Compromise with SOGI laws leaves Christians other adherents of traditional morality in an untenable and finally incoherent position. If Christians cannot contribute to sinful behavior and yet remain faithful to God, then not only Christian institutions but also individuals in business and the professions cannot facilitate sinful behavior without being unfaithful to God. When there is no protection from SOGI laws in a given occupation, then that occupation is effectively closed to faithful Christians.

The relentless assault of the LGBT revolution, its successful intimidation of Republican governors and legislatures and consequent stigmatizing of religious liberty as oppressive; the effective loss of Christian education that would have resulted from the passage of SB-1146 in California, which proposed that genuinely Christian colleges be forbidden in that state; and the very realistic assessment that the election of Donald Trump has only given traditional Christians a reprieve from the catastrophic loss of religious liberty that would have attended the election of Hillary Clinton, a Democratic Congress, and a permanently liberal Supreme Court, have all resulted in a desire to find compromise and accommodation with LGBT demands while there is still some leverage to do so.

With SB-1146 firmly in mind, the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities and the National Associations of Evangelicals are pursuing an attempted settlement of this severe conflict, advanced under the name “Fairness for All.” Inspired by the closely negotiated sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) law enacted in Utah, it proposes to exempt houses of worship and as many religious institutions as thought politically possible from the effects SOGI laws, which the courts interpret as prohibiting discrimination against homosexual behavior, while leaving private individuals and for-profit Christian businesses in the public sphere under the full force of SOGI laws with no exemptions.

The bleak long-term possibility, in which Christians may again be faced with a Democratic administration and Congress, and possibly a permanently liberal Supreme Court, and thus no leverage for action, is not unrealistic, but we must keep as our first consideration faithfulness to God. The only reason Christians seek exemption from SOGI laws is because we cannot compromise with sin – to contribute to or cooperate with sinful behavior is itself sinful (Matt. 18:7), and this remains the case regardless of how law or society changes.

Compromise with SOGI laws leaves Christians other adherents of traditional morality in an untenable and finally incoherent position. If Christians cannot contribute to sinful behavior and yet remain faithful to God, then not only Christian institutions but also individuals in business and the professions cannot facilitate sinful behavior without being unfaithful to God. When there is no protection from SOGI laws in a given occupation, then that occupation is effectively closed to faithful Christians.

The key moral question in considering matters of conscience is “am I participating in sin?” A private merchant or professional worker clearly is sinning if he or she facilitates sinful behavior, just as a professedly Christian institution is sinning if it facilitates or tolerates sinful behavior, and everyone in the organization is likewise implicated in sin because they are part of an unfaithful institution. But with employees in a secular business or secular institution, on the other hand, the individual Christian is not sinning if the organization tolerates or contributes to sin, if this is incidental to the organization’s purpose. A secular organization is part of the world, and Christians cannot withdraw from the world. Similarly the government now promotes same-sex relations, but this does not make government employment sinful, for the same reason. But this logic does not carry over into private business and the professions, where the private merchant, Christian professional or individual worker may be required to accommodate sin. In the sphere of private business and the professions, it is the Christian individual, not a secular institution, who is the actor, and thus is the sinner where sinful action is required.

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