For some time people like myself has been warning that the government was becoming increasingly intrusive on the religious freedoms of churches. Stories from the last few years alone are enough to make any sane persons head spin. From zoning law restrictions to taxes, the government has been seeking to get more than a foot in the door of America’s churches.

I have warned on more than one occasion that before long the government would try to silence America’s pastors – either through regulation, IRS intimidation, or both. It seemed a no brainer to me that the end game was to pretend to value freedom of religion while seeking to monitor and regulate exactly what speech is used.

It seems that day has come far sooner than anyone expected.

The city of Houston has issued subpoenas to a group of pastors for their sermons dealing with homosexuality, gender identity, or any mention of Mayor Annise Parker; who happens to be a lesbian.

That sentence should send chills down your spine as you realize that a government agency has just ordered pastors to submit sermons so they can be scrutinized for speech content. In other words, the city of Houston wants to make sure these pastors are using acceptable speech in their sermons.

Frankly, I am flabbergasted that the city of Houston would even make such a demand. This city council surely must know that, especially in Texas, such actions will anger voters. But the national ramifications are equally astonishing. Will American’s take such a brazen act of governmental oversight in silence?

If the response of the pastors being subpoenaed is any indication, the answer is no.

One of the pastors involved, mega-church pastor Steve Riggle, said of the subpoena: “This is an attempt to chill pastors from speaking to the cultural issues of the day. The mayor would like to silence our voice. She’s a bully.”

Dave Welch, another pastor involved said: “We’re not afraid of this bully. We’re not intimidated at all…We are not going to yield our First Amendment rights. This is absolutely a complete abuse of authority.”

Look at the language they are using to describe the mayor and her actions: bully. How the tables have turned. At one time LGBT people were called victims of bullying and spoke out against their bullies. And now a lesbian mayor is behaving in such a way so as to be described in the very same terms.

How did we get to this point in Houston?

The city passed an “equal rights ordinance” that allows people, among other things, to use whatever bathroom, shower room, or facility, they choose. In other words, men can use women’s restrooms and vice versa. This is obviously a danger to public safety and should be rightfully opposed whenever such proposals are brought up. After passing the ordinance a petition to have it repealed or placed on the ballot was launched needing just 17,000 signatures. The petition garnered more than 55,000 signatures. But, Mayor Parker and the city attorney simply rejected the petition. Even though they are bound by law to accept the petition and place the measure on the ballot, they decided to ignore the law and do what they wanted. A group of pastors filed a lawsuit against the city for rejecting the petition and that’s when the city, in response, issued subpoenas to pastors for their sermons and communications regarding homosexuality, gender identity, and Mayor Parker.

What is taking place in Houston is nothing short of government intimidation and bullying in order to stifle opposition to their agenda. It sends the message that if you dare disagree with their thoughts and ideas you will be attacked with the full force of the government. Alliance Defending Freedom, one of America’s top religious-freedom legal organizations has filed a motion to have this unconstitutional abuse of power ended. Senior Legal Counsel Erik Stanley said:

“City council members are supposed to be public servants, not ‘Big Brother’ overlords who will tolerate no dissent or challenge…In this case, they have embarked upon a witch-hunt, and we are asking the court to put a stop to it.” 

Stanley is right in saying that city council members, among others, are supposed to be public servants. Unfortunately many of our public servants act more like tyrants and kings, abusing their power and trampling rights. Houston city attorney Dave Feldman has said previously that “political speech” from the pulpit is not protected by the First Amendment:

“If someone is speaking from the pulpit and it’s political speech, then it’s not going to be protected.”

What does Feldman consider “political speech”? Would a pastor teaching the biblical ideas of sexuality and marriage be guilty of “political speech”? What is that pastor taught the biblical position of life and that abortion is a sin is that “political speech”? This is the danger involved when the government seeks to define “political speech” for pastors and churches, or even simply seeks to regulate speech at all. It is not for the government to regulate what can and cannot be spoken from the pulpit of America’s churches. That is between the pastor and the Holy Spirit.

Tony Perkins, president of The Family Research Council put this incredible situation into perspective:

“The state is breaching the wall of separation between church and state. Pastors need to step forward and challenge this across the country. I’d like to see literally thousands of pastors after they read this story begin to challenge government authorities – to dare them to come into their churches and demand their sermons.”

Somehow the “separation of church and state” liberals like to champion when it suits their cause is an easily breached wall when they want something. They will gladly use the “separation of church and state” to demand Christians keep their faith to themselves, or to take Bible and religious courses out of public schools and the workplace. But as soon as it is advantageous to them they will breach that wall and storm the shores and pulpits of the church.

Fox News analyst Todd Starnes saw the use of tolerance and diversity as a weapon that would be used in just this fashion:

“This is the moment I wrote about in my book, “God Less America.” I predicted that the government would one day try to silence American pastors. I warned that under the guise of ‘tolerance and diversity’ elected officials would attempt to deconstruct religious liberty. Sadly, that day arrived sooner than even I expected.”

This is a clear and present danger to the Gospel ministry of pastor’s, churches, and every Christian. If the government can demand to know what a pastor is preaching from his pulpit then they can (and will) demand to know what is being written, recorded for podcasts (before it’s recorded), and what Christians are teaching in their home Bible studies. This is the logical first step in regulating speech for everyone – including churches and Christians – in a way that clearly violates the Constitution.

But consider the ramification for Christians that simply want to share their faith. Already there are ongoing efforts to stifle Christians from sharing their faith in public; including in the workplace, schools, and even on the streets. Is it really too hard to imagine a day when those efforts reach into the church?

Now is not the time for naivety or apathy. If we believe the Gospel is the saving power of Jesus Christ to transforms lives and hearts we must be willing to stand up and oppose such governmental intrusion into our churches. Thankfully these pastors have all said they are willing to face fines and jail to stand for the Gospel and their ability to share it. It’s sad that such a statement needs to be made but I am thankful they are willing.

What will you do? Will you wait to stand up until they come for your pastor?

UPDATE: The city of Houston and Mayor Annise Parker are doing damage control after their efforts to subpoena sermons from local pastors has made major headlines across the nation. Sparking national outrage and concerns over government overreach and infringement of religious liberties, the city and mayor now say the subpoena’s were “too broad” and will be “clarified.” A recent article reports comments from Mayor Parker:

“It’s not about what did you preach on last Sunday…It should have been clarified, it will be clarified.” 

And David Feldman, attorney for the city of Houston, said the subpoena’s were not worded well, which has caused people to misconstrue their intent:

“When I looked at it I felt it was overly broad, I would not have worded it that way myself. It’s unfortunate that it has been construed as some effort to infringe upon religious liberty.”  

The Washington Times points out that Mayor Parker’s backtracking on the subpoena’s comes only after she first defended their issuing the previous day:

“Ms. Parker’s office initially doubled down in the face of such criticism but issued a statement late Wednesday saying the mayor ‘agrees with those who are concerned about the city legal department’s subpoenas for pastors’ sermons.'”

Sometime between Tuesday night and Wednesday night Mayor Parker decided she agreed with those concerned about the subpoena’s. I can’t help but think the national outrage over the city’s obviously unconstitutional actions contributed to her “concern.”