Today the U.S. Supreme
Court found in favor of petitioner Joseph Kennedy regarding his right to pray.
The Bremerton School district had terminated him for having publicly prayed at
midfield after a game. Congratulations to Mr. Kennedy.
But also, I put forth
this appeal to Christians, especially Christians who are in a position of
prominence, such as politicians, actors, ball players: resist the temptation to make a public
spectacle of prayer and personal piety.
I remind you of our Lord’s words in Matthew 6: 5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as
the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the
corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you,
They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into
thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in
secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
In the same chapter Jesus speaks of the personal practice of fasting…we
should not make our piety a show of “look how good I am.” We should be humble
in our practices.
It is acceptable for a public figure, or anyone, to be incidentally
photographed in a candid moment of prayer. People pray before consuming dinner.
They pray before surgery or making decisions. But when I see notable people,
all facing the camera, in a posture of prayer, and even holding objects of
religious veneration, then I know that the moment was planned, choreographed,
and posed. It lacks genuine piety or humility and seems only as a self-serving opportunity
to make some political or cultural point or comment.
There are no political solutions to spiritual matters.
Jesus taught us in Matthew 4: 8-10 that gaining control over earthly
kingdoms is not the means by which one worships and serves God.
The Supreme Court of the United States, is
an earthly kingdom. That this body of interpreters of the Constitution, not the
Bible, has decided that a person has the political right to pray on the fifty
yard line of a high football field before a general public, does not mean
Christians should abandon the teachings of Christ to instead make a public
display of just how much right we have to show how pious we are.
Let the Supreme Court decide what are and are not our citizen rights.
Let Jesus instruct us as to how we may best live out those rights in
authentic Christian manner.
Those that care enough to know what the case was all about and how the
justices decided, the opinion of the Court can be found here:
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/21-418_i425.pdf
