The Church's Disenchantment With The Land of Enchantment

If you have gotten to read our writers bio's on this blog you would know that we are from the beautiful Land of Enchantment, otherwise known to you as New Mexico. It is the land of green chile everything, beautiful mountains, insanely vast deserts, and some very interesting people. We are even sometimes mistaken for having been lost step child territory of our southern neighbor, Mexico. This leads to awkward conversations with Texans about how I am not really from Mexico but am acutally an American and that is really why my English is good!

Out of this relative obscurity our big state with a little population has been thrust into the national spotlight, all due to a recent ruling in our state supreme court. This ruling was over a photographer who refused to photograph a same-sex wedding because of a religious conviction about not being involved in something that would give the impression that they endorsed this ceremony. Unsurprisingly, the New Mexico Supreme Court, in a traditionally politically liberal state, said that they couldn't do this becuase they trampled on the constitutional rights of the people they refused a service to.

The one thing that I have heard repeatedly from people within the church is is that acts like this trample on our rights to religious liberty. Yes, they are guaranteed in the US Constitution, but should you expect anything different?

Anyone who has spent any considerable amount of time in New Mexico, even in the affectionately labelled "Little Texas" region in Eastern New Mexico, you know that most of the people in our state are lost. Tradition overruns piety and desire to follow after God. Skepticism keeps many from even accepting the reality of a God. This is the reality of New Mexico. While we are a remote outpost in the Southwest, the culture is just as skeptical and unwilling to accept Jesus as anywhere in the world.

Going back to my question "should we expect anything different?" To truly treasure a right and liberty you have to understand why it is important. For Christians we know what is right and wrong in the eyes of God. Those who reject the Gospel of Jesus do not. And why should they? I have no desire to practice international tax law, so why would I take time to learn the tax code of France if it doesn't even apply to me as a taxpayer? This is the dilemma that we are in. We as a church are expecting non Christians to suddenly realize that what they want nothing to do with is relavant to them, because we said so.

As a Christian in the world you are truly a stranger in a foreign land. The ideals that are held here are not the same as the ones that Christians hold, so why should we expect them to hold our religious liberties and ideals as sacred as we do? We shouldn't. Not because we want to resign people to sin, but out of realization that people, especially the quirky people of my home state, are steeped in sin. Like an unruly child they don't know right from wrong.