just how fitting it is that Jesus was a carpenter. When Jesus planed a lintel or turned a chair leg, he didn’t have to worry about whether the person who entered the resulting doorway or sat on the completed chair would be a priest or a pauper. The very act of carpentry was no less “God’s work” than was giving hearing to the deaf or sight to the blind.
He did, as Paul advised us in Colossians 3:23 everything “heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” We as Christians recognize that we serve the Lord Christ in all that we do, whether or not we enjoy the privilege of serving in full-time ministry.
And, even those of us in ministry, like Care Net, who do “God’s work” under the non-profit label, can be humbled by the faith that led the Green family to incorporate their business with a statement of purpose that commits the company to “[h]onoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles.” Every Hobby Lobby trustee is bound to “honor God with all that has been entrusted” to them. What a witness!
But this ought to be true of all men and women who live in a just and free society – one governed by our nation’s declaration that it is every person’s God-given right to pursue life, liberty and happiness, whether CEO or certified saint.
Each of us is called to pursue life in a way that blesses others, and protects the most vulnerable among us. At Care Net we counsel women and men to consider compassionate alternatives to abortion as they pursue their own dreams and ambitions. But by following their own calling, they bring no less honor to God who sell glitter glue.
In the context of Christ’s teachings and matters of conscience, the only lawful professions in America that are profane would be those that involve the taking of innocent human life or the exploitation of others, or that serve to prohibit law-abiding men and women from following the dictates of their consciences in the pursuit of happiness.
The people behind Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties want to make their thousands of employees happy by giving them generous health benefits that do not violate their consciences. Surely, the Supreme Court can find the latitude to help them do just that. Surely the highest court in the land can hold the government accountable to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act's requirements to find a less restrictive means of achieving the public good of health care for all than hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and the absence of employer-paid health care of any kind.
A solution that does not violate the consciences of these brave, believing business owners is one that upholds liberty and protects the rights of all of us to do whatever work God gives us, in a way that doesn't compromise our beliefs.
A good comprehensive article for background on the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage mandate: http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2014/03/20/the-acas-contraception-coverage-mandate-constitutional-limits-on-exempting-employers/
The Stand Up For Religious Freedom website with information on the March 25th March and Rally: http://standupforreligiousfreedom.com/2014/march25/.