The beginning of July brings to mind important historical events for American Christians. July 4 marks the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of our nation. From its outset, the Declaration sets forth the dependence of government on God: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Government is not our savior, but it is a gift from the Lord, even as the Apostle Paul reminds us: “there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Rom. 13:1).
And, for Reformed Christians, July 1 is an opportunity to look back on the beginning of the Westminster Assembly in the United Kingdom, which produced the foundational documents for Presbyterians.
John Witherspoon, Presbyterian minister and signer of the Declaration, would perhaps be most gratified to hear about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Groff v. Dejoy. Groff brings together the American concept of liberty (especially freedom of religious exercise) and the historic Reformed doctrine of the Lord’s Day or Sabbath.
Average Christian
The story of this landmark case begins with an obscure mail carrier, Gerald Groff, who also happens to be a Christian committed to God’s command to “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). Groff assumed that he would not be faced with working on the Lord’s Day as a postal worker. When he joined the United States Postal Service (USPS) in 2012, there were no mail deliveries on Sundays.
When the USPS started delivering packages for Amazon on Sundays, Groff made every effort to avoid working on Sundays, including working extra shifts and every holiday. This sufficed for a while, but eventually, the USPS began insisting that Groff work on Sundays, disciplining him and threatening him with termination unless he relented.
This is an important part of the story—Groff did not make demands of the USPS, try to burden his fellow workers, or even enter a job that he knew would require work on Sundays. He was not an activist seeking notoriety; he was an average Christian (perhaps much like you or me) who wanted to follow his conscience and the command of his Lord.
Gerald Groff was not an activist seeking notoriety; he was an average Christian (perhaps much like you or me) who wanted to follow his conscience and the command of his Lord.
Eventually, Groff resigned in 2019 and sought relief from the courts for himself and other similarly situated workers who were prevented from following their beliefs in the workplace. Even though Groff’s request was not fringe or even unusual—Sabbath observance has been a fixture of a wide variety of Christian denominations and followers of Judaism—the lower courts ruled against him, stating that his request proposed an “undue hardship” on the USPS.
The courts’ rulings relied on a test from a 1977 case, Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison, which held that anything more than a “de-minimus [too trivial to merit consideration] cost” was an undue hardship. This test essentially made it impossible for religious employees to live out their faith in the workplace.
Unanimous Ruling
But the Supreme Court changed all that in its recent ruling. It abandoned the Hardison test in favor of a test that “requires an employer that denies a religious accommodation to show that the burden of granting an accommodation would result in substantial increased costs in relation to the conduct of its particular business.” This essentially shifts the burden from the employee (to show no hardship) to the employer (to show actual hardship). The effect of this cannot be underestimated.
Perhaps even more important, the Court’s ruling was unanimously 9-0 in favor of Groff. In matters dealing with the free exercise of religion, this is almost unheard of. But the Court sent a strong statement about the Constitutional rights of Christians (and those of other faiths) to follow their consciences.
Employers are no longer able to determine which religious practices are important and which are not: “Title VII requires that an employer reasonably accommodate an employee’s practice of religion, not merely that it assess the reasonableness of a particular possible accommodation or accommodations.”
Lessons for Believers
There are several important lessons for Christians from this legal victory.
First, it is wise when standing firm for your faith to be respectful and to make every effort to avoid conflict (cf. Rom. 12:18). Groff did not bait the USPS; in fact, he went above and beyond normal efforts (working all holidays) to have his beliefs acknowledged.
Too often, Christians act as if the United States is unalterably hostile to Christianity. Groff’s case shows us that the laws of our nation protect our freedom to live out our faith.
Second, we should not despair of the rule of law in our nation. Too often, Christians act as if the United States is unalterably hostile to Christianity. Groff’s case shows us that the laws of our nation protect our freedom to live out our faith. That there was not one dissenting vote is surely significant.
Third, for Reformed Christians who love and cherish the Lord’s Day, this case shows us that this is not an obscure or “weird” view. Groff is an ordinary believer who seeks to honor his Lord through worship and rest on Sundays. The Sabbath was made for man (Mark 2:27) and we should be thankful for that.
This July, let us celebrate the freedom we have to worship and serve the Lord and let us give Him thanks for blessings such as this important Supreme Court decision.
Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?
In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.
