What Time Is It?
A Time To Be Silent And A Time To Speak (Ecc. 3:7)
Silence is not always golden, sometimes it is immoral or unethical to remain silent. Conversely, there are times when you speak up and later realize you should have remained silent. For the Christian committed to following God and godly values, navigating life’s evolving corruption has its challenges.
Jesus described Christians as the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16). The two characteristics of salt are flavor and preserving. Salt enhances and draws out the natural flavor of foods. Christian character makes life taste better and truly enhances the quality of one’s life while benefiting others as well. Salt as a preservative destroys corrupt micro bacteria when applied or injected into meat. Salty Christians help destroy societal corruption by standing up for what is right and calling out the evil of this dark world. God’s message is to repent, come to Christ, and turn from your wicked ways.
Jesus warned that Christians must not lose their saltiness. Such loss happens when we lead lives of compromise, rationalize ungodliness, and attempt to mix in the corruption of ungodly philosophies as though God approves of such things—He does not. Drinking from the polluted waters of this world will dilute a Christian’s saltiness to the point they are ineffective and useless. A compromising Christian is often a silent Christian. It is always wrong to stay silent and allow evil to prosper.
Jesus also described His followers as shining lights that bring glory to God. To shine we must be filled with the true light that has come into the world, Christ. It is not enough to just believe in God, we must actively do the will of the Father. We are not spectators but advocates, ambassadors, and witnesses for God. We shine by doing what is right, by saying what is right, and by speaking the message of Christ to a dark and lost world. Remaining silent is not an option.
If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them. (James 4:17)
There is a dreadful silence in the church today both in the pulpit and the pew. It seems there are few still willing to preach and teach the whole counsel of God but are highly selective in what they preach and teach. Christians must not remain silent while friends, family, and others are seduced by the lies of darkness. Truth must not remain silent or evil will prevail. How can we remain silent about sin, righteousness, judgment, and eternal life? How can we remain silent as ungodly politicians legalize sexual perversion, promote the continual murder of babies, sanction convenience divorces, and create excisive tax laws to support those who refuse to work? How can we keep silent while our children are taught that a little boy might just be a little girl trapped in a male body or vice versa? How can we condone a man entering the ladies’ restroom with your daughter? How can we keep silent while deceived religious leaders perform same-sex marriages while the Bible calls it an abomination?
“No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy,[g] your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy,[h] your body also is full of darkness. 35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.” (Luke 11:33-36)
Every Christian is called and empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak up and not remain silent. You are the salt and light in the room filled with decaying souls and darkened hearts.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8)
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are equipped to speak up and boldly tell this world that Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life. Stop choosing to remain silent.
We read in the Bible Acts 4:18-20 and other passages where the Apostles Peter and John were faced with threats and bodily harm if they dared to speak about Jesus. They were ordered to keep silent. Peter refused to do so and had this to say:
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
What time is it?
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