I keep seeing post after post of believers challenging the church and its leaders to rise and speak against the injustice occurring within our nation. Their incessant challenge sounds like this: “And, YOU Christian should be speaking against this because that’s what Jesus would do!” or “Christians need to gather together and speak out against this racist bigot!” or maybe even “If you’re not speaking against this cause then you’re not Christian!”
During these past few months, many of these emotional rants that I’ve witnessed have caused me to lose a lot of hope, grow weary of the mission to serve in the USA, and at times even triggered depressive tendencies that I haven’t experienced in more than 3 years. It seemed like their “exhortation” and “encouragements” caused me to do the exact opposite of their request. Rather than speaking out, I wanted to stay silent…until now.
Silence is a dying ability it seems. We live in a reactionary culture where people desire more than ever to have their opinions heard and placed on a pedestal of approval which is why social media is such a thing. Posting our thoughts without looking at a person in the eye feels better. Responding to a post without having to see the affects it can cause a person is nice. And having arguments back and forth on social media and seeing the “likes” under your comment brings justification and victory. People don’t want to be silent. Unless of course they’re doing it for a cause like being silent to represent women in sex-trafficking or oppression felt by different people groups.
Before I continue, I should mention that I hold nothing against those who take part in “silent” movements that bring awareness to the very wicked reality of sex-trafficking, rape, abuse, or mistreatment of people groups.
And I also want to point out that I do believe that the church needs to speak up, however do so in a way where the presence of the Holy Spirit is ministered back into our church buildings and Christian life. Most churches who have remained silent regarding the presence of the Holy Spirit caused a lack of true theological and doctrinal teachings within the body of Christ therefore directly causing the moral decline we face today. People don’t know the Holy Spirit, so they have grown apathetic, confused conviction with condemnation, and don’t know how to function in the spiritual gifts that have the power to bring real change into this world.
So, when people such as the ones I stated in my beginning paragraph point a forceful, accusatory, judgmental, and condemning finger at the church to speak up…I stayed silent because their request seemed to be devoid of the Spirit and rather charged with emotions.
Like I said, silence is a dying ability. But there’s something incredibly beautiful and wonderful that takes place within our souls IF we would just take a few minutes, a few days, a few weeks to stay silent…
When I look at some of the situations Jesus was faced with, I see Him rising above in silence. When Jesus was being questioned by Herod upon His capture, He remained silent (Luke 23:9). When He was prophesied about in Isaiah 53, He was the silent lamb in the face of oppression, afflictions, and slaughter. When Jesus was in the final hours before His arrest and crucifixion, He remained silent in prayer (Matthew 26:36-44).
Honestly, He mastered that art of silence. It’s in His character to do so because He is long-suffering, patient, loving, and humble to the very end. There’s a lot to learn from the silent suffering of Jesus. If we are always talking how can we be listening? (James 1:19)
Yes, there were plenty of times when Jesus put actions behind both His silence and His words. But there’s a time and season for everything as we see in Ecclesiastes 3. And it takes discernment to know the proper time. For me, I believe this is the proper time to write about what I’ve kept silent about for the past several months. So here it is…
There’s Christians that are attacking other Christians for not speaking up, not acting out, not standing up for their cause. And they’ve conformed to the cruelty of the world by speaking with such hate, malice, violence, and degradation. When observed closely, these are the same Christians who are unremorsefully sinning, idolizing man or their own platforms, and openly considering leaving the faith altogether. Their own witness ruins them because it’s laced with hypocrisy. And rather than bringing the light of Jesus into a darkened world, their actions and emotion-led words cause them to defile the very reflection of Christ. There needs to be a call to repentance. It’s better to be silent than to end up like the Pharisees in Matthew 15 who proved to be hypocrites, defiled by what came out of their mouths.
There’s Christians confidently claiming that they’d know exactly how Jesus would respond to all the chaos that’s happening within our nation. And I would warn these people, be careful of such a claim. The disciples of Jesus lived in close communion with Him for three years and still were shocked and amazed by the actions and responses of Jesus. What makes us so certain? I believe that if you can say, “I know exactly what Jesus would do!” then examine your heart because there’s a possibility that you’ve created an ideology of Jesus that best fits your preference and what you want to happen. We should all repent of this. It’s better to be humble before the Lord and focus not on what He would do but rather focus on the things He commands us to do like spread the Gospel, make disciples, and serve the least of these.
