The Silence of the Lambs –
Controversy…the truth is...very few of us enjoy
it. We would much rather fly under
the radar than become a target. And yet somehow along the way we have convinced
ourselves that silence is better than speaking. We’ve convinced ourselves that many Christians are brash and
unwise in what they say, while at the same time we’ve convinced ourselves that it
is best to say nothing at all. In our
minds to speak about any number of sinful behaviors in a public venue is
uncharitable and un-Christian and certainly not 'grace-filled.' After all, to speak is to voice an
opinion, and to voice an opinion…well, these days...it’s just not the 'Christian' thing to do.
I’m particularly intrigued by the
Apostle Paul’s approach. I find it
curious that his ‘I’m not ashamed…’
of Romans 1:16 is followed by a list behaviors that God condemns in Romans 1:18
and following. Perhaps Paul knew something about the correlation of shame and
not speaking up...both for the power of the gospel to save, and for a world at
odds against God himself. This is
a strange environment we live in where we’ve somehow decided that we want to be
faithful to give the good news of the gospel without telling anyone why they
need it.
In some instances silence may be
golden, but silence is not the gospel way, nor is silence Christ’s way. Jesus could have adopted a ‘go along to
get along’ mantra and saved himself much grief, and he likely could have saved
himself the cross. However,
declaration and proclamation are to be part and parcel of the Christian
life. We are to declare that a
real Jesus saves from real sins and in this declaration we must not be
ashamed. We must be willing to speak
because the future depends not only upon the efficacy of God’s Lamb, but also
the unashamed words of our testimony
(Rev. 12:11).
-DJM
