Ready to answer with meekness and fear

As I write this morning I am conflicted in several ways. I am part of discussion group where we are discussing "hard questions".  To be frank, it is gut wrenching for me.  Behind the hard questions are more fundamental questions. Should Christians speak out on controversial issues? If so, what do we speak, and when and how do we speak it?

By and large we live in a polarized society, a society at war with itself. Injustice abounds on all  sides, as does ignorance,  coupled with rhetoric which gives overly simplistic answers to complex questions. I have discovered that the extremes of  both sides of  the  “Christians -  non- Christian” divide,  can be as bigoted and biased as each other, with neither side making any attempt to listen. I do not regard it as insignificant that the Good Lord gave us two ears and one mouth! Unfortunately there is this tendency on all sides to  stereotype and dismiss  the "other side" attributing to them the shallow answers that the stereotype suggests.  Stereotypical positions are not the only ones that can be held!  I have been attacked for holding views that in fact and reality,  I do not hold. But I was not believed when I denied that I held them. The problem was that when I was seen not to be 100% in agreement with what was being said, I was placed in a box that really does not represent my views.

 But is it oh so easy to become consumed by the issues,  to see the injustices, misunderstandings and  misrepresentations on one side, but not the other.  And who is immune to this?  I understand well the Prophet Isaiah when he said “I am a man of unclean lips, and I live in the midst of a people of unclean lips” (Isaiah 6:5).  I find it real easy to display humility to those who are humble, but the true test comes in the presence of unjust, untrue, derisive and  dismissive accusations.  On such occasions I need to be reminded of the admonition to “Always be ready to give an answer, to anyone who asks, with meekness and fear” (I Peter 3:15).  Meekness and fear do not come naturally to a Yorkshire born Englishman (now Canadian).  I need His help here to love others, and to treat them as I want to be treated,  rather than as I am treated.

The pressure to be silent is enormous.   But the issues are  on my heart, and I do believe  that we have  been silent for far too long. On the other hand  we Christians have often spoken out in self righteousness coupled with condemnation, and this is wrong, wrong,  wrong.  I am seeking as much as it within me to speak in the spirit of Jesus who addressing the woman caught in the very act of adultery said “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more (John 8:11)”.  But I have also found that when one tries to take a middle and balance ground, one is usually “sat upon” by both side of the particular great divide you are seeking to address.  Into this I hear Jesus again saying “Blessed are the peace makers”.

So to speak or not to speak then, that is the question.  Or more precisely what to speak and what not to speak, and how to speak and how not to,  and when to speak and when not to speak. These are the questions that are gut wrenching for me. You cannot be a peace maker if you remain silent, and you will not escape criticism if you do not.  The verses that comfort me this  morning are Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7B “There is a time and a season for all things, ... , a time to keep silence, and a time to speak”.   Perhaps a modern translation would be a time to blog and a time not to blog. I have slowed down in the number of posts not because I do not have things on my heart, but because I do,  but  I am still wrestling with them. I do not want to do what I am accusing others of doing, giving pat and shallow answers to complex questions.  I do not want to speak without compassion or without understanding  both sides of the issues (Ephesians 4:15, Proverbs 4:7).