Have you ever stopped to think about the groups of folks that are in the minority with their opinions? They are heard and often heeded because they stood up and voiced their beliefs. Basically, they made noise until they won.
Christianity spreads when we open our mouths for Jesus. It contracts when we don’t. Where do you stand?
Society teaches us that we should be politically correct. To be politically correct seems to mean that people are to be tolerant of the wishes of others unless those wishes come from Christians. Christians seem to be the folks with the least amount of rights.
Years ago, books about nontraditional relationships were put into grammar grades. Yet, the Bible – a book about traditional relationships and values – had already been taken out. Think about it. Some people are not tolerant of having God in the school, but yet, Christians are supposed to be tolerant of taking God out of the schools.
Interestingly enough, there are or were at the time more of us who wanted God in the schools or at least did not object than those that wanted Him out.
We live in a truly upside down world. Tolerance means that we will tolerate people doing their thing, not that we will give up what we are doing. That is not tolerance, nor is it compromise. We have suffered because we have been somewhat silent.
Christians have been silent way too long. We need to be more visible. If we continue to sit silently by we will watch our freedoms go quietly into that good night. Somehow, I am not so sure that if that happens the other side will ever again be tolerant of us.
How many times have you at work, in organizations, or in other activities heard folks try to bully others – maybe even you – into silence? How many times have you heard phrases that indicate that you should be more inclusive in what you say or do when you reference Jesus? I have heard it. It makes me cringe to think that I am being asked to put God in second place to man.
If you decide to be more inclusive by hiding your faith, you will slowly see your rights slip away as Christianity contracts instead of spreading. We are one body. We must stand up for Jesus together and confess Him before men. We must be more visible, but more than anything else, we must not deny our Lord.
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Matthew 10:32-33
LIFE APPLICATION
Today’s challenge is to ask God to help you be a little more visible. Be a little bolder. Stand up for Jesus. Don’t back down. Remember that God is our God. Resist being a man pleaser, and go ahead and spread the gospel. You never know who God may use you to reach for Him, and how that witness may go forward to reach others. Change the world by winning one person at a time for the Lord. Reach out and keep reaching out. Ignore the ignorance of the world that would have you to do otherwise.