• Home
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Subscribe
  • Comment Policy

Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
Home Christianity and Culture The sin of silence and what to do about it

The sin of silence and what to do about it

Posted on December 23, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 4 Comments


Yellow Star of David

Recently, a friend handed me a CD on which were written the words “The in of silence.” When he gave it to me, he informed me that it was a sermon and that I would be challenged by it. Perhaps he identified the speaker on the CD when he gave it to me. If so, I wasn’t listening well and did not catch the name. I have no idea about the identity of the speaker.

Some of the things that the speaker said made me think that the audience was made up of pastors. I assume that the speech was delivered at a pastor’s conference or some such event.

I was challenged by the speaker; it was a very powerful message. In it, the speaker built a case that unless the preachers in America start speaking out against the moral decline in our culture, they will have to face the regret of having missed an opportunity. He drew from the experience of German pastors who failed to speak out during the Nazi’s rise to power in the 1930’s.

When the systematic persecution of the Jews in Nazi Germany started happening, most of the German church remained silent and turned a blind eye to the atrocities; they committed the sin of silence.

The call to action in the message was that American pastors need to clearly present what Scripture has to say about current cultural norms without fear of what might happen. Issues such as abortion, militant homosexuality, redefinition of marriage, devaluation of marriage and the breakdown of the family should be strongly addressed. Yes! I agree with this, we need to be strong in our proclamation of what Scripture says on these topics.

Here is my concern. Too often, when Pastors have spoken out on these issues, the tone is one of unloving judgment. The message is lost or rendered ineffective behind the anger and condemnation.

I want to remind myself and my readers that we need to use Jesus as our example. In the Gospels, the only harsh words recorded as coming from Jesus were reserved for the religious leaders and those who sought material gain from religious observance. We do not see Jesus spewing words of condemnation on the people who did not know better. To them he simply proclaimed the truth while healing their diseases and meeting their physical needs.

I recently did a study of the letter to the church in Ephesus as recorded in Revelation 2:1-7. This church was doctrinally correct and did indeed speak out against the pagan culture around it. The Ephesians stood strong against those who would lead people into moral chaos. Yet, Jesus had one condemnation against that church. They had left their first love. They has allowed their love of God to decline.

While I agree that the church in America needs to step up and boldly proclaim what Scripture has to say about the moral issues of our day, we need to so so after we return to our first love.

It is possible to be morally and doctrinally correct and be spiritually dead. The world around us will not accept our morality or our doctrine until it accepts our Jesus. We need to return to him with our whole being if we really want to impact our culture. We cannot expect the world to believe our message about Jesus if we don’t live as he did. We cannot impact our culture unless we love the people as Jesus did.

We must return to our first love.


Filed Under: Christianity and Culture, Church Leadership Tagged With: silence, Sin

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

Follow Attempts at Honesty

Honesty in your Inbox

The Cross of Christ

John Stott on Jesus’ Hour

Jesus referred to an “hour” that was coming in his life and ministry. John Stott writes about what Jesus meant by this.

The Assurance of our Salvation

Martyn Lloyd-Jones again on Prayer

Life as a flawed human in a flawed world is often difficult. But, for the Christian, we have the assurance that God will see us through to the end. I don’t think it is possible to over emphasize what Paul tells us in Philippians 1:6.

There is a God

Roy Abraham Varghese on the “New Atheism”

At the foundation of the “new atheism” is the belief that there is no God, no eternal and infinite Source of all that exists. This is the key belief that needs to be established in order for most of the other arguments to work. Int is my contention here that the “new atheists,” Richard Dawkins, […]

Barnhouse Romans Commentary

Barnhouse on the Love of God

But we must not be confused into thinking that God is love apart from any other attribute. In fact, if you say that God is love without realizing that God is hate of sin, you have no gospel at all because you do not have God.

Intentional

Intentional about Grace

The Church of Jesus Christ should be the most gracious place on the planet but often it is not. If we are not consistently preaching the Gospel, if we are not reinforcing our need for a savior, if we are not intentional about living under grace, then we will become what the world thinks we are.

Post Series

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
May 2023
SMTWTFS
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031 
« Apr    

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama

Copyright © 2023 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in