Last week as our nation was participating in the midterm elections, my writing class was reading and discussing Harriet Beecher Stowe’s book, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. You may think these two things have nothing in common, but stick with me for a bit and let me unpack it.
Many of the issues on our ballots were a direct result of the Dobbs decision by the U.S. Supreme Court which overturned Roe v. Wade and gave the authority on the issue of abortion back to the states. And many of those ballot issues did not go the way we had hoped. Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin in response to the Fugitive Slave Act, which gave Southerners the right to pursue their escaped slaves and prohibited assistance to runaway slaves by those in the North. Her motivation for writing this novel was political. She understood that the law was not set in stone.
I don’t want to go into a full-blown literature lesson here, but I do want to give you some context on Stowe’s novel. Many scholars attribute the abolition of slavery at least in part to the influence of Uncle Tom’s Cabin (making it ironic that it is a book banned in most government schools for issues of racism). In fact, there is a commonly accepted anecdote, unproven as it may be, that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the White House shortly after the Emancipation Proclamation had been announced, he greeted her with, “So you are the little woman who made the great war.” While Stowe’s book sold 300,000 copies in its first year, and its sales were rivaled only by those of the Bible at that time, it is estimated that ten times that many people actually read the novel in the U.S. alone. Stowe brought the issue of slavery into living rooms, parlors, and even coaches and train cars. Is there anything we can learn from her book in our fight against abortion and the states that want to make it a “right”?
If you want to know more details about how Uncle Tom’s Cabin was instrumental in abolishing slavery and all of the positive and negative repercussions Stowe faced, I encourage you to do a little research. It really is fascinating, but it is not the point of this post. What I want to focus on is what Stowe included in her book that made it so effective.
Faith Should Drive Politics
First, Stowe allowed her faith to inform her worldview and, by extension, her politics. She didn’t shy away from bringing faith into the discussion. So many Christians today think we must separate our politics from our faith, and since abortion is a political issue, it must be discussed without bringing up the Bible.
My first response to this argument is that abortion is not a political issue; it is a worldview issue. And furthermore, our politics should always flow from our faith because our faith shapes our worldview and our worldview dictates how we live our lives. This includes how we vote and what causes we support. We should not be afraid to bring faith into the conversation.
Scripture tells us in Romans 1 that we know the truth, yet in our arrogance, we suppress the truth. The more we expose people to the truth, the harder they have to work to suppress it. So keep speaking the truth!
As Allie Stuckey often points out, science can tell us when life begins, but it can’t tell us why life matters. If we depend solely on secular science, we will be missing that important piece. Our faith tells us why life matters: because every person, even the baby in the womb, is made in the image of God. Without this worldview underpinning our position, we can’t explain why that baby’s life is important.
Put Flesh on the Issue of Abortion
No matter how far north Stowe’s readers lived, she brought slavery into their living rooms. It was easier for people to talk about the slaves when they didn’t know their names and their stories, when they couldn’t picture their faces and feel their sorrows. Stowe drew her readers into the lives of the slaves so they could see first hand what slavery was really like.
We can do the same thing with abortion. We need to stop using euphemisms, and start calling it what it is: murder. We even need to stop using the word abortion because that word doesn’t truly communicate the atrocity of slaughtering a pre-born baby. We need to put flesh on the issue of abortion by speaking truth, yes, even graphic truth, instead of trying to make people comfortable with the conversation. It is not “reproductive healthcare,” “fetal tissue,” or a “clump of cells.” It is a developing human, who, in most cases, is being murdered for convenience.
There were those who knew they would personally never own a slave, but they didn’t think it was their place to interfere with the economy and workings of a plantation. Once they saw flesh on the issue of slavery, they could no longer distance themselves from the discussion. The same is true with abortion. The idea that you can be personally pro-life but politically pro-choice goes right out the window when you see flesh on the issue of abortion. You begin to realize that even in those extreme situations of rape or incest, it isn’t the baby’s price to pay. That isn’t justice.
There were also slave owners who read Stowe’s book, and through her description, recognized the wickedness of which they were taking part. At the end of the novel, spoiler alert, George Shelby frees his slaves, offers to educate them, and starts paying them wages if they want to stay on his plantation. He repents of the belief that one human can own another human. In much the same way, a woman who has had an abortion, when confronted with the severity of her sin, can repent and be made new thanks to Christ’s payment for her sins. If she never accepts the full weight of her sin, she can never truly repent and be forgiven. Yes, we can be gentle and loving, but we must remember that it is a gift to speak truth to those who are suffering and dying in their sin!
Paint a Picture
Stowe’s readers could no longer find any virtue in slavery. Even the kindest slave owners did not hit the mark. If you’ve read the novel, you know that Tom’s owner, Mr. Shelby, whom Tom had known since Shelby was a boy, planned to free him and had made this known to Tom. That was his plan, that is until he fell on hard financial times. Suddenly, the reader understood that there was no true loyalty, no matter how far back they went. Once his owner sold him, Tom was at the mercy of several different owners with varying degrees of treatment. Through her writing, Stowe forced her readers to pick a side, and they did so fully informed of the barbarity slaves experienced.
Perhaps a novel is not the ideal way to communicate the atrocities of abortion to our current society. Unfortunately, I fear most wouldn’t make it through a very long novel like Stowe’s novel. But there are ways we can paint the picture for them: social media posts or graphics, descriptions of abortions, or even a video of an abortion itself. Statistics prove that women who see their pre-born baby on an ultrasound are less likely to kill the baby, so even showing ultrasound videos where the baby is wiggling or kicking can be wildly effective in convincing someone of the humanity of the pre-born. And of course, we can use our words. We can have effective conversations capable of persuading because we have truth on our side.
