A man shared in tears at his brother’s funeral that he never shared his new faith with his brother because he was afraid of the backlash and the mockery. His older brother had been cruel to him as a younger brother, leaving him feeling afraid of his negativity toward his life’s decisions. But his silence now tortured him as he stood at the coffin of his own flesh and blood. Wasn’t the message of the Gospel worth the risk of mockery, or even verbal abuse? His brother went into eternity having never heard the Good News that radically changed his brother’s life.
This story resonated with me as I look at the landscape of our culture that demands nothing but soft words, and good feelings, or anger and judgment will be your pay! You may risk being canceled and even losing your job (or reputation) to speak truth today - even in the church.
God told Ezekiel, “When I (God) say to a wicked person, “You shall surely die,” and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked of their wicked ways, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand” (Ezekiel 3:18). These are strong words! We are commanded to speak truth, whether it is comfortable or not.
The Apostle Paul knew what persecution felt like, but he rose up in godly strength and delivered the message God had for the people. “For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). He takes it further and states that to share the hard truths takes discipline - it’s not easy, or comfortable…
”I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified” (1Corinthians 9:27). He knew that if he was to remain silent, God would disqualify him in his role and raise up another to do it right.
Friends, if we love others as we should, we shouldn’t be afraid to risk backlash for sharing the Words of Life. And if we believe the Scripture is the complete Truth, we shouldn’t be shy to declare it, boldly. To do otherwise makes us appear to be ashamed of our beliefs, even unsure if it’s the whole truth. In these wayward, evil days, we must be watchmen, and warn others of the deception that is ravaging our culture, and warn of God’s coming judgment of evil. It’s coming! May we stand up and be counted worthy of this role. If we shrink back, we are sadly, unworthy.
Commentaires