So the two presidential candidates have drawn a line in the sand on the issue of America’s definition of marriage. The topic itself is very interesting to me due to the fact that two-thirds of Americans believe that marriage should be reserved for a man and woman yet, due to a rabidly liberal media bias, we are being led to believe that we and our nine closest friends are the only ones who want to keep things heterogenized. A friend recently asked me if I would address the following issue in one of my posts and I thought today was as good of time as any:
How does a Christian discern and achieve the balance of making a public stand for what he is convinced is righteous? How does he avoid crossing over into becoming an obnoxious zealot, driven by proud, outspoken arrogance instead of being led by the Holy Spirit to confront error?
For me, this is not an issue of our mouths but, rather, our hearts. Whether it be our views on the divisive issue of gay marriage or any other topic with which we cut cross-grain with our culture, we must be careful guardians of what goes on in our hearts before we let loose with our lips. The risk is that many Christians feel that silence and polite acquiescence is the best way to glorify Christ and love our fellow man. They live their lives in a corrupt culture with polite little smiles which strain their faces as they repeatedly quench the Spirit of God’s desire for them to tell the truth to a deceived populace. Failing to remember that the Christian’s silence in America is what led us to the current abysmal state, these folks have exchanged their “salt and light” for a low-sodium substitute and a spiritual dimmer switch. This is not the answer. Nor is there an answer to be found in the foolish pseudo-saints who picket the funerals of soldiers with signs expressing inflamed rhetoric concerning God’s wrath against their pet-peeve sin of choice. There is a balance to be considered, aimed for and consistently achieved. Here’s a great word from God addressing how we approach the call to confront sin in the lives of those for whom we care:
“Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.” – Galatians 6:1 {ESV}
First, make sure you qualify as a “brother…spiritual”. Yes, it is incumbent upon us to make our calling and election sure (2 Peter 1:10) by examining our own soul to ensure that we are actually in the faith (2 Cor. 13:5). If we will attempt to speak for Christ we need the wisdom, love and power that comes only to those who are secured by Him and in Him. Then we should make sure that the issue against which we are speaking is actually a biblically-defined transgression and not just some soapbox issue upon which we have chosen to grandstand. When possible, I try my very best to address the inner-issues rather than immediately pouncing on the outer. In short, our calling is to restore someone from an actual pathway of sin, not to convince them to join our party or movement. For me, the last two parts of Galatians 6:1 above ring highly important. We are commanded to speak out with the simultaneous action of employing meekness as we keep watch on ourselves. Meekness is the use of a legitimate strength while that strength is being kept under control. We don’t rage. We don’t breathe fire or throw verbal grenades. The goal is not to make our point with shrapnel-a-plenty but, instead, to assist a straying person in recovering the path of truth. This is a precise work and cannot be successfully accomplished without relying upon God’s Spirit, word and grace. By the way, restoring people takes time and painstaking patience so if you don’t love people enough to remain in for the long haul, you will likely appear to them to be little more than a loudmouth with a bible. Finally, there is that Galatians 6:1 warning: Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Treat people like you need to be treated when you are missing the mark. Someone may be looking to correct you in one of your blind-spots and you would hope they would come in with reasonable grace instead of a theological missile.
In summary, let me say this. Christians, it is a shameful thing for your voice to be perpetually silent. The chosen silence of one generation becomes the enforced silence of the next generation. When we do speak out, we need to do so from the spirit, not the gut. Many believers don’t take time to discern the difference. Think upon the mark before you raise the arrow to shoot – we are seeking to help people in some of the most treacherous terrain of life. By the way, some people don’t care what we think and will absolutely not receive what we say. In love, you should still speak as the Lord leads you.
Just make sure He’s leading you.
I believe that one of the big issues we have in the Church (body of Christ in the World), is Christians remaining silent in the waves of evil coming at us each day. To my recollection, rhere is only one time that Jesus remained silent and that was during his condemnation and “trial”. Otherwise, Jesus was a very vocal fellow. He boldly took on the establishment without wavering. He also treated all people will love on an individual basis. Today, think about all of the Christians being killed and persecuted in the Middle East, China, and elsewhere. The church has been almost completely silent about this. However, the USA would be the first to “stand up for human rights”. Christians have nearly folded in the age of political correctness. They gay community has become powerful in America. What would happen if Christians started being vocal an standing up for Christ and ther beliefs? Oh, I’m not talking about signing petitions on the Internet. I mean, doing what the Bible says to do. The World is like a lawnmower. It will roll over you, if you just sit in the yard and do nothing. Someone said, “The only thing necessary for evil to prosper is the good people being silent in the wake of evil.
Jeff,
Thank you so much for the reminder…both you and your Dad!
Very well written! I plan on passing this on to men I know who wrestle with this issue of speaking out. Can I add something? (Why of course you can, Dad.) If one’s goal is to resphape/save society, it is liikely that anger will infiltritrate ones’ efforts at speaking out. However, if the goal is to reshape/save a person, then humility, kindness and patience must be ithe infiltrators. It takes a renewed mind to deal with sin in our culture. James 3:17-18 implies such a mind: “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”
Thanks for your continued good work here, Jeff.