It’s always great when I can blog on a happy day. And it’s always a happy day when the good guy wins. And here’s my happy report: Coach Joe Kennedy is back to doing what he loves: coaching football!
Just in case you haven’t been following the story, in the state of Washington, Coach Kennedy was fired just last year. His offense was that he prayed silently on the football field after games. The Bremerton School District had been on his back since about 2015, alleging that the coach’s prayers violated the Establishment Clause of the Constitution. Last summer, the United States Supreme Court disagreed with the school. It was a 6-3 decision. Subsequently, a U.S. district judge ordered that the coach’s job be reinstated before today (March 15).
You might think that a SCOTUS ruling is the end of such stories, but the Christian cake baker out in Colorado – who is still being harassed by the state (you can see my previous job postings on this subject, including photos of my trip to D.C. to rally for Jack Phillips) – would beg to differ. So I was really glad to see Coach Kennedy back on the job, and I thought that I would share the good news with you.
If you’ll momentarily allow me, I’ll share with you just three quotes from the SCOTUS majority that may be an encouragement to you …
“A government entity sought to punish an individual for engaging in a brief, quiet, personal religious observance doubly protected by the free exercise and free speech clauses of the First Amendment.”
“The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike.”
“Our precedents remind us that the First Amendment’s protections extend to teachers and students, neither of whom shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.”
You and I might not enjoy the “free exercise of religion” and free speech forever – many of our sisters and brothers around the world do not live with such privileges – but I believe that we ought to do all that we can to protect such rights for as long as we can. This is not just a matter of law, government, or politics – in my opinion – but I contend that our nation’s fundamental freedoms have in large measure allowed the gospel of Jesus to be exported around the world. Over the course of America’s history, as our churches have been allowed to prosper, many of those blessings have overflowed into the missionary enterprise.
Please don’t misunderstand me. I’ve preached in the underground church in China, so I am by no means suggesting that God is dependent upon our government to do His work. I’m simply calling us to be grateful for our freedom, and to do what we can to secure that freedom for others.
And there are some even larger lessons to be learned here, I believe. First of all, you and I need to be ready to take a stand when the time is right. We’re not called to fight every battle, or to die on every hill, but we are called to live as salt and light (Matthew 5:13-16). I say it often on Sunday mornings (and I stole it from R.C. Sproul): “Right now counts forever.” Sometimes we do find ourselves in the fiery furnace, and we must never forget that we never go there alone.
Secondly, this is a great time to refresh ourselves in some basics that we may not have considered since high school. About two years ago Eileen and I led a study called “Government and the Gospel,” and we were surprised by how many people had never taken a serious look at the text of the First Amendment. I would encourage you to pull that out, dust it off, and at least develop a basic framework which you can employ to engage in important conversations on this subject. The conversations are happening, from sea to shining sea – and I want us as God’s people to be awake, alert, and influential in the court of public opinion. I think it matters, here and now.
Thirdly, are we still praying for revival? All the civics lessons in the world can’t transform society like the power of the Holy Spirit! Coach Kennedy told reporters, “It’s been a long road.” That’s likely the understatement of the week. These are wearying times for many in the church, but we know where our strength really lies. You and I have a chance, right now, to band together in asking our sovereign God to do the impossible in our midst!
Free speech or no free speech, when it comes to Christ’s Great Commission, I hope that the cry of your heart and mine is, “Put me in, Coach!”
Pastor Charles
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