The gospel, the government, and you

In the great United States, with the Christian faith as its foundation, we’re slouching toward a baffling and potentially faith-suppressing state of existence. One can get fired for leading an off-site Bible study or for criticizing certain sins in mixed company, particularly the sin of homosexuality but, oddly enough, not adultery or lying.

The Establishment and Free Exercise clauses found in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution restrain the government from establishing a national religion and from violating the people’s right to freely exercise their religion, respectively. There is no constitutional mandate that bars the government from religion or requires a so-called separation of church and state. Anyone who cites the founding document to support such claims, instead of judge-made law, is dead wrong.

So why was a Georgia sheriff’s deputy fired for holding a Bible study, off-site, for former inmates? Josh McCuen said God gave him a heart for the lost through one of the criminals housed in the jail.

“I was a law enforcement officer for 9 years, and up until 4 months ago, I thought that every suspect I arrested and every inmate was a maggot,” he wrote on his GoFundMe page. “God used an inmate to minister to me and God placed me in a jail around these guys every day to show me that they are still his people, too.”

Technically, McCuen was fired for fraternizing with the inmates, a policy violation. (Even former inmates?) The technicality is a convenient place to hide the real issue, if you’re so inclined.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said he fired Kelvin Cochran for insubordination, which includes handing out at work a book Cochran wrote and not because of his faith. The former fire chief filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, citing religious discrimination. McCuen’s former boss, Hall County Sheriff Gerald Couch, said he’s also a Christian and that neither he nor anyone in his office would ever persecute someone for his faith. The Hall County Sheriff’s Office released a statement, saying, “The supervisor discussing this issue did not make any reference to religious beliefs or actions, but this was brought up by McCuen as a reason for his improper behavior.”

In both cases, we’re to believe Cochran and McCuen’s faith had nothing to do with their termination. In Cochran’s case, the book’s content obviously was the problem, despite the mayor’s denials. If faith isn’t the issue, why did Reed order Cochran to attend “sensitivity” training? In McCuen’s case, the issue might not be as clear-cut. According to reports, the Hall County jail holds religious services, and Bibles are readily available to inmates.

By creating a Bible study, McCuen, who was reprimanded twice for fraternizing, certainly was carrying out the Great Commission to make disciples. Christ said to His disciples in Matthew 28 after He handed down the commission, “[A]nd lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

A powerful sentiment, and a comforting reassurance. I’ll probably be long dead before things get really bad for Christians in the Western world, but those words will continue to encourage and fortify generations of Christians until Jesus returns.