The nephew of Christian baker Jack Phillips, the man embroiled in the famed and protracted “gay cake” legal battle has reportedly given his life to Jesus following his uncle’s ordeal.
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Back in June, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop in Lakewood, Colorado, after he refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. Previously, Phillips had been penalized by the Colorado Civil Rights Commission (CCRC) for his decision, but the highest court ruled that the commission violated Phillips’ rights under the First Amendment.
In the aftermath of the landmark ruling, however, it appears that Phillips’ decision to take a stand for what he believes in had a lasting impact on some of his own family members. According to the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, the baker’s nephew, Sean, watched on in horror as his uncle and extended family were subject to cruel and abusive treatment from those who disagreed with Phillips’ personal beliefs.
However, far from scaring Sean or repelling him from the Lord, it actually compelled him to investigate the Christian faith for himself. One of the most fascinating elements of his Uncle Jack’s response to the slander and vitriol being sent his way was the fact that it didn’t appear to make him angry in return.
According to ADF, Sean “dug into the Bible to understand the comfort that Jack had in Christ and how he could withstand such hardship with grace and peace. And eventually, God drew Sean to Himself.”
Now, Sean is walking faithfully with Jesus.
“He is living for God and not for himself,” ADF noted. “He is a changed man.”
But it was not Sean’s frustration at his uncle’s attackers and their despicable remarks that sent him into the arms of Jesus. Instead, it was the quiet and unassuming faith and courage of his Uncle Jack — an example that he himself wanted to emulate.
“Through it all, my dad has had this unearthly peace,” Jack’s daughter Lisa said after the landmark ruling. “People call him and say such hateful things. They slander him in the news and on the radio, and he knows the whole time that it is Christ they are slandering and hating. He considers it an honor to be counted among those who are persecuted for Jesus’ sake, and he would willingly do it again. It’s a beautiful thing to watch and learn from: God giving him all the strength, and my dad giving God all the glory. Watching my dad’s trials undertaken for the sake of Christ has only made me want to know Christ more.”
Just a month after Phillips’ Supreme Court victory, the baker claimed that the state of Colorado took steps to target him once again.
“This time, it’s attempting to punish me for declining to create a different custom cake — one that the customer admits was intended to express a message contrary to my faith,” he wrote in an op-ed for USA Today.
In the column, Phillips clarified his Christian views once again:
“I believe that each person’s sex — whether male or female — is given by God,” he wrote, noting that this “cannot be chosen or changed.”
(H/T: Alliance Defending Freedom)