Guess who’s not coming to dinner?

Richmond, Va., has served as a battleground between good and evil for centuries. As a city with a long history, it’s served as the epicenter for wars, both actual and cultural. It’s the capital of a commonwealth now marked by division. The inevitable political clashes over life’s sanctity, sexual morality, race, and education make national headlines.

Oftentimes, in the thick of these high-profile political battles stands The Family Foundation, a Christian pro-family lobbying organization in Virginia. To say the group does great work would be a breathtaking understatement. The staff and board of The Family Foundation (several of whom I’ve gotten to know personally) labor tirelessly in their advocacy for moral sanity, with liberal press calling Foundation president Victoria Cobb “the new Phyllis Schlafly.” The record speaks for itself.

Well, news has definitely gotten around. Just recently, a local business cancelled a Family Foundation reservation at the last minute, stating opposition to the Foundation’s mission and values. In Cobb’s telling of the incident, this cutting off of services mimics the dynamics of Virginia’s painful history of racial injustice. “You can’t eat here” is a bone-chilling message, but, sadly, it’s nothing new for Virginians.

Of course, recalling the civil rights movement proves a lightning rod. Pro-LGBT voices insist they are the true heirs of that movement since they purportedly expand the rights of suppressed minorities. And several surviving leaders and activists from the civil rights era agree. They paint any moral traditionalist as a symbol of massive resistance to moral progress. There are massive ironies in many of today’s ideological battles. History is contorted for political benefit.

But contemporary Christian opponents to same-sex marriage and transgenderism draw instruction from Holy Scripture and natural law. These resources are traditional in that they have been passed on for centuries, but they are also timeless and perpetually relevant in the sense that they establish certain universals or permanent things which may or may not clash with whatever a culture may uphold at the moment.

In such a rendering, racism and sexual deviance both fall afoul of this unchanging standard of God’s Law. White supremacy and racism transgressed this standard, even though the advocates of these errors insidiously defended themselves with high-sounding religious and philosophical arguments. Scripture-twisting and “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” in the service of covetousness, neighbor-hatred, and other sins are nothing new, for they are practically as old as humanity itself.

Plenty of church-going segregationists insisted that they were faithful inheritors of true biblical faith and American civilization when, in fact, they were not. They violated love of neighbor and hated fellow image-bearers of God. We are starting to see similar dynamics in today’s church over sexuality issues. Supposedly “biblical” arguments join sophisticated philosophical claims to justify rebellion against God, even while an activist class driven by sloganeering hits the streets. These same ideological dynamics encourage businesses to mistreat a certain class of fellow citizen.

In terms of legalities for today, if Christian photographers or bakers don’t have to serve blasphemous gay “weddings,” pro-LGBT companies shouldn’t have to cater events for pro-family lobbying groups. In terms of morality, everyone should agree with the permanent moral realities that the Foundation champions. They should celebrate the Foundation, but our society has decayed both morally and spiritually, so the Foundation’s standards are condemned. Nevertheless, God’s standards don’t change.

The Family Foundation’s enemies don’t care about these high-level concerns of God’s unchanging Law. That’s because sexual progressives have clearly decided that they won’t tolerate the Foundation or its supporters.

Faithful Christians must not get weary in well-doing, even toward those who mistreat us. As one acquaintance observed, “And you know what I know for 100 percent certain? That the members of this ministry’s board would, without hesitation, host any one of those LGBT-identifying staff in their own homes for dinner and treat them with the utmost decency and respect despite their differences.”

This probably isn’t the first time that the Family Foundation is going to have to turn the other cheek, and its experience increasingly reflects that of other Christians, Christian-owned businesses, non-profits, and ministries. We must not mimic the sinful behavior of our enemies. Eventually, our society may see the mistreatment of Christians as odious as it truly is, repent, and come to a better mind. In the meantime, we must not avenge ourselves, but rather entrust vengeance to God, who judges with wisdom and righteousness.