Christian leaders around the country are deeply concerned about how the next Supreme Court ruling on marriage could affect religious liberty.
The court is expected to rule next month on whether same-sex marriage is a constitutional right.
Many faith leaders believe a ruling in favor of gay marriage could pave the way for discrimination against religious organizations and churches.
In a recent blog, Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, noted an exchange in oral arguments in theObergefell v. Hodges case.
When Chief Justice John Roberts asked Solicitor General Donald Verrilli if religious schools that provide married housing would have to house same-sex couples Verrilli responded that different states would likely work out the issue in different ways.
"Verrilli's answer put the nation's religious institutions, including Christian colleges, schools, and seminaries on notice - if a school cannot define its housing policies on the basis of its religious beliefs, then it is denied the ability to operate on the basis of those beliefs," Mohler said.
Other leaders are concerned that a court ruling in favor of gay marriage could pave the way for speech restrictions that would ultimately affect pastors.
"It means that what I preach from my pulpit, which is the Word of God, some of it will be deemed as hate speech," Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Leadership Conference, told CBN News.
"There's that potential that I will be deemed as a bigot, as an intolerant human being, and then we will have laws that will begin to discriminate against me because I am a Christian," he continued.
"This Supreme Court decision carries the potential of initiating a chapter of intolerance towards Christians and bigotry towards Christians in the 21st century," he warned.
Rodriguez also urges Christians to affirm the image of God in all people.
Meanwhile, Dr. Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, told CBN News that believers must be careful to avoid what he describes as a "siege mentality."
"I think our response has to be neither capitulation nor a sense of panic nor desperation," he said. "We need to recognize that marriage is resilient because no court created marriage. God created marriage and embedded it in the natural order so marriage is resilient."
