A dedicated Christian steel worker in Ohio has been fired after he shared his faith and the faith-based movie "Audacity" with two lesbian co-workers, leaving a him, his wife and two kids without any income.
The employment of Precision Strip metal processing worker Chris Routson, who worked on the floor of Precision Strip's plant in Middletown, Ohio, for the last 13 years, came to an abrupt end on Aug. 27 when he was terminated, without severance pay or unemployment, because his lesbian co-workers were uncomfortable with how he indiscriminately shared his faith with them.
Routson explained in an interview with The Christian Post that since he became a Christian about four years ago, he has made a custom of sharing his love for Jesus with all of his co-workers, no matter who they are.
But after Precision Strip hired a lesbian worker about a year ago, Routson knew that sooner or later the act of sharing his faith would come into question.
Upon the hiring of the lesbian woman, Routson didn't immediately approach the woman to talk about his faith and prayed that God would eventually present him with the perfect opportunity to do so.
As the faith-based film "Audacity" was released this year to help show that many Christians love homosexual individuals despite not agreeing with their life choices, Routson felt compelled to share the Ray Comfort-produced film with his lesbian co-worker. One Saturday when he was at home, Routson sent a link of the film to his lesbian co-worker via Facebook.
"The week ['Audacity'] came out I shared it with her on her personal messages, and she was already my friend on Facebook, so it wasn't like I forced it on her at all," Routson said. "I just said, 'Hey, check this out.'"
The following Monday, Routson came to work and noticed other workers gathered around the lesbian co-worker. Routson was told that she was uncomfortable being around him because of the Facebook message and he was instructed to visit his manager's office.
"They said, 'Someone said you didn't make them feel comfortable.' I said, 'I sent out a video to share the Gospel just because it talks about homosexuality.' They said, 'You can't do that. You can't do that,'" explained Routson. "So, I said 'I was just trying to share my faith with her and it doesn't matter that I didn't have a chance to work with her, I can share a link on Facebook on my own time right?' They are like, 'No, no, you can't do that. You can't be sharing with people on Facebook because they work here.'"
"They were saying that I can't do that, but I have never seen anything that says I couldn't," Routson asserted.
A day after being called into the office, Routson said that another lesbian worker was hired to work in the facility. Just as he shared his faith with all of his other co-workers, Routson felt compelled to share his faith with the new lesbian worker.
"So, the new girl comes in and it was like any other new person. … We were talking about the Gospel and I shared my faith with her, and at the same time, I shared 'Audacity' with her," Routson said. "I said, 'You got to check out 'Audacity.' At that point, some of the guys, some of my enemies that are there, come around her and talked her into going up front to try and get me fired, and that is what happened."
Routson was again told to go to the manager's office, where he was told to go home for the day. The next morning, Routson was called on the phone and told to come in a few hours later than normal. Upon his arrival to the facility on Aug. 27, Routson was told that his employment was being terminated because he made co-workers feel uncomfortable.
Officials from Precision Strip declined to comment on Routson's termination when contacted by a CP reporter. Since his termination, Routson has acquired the representation of the Ohio-based Christian Law Association.
"If you are put in a situation where you are going to be fired or you are going to be persecuted for your faith, never give into the fear of man, always fear the Lord," Routson said. "No matter what happens, trust the outcome to God rather than trying to think about how we can stop it from happening."
Routson, who earned about $60,000 per year working at Precision Strip, is still in search of employment and has set up a GoFundMe fundraising page to help his family get by while he remains unemployed.
On top of providing for his two children, Routson also provides for his wife, Bekah, who has medical issues that require medication costing $350 per month. Thus far, $4,125 has been donated by 102 different donors.