There’s Christians out there who have big voices on social media. They spew out all their opinions both good or bad, resorting to demeaning memes and disrespecting anyone who doesn’t agree with them. Their voices mean nothing in the end, because when it comes to sharing the Gospel to an atheist, an agnostic, or even the homeless man living in the streets they have no desire, nor knowledge to do so. Their big voices suddenly disappear, and they aren’t bringing hope or life to anyone with their words. We need to repent now. It’s better to be silent than to speak foolishly or speak without the words that can change someone’s eternity.
And then there’s Christians whose intentions are pure and are praying for peace and unity. And what I am about to write is the hardest for me because there’s a part of my humanity that longs for that too. But the truth is, we won’t experience peace and unity while in the current condition of our nation and our world. Why? Because God cannot be united to sin and God cannot bring peace to people who are so intent in fulfilling their own desires. Jesus warns us of how the future will be (Matthew 24) and it only gets more difficult from here. In fact, Jesus gives us an illustration, “all these are but the beginning of birth pains” (Matthew 24:8). I believe that unless the people humble themselves and turn back to God, then we won’t experience peace and unity until the end when God’s people live in eternity with Him. For me this is indeed humbling, because the world can put on a façade of peace and unity, but the truth is without God it’s not eternal and subject to chaos and division.
In the very same teaching (Matthew 24), Jesus also says “see that you are not alarmed”. Although the burden of our nation is painful, it also gushes forth hope that all God has spoken through His Word has been fulfilled through Jesus Christ. I pray this hope is enough for the true followers of Jesus to endure the harder times that are yet to come. And I do pray that the church in the USA would be united in one cause – to spread the Gospel and make disciples of every nation even if that means we’d be doing so incognito like our brothers and sisters in other nations do each day. I believe now is the time to really reflect on our relationship with God. Now is the time that we count the cost as disciples of Jesus and upon counting the cost, fully decide if we are willing to follow Jesus with a whole heart. Jesus requires everything of us.
The Lord taught me a valuable lesson one day while I was watching my five-year old students have free play. Two of my boys took a pretend, toy grocery cart and decided they were going to imagine it was a race car. One of the boys whom I will call “Sam” hopped in, while the other boy whom I will call “Danny” pushed it around. I knew the minute they grabbed the toy that there was going to be a little fight between them. Within three minutes, my intuition was right. Sam now wanted a turn, but Danny didn’t want to give it up. In anger, Sam reacted and pushed Danny off. Danny stood up and reacted by attempting to push Sam back.
Now at this point I had three choices. One, separate them and put one or both in time out. Two, speak to them and make them apologize to each other and then allow them to continue playing. Three, keep them near me and allow them to work it out. I chose option three.
I explained to them, “You’re not on time out. But I do think it’s best to just spend some time near me. We can talk if you’d like.” They remained silent. We all sat there patiently, and I wondered what was going on in their little, smart, intuitive minds. Sam broke the silence, “I’m sorry I pushed you, but I didn’t think it was fair that you didn’t give me a turn.” Danny replied, “I forgive you. I am sorry too.” Yes everyone…this comes from the mouth of babes.
They sat in silence for a bit longer. Danny broke the silence this time, “Hey I know! Let’s play leggos!” Off they went dumping a bucket of leggos on the carpet, building whatever their minds could imagine up. I was surprised that they didn’t go back to the grocery cart. But I realized at that moment that forgiveness looks a lot like that. Not going back to the thing that brought so much strife to begin with. My students were able to sit in silence, ponder their next words, and move forward with their day together as classmates and friends. I didn’t have to do a thing but be a safe place for them.
Doesn’t this reflect a bit of what Jesus wants of us? What could happen if we paused and stayed silent instead of reposting that meme, yelling at someone on FB, or sending a judgmental message. What could happen if when we’re angry or wronged we get near Jesus rather than get near our phone screens? What could happen if we moved on…even if we aren’t justified, even if the wrong was never recognized or addressed, even if there’s no other redemption except for the promise that we will have Jesus always. Life would look different. We would be different.
I am aware of what’s happening in this world. And maybe this post doesn’t reflect the sensitivity some people may want or require. What I hope is that we would all be slow to speak and that we would all turn back to God and talk to Him instead of venting on social media feeding fuel to a fire created by the enemy. And I pray that when it is time for us to speak on the platforms God gives us, we do so in a way that points the church towards God and not reflect how culture wants us to react. There’s a lot to pray for and a lot to be said. But maybe this time let’s keep praying and waiting on the Lord to speak and act.
