Speak Up

“Anything that is good can be twisted into an idol. Every good thing can be twisted into an idol you serve instead of the Lord God. The better the thing is you turn into an idol, the more deceptive it is. Evangelism is a really great thing. Nothing is more important than evangelism. Well, actually Jesus is more important than evangelism… People will say, I just want to preach the gospel. Well, Jesus didn’t only preach the gospel. Jesus sometimes spoke truth. He denounced corruption and evil.” – Eric Metaxes

The American Church has drifted into idolatry. Loving those around us is a good thing, but allowing the lines of what is right to be pushed by people, in the name of loving them, is neither loving nor Christ honoring.

The blasphemy that occurred at the Olympic’s Opening Ceremony directly results from this idolatry.

Eric Metaxes, in his book Bonhoeffer, outlines the appeals that Bonhoeffer made to the German Church to speak out against the evils of the Hitler regime while they could. The Church wanted to play nice. They did not want to suffer ridicule from the people. The Church woke up a little too late to speak out, and the atrocities worsened.

“All things work together for good…” – Romans 8:28

I think God will use this time to wake up His people. Too many sit, thinking they are good, when they are lukewarm. If they do not wake up, and I’m afraid time is short to do so, they will succumb to the evil they allowed to infiltrate our society.

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless.
Not to speak is to speak.
Not to act is to act.” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Too many Christians feel like the sins of others are not their problem, thinking God will sort it out. What if God wants you to share the truth with them? If not you, who? It cannot always be someone else’s problem, because then no one will tell them and they may not know it is wrong until it is too late. If you love, you do not hide the truth. The devil is cheering you on when you do nothing.

There are those who will say “You’re being political. You’re being divisive.” Do you think people felt differently in the time of William Wilburforce? Do you think people wanted him pushing back against owning others? It was his faith in Jesus that led him to take a stand against the slave trade. They hated him for it. We can see now he was correct and we applaud his stance.

“There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, ‘Mine!’” – Abraham Kuyper

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” – Matthew 28:19-20

Our witness will necessarily move into every sphere of our life, every inch of existence. Did Christ say go and make disciples of those that are easy to talk to? To those that believe as I do? To those who already come to church? No. We are to take His truth to all we encounter. This will naturally spill into government, promoting inalienable rights, speaking out against those who want office to enact immoral values, boycotting businesses that go against God’s morality, speaking out against evil, but also talking the gospel to the person you just met on the street.

People who stay silent show the world that their God is just another identity, and not even a powerful one because they refuse to stick their neck out for their cause. The world’s evil is not afraid to push what they believe, so why are we afraid? What is the worst that can happen? If you die, you don’t really die.

“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” – Mark 8:35