Remember that Stowe wrote this book in reaction to a law that was passed. That law is no longer in place. Elections come and go, and laws can come and go, too. Don’t be discouraged by laws that passed or didn’t pass during the midterm elections. While we absolutely need to take part in the political process, be informed, and exercise our right to vote, our job is to use the Gospel to change hearts. Wouldn’t it be glorious if a law became obsolete because so many hearts were changed, it was no longer needed?
There is so much more that could be said on this topic and so many other lessons we can learn from Stowe’s novel, but this is a great place to start! Don’t be afraid to speak from a biblical worldview, put flesh on the issue of baby murder, and paint a picture so people know what’s really happening. How can you start to effect change in your circle of influence?
I recently heard a Christian influencer with a large following repeat a worn out encouragement. She said conviction comes from God, but shame comes from Satan. The first time I heard this, I remember thinking it sounded great. But just because something sounds good doesn’t mean it is biblical. What is implied in this statement is, if you feel ashamed, even if it is legitimate shame over sin, it did not come from God because God doesn’t shame us.
While it is true that, once God has forgiven us, we shouldn’t keep coming back to our shame as we are known to do, it is one of the tools God uses to call sinners to repentance. Believing that any shame you feel is not from God is a lie that only serves Satan. If he can keep you believing that all shame you feel is from him, it will never drive you to repentance. The truth is Scripture gives us examples of God shaming people to draw their attention to their sin.
Examples of Shame
Jesus shamed the Pharisees when He called them white-washed tombs and brood of vipers. He was shaming them when he overturned the tables in the temple and told them they were turning His house into a den of thieves. In Ezekiel, we are told that Israel needed to be ashamed of their iniquities (43:10). In Hosea, God promised to change Israel’s glory into shame because of their sin (4:7). First Corinthians reminds us that God uses the foolish things to shame the wise and the weak things to shame the strong (1:27). And Paul tells the believers in Thessalonica that if anyone doesn’t obey the words of Scripture, they should have nothing to do with that person, “that he may be ashamed” (2 Thessalonians 3:14).
Of course, shame is not the only tool God uses. When He met the woman at the well, she had experienced enough shame, so He used compassion instead. The same is true of the woman caught in adultery. She already felt her shame, so Christ did not pile it on. But when we come across people who think they know better than God, like the Pharisees who had added rules to God’s law that oppressed God’s people, shame is the appropriate instrument.
Where there is no shame, the private becomes a spectacle, what was wrong becomes right, and what was evil becomes praiseworthy. When we look around our world today and see women wearing barely a stitch of clothing while they twerk on a public stage, or men dressed up in caricature costumes of women dancing lewdly for children, or the number of women who are choosing abortion so they can be free to live their immoral lifestyles without consequences, I would say we could use some shame!
And that is the point: we ought to be ashamed of sin. When we think we know better than God and refuse to submit to His authority, we ought to be ashamed. Paul seems to be describing our current society when he says to the Philippians, “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things” (3:19 ESV).
This same Christian influencer who repeated this belief about shame claims that while she doesn’t meet the standards of the church, she still meets God’s standards. As a result, she speaks out against the church, God’s given method for community among believers, as an oppressive institution. This sounds very close to believing she knows better than God as she seeks to destroy His church. And this is the very situation where some shame is warranted.
What Is Shame for?
Perhaps where we err when it comes to shame is not in that we don’t use this tool God gives, but that we use it wrongly. The goal of shame is not to lord it over someone in an “I am right, and you are wrong” way. It is not to pile on when that person has already recognized she ought to be ashamed. The goal of shame is to call sinners to repentance. Shame should drive us toward Jesus and His forgiveness. It should not be used as a club to hit someone over the head when she is already convinced of her guilt.
While we should be ashamed of our sin and lay it at the feet of Jesus never to pick it up again, we should not be ashamed of standing for the truth in a world that wants to bully us into complying with lies. Mark 8:38 reminds us that if we are ashamed of God, He will be ashamed of us. As long as we keep our eyes on Him, we will not be put to shame (Psalm 119:6). We should not be ashamed of suffering for the cause of Christ (1 Peter 4:16), and we should not shrink back in shame from God but abide in Him (1 John 2:28).
So, friend, how do you know if your shame is from God or Satan? Evaluate the cause of the shame. Are you ashamed because of sin? Let that shame drive you to the feet of Jesus where you can lay that sin down. Are you ashamed because you are standing alone on truth in a sea of lies? Stand boldly because that shame is not of God but of this world, and you will be rewarded. Stop letting the world tell you how God works and what He does. Turn to Scripture for truth.
Few things are as controversial in the Christian world as music—though I believe Halloween might give it a run for its money—and I will fully admit that I am a music snob. I grew up in a musical family, and both of my kids have inherited that same affinity. In college, I minored in church music. And, until recently, I have always been part of a praise team, choir, or singing specials at church. Music is in my blood.
As I have grown in discernment and increased my biblical worldview, I have had to reevaluate the types of music I will play in our home. I vividly recall listening to secular music when Mark and I were first married. I started paying attention to my mood and my expectations of people when I would listen to Christian music instead, and the results were very interesting. Music does affect us! It helps us memorize the good and the bad. It sets the tone for our environment. It can even attach itself to pleasant or hurtful memories. And often, we are unaware of the sway it has over us.
In the last few years, our family has visited many different churches, and one of the things we have noticed is the variety of song services during the churches’ worship services. We participated in services where the music was acapella. Others only sang Psalms. Others sang songs that came straight from Scripture and were unfamiliar to us. Most used the song service to “set a mood” for the upcoming sermon. One in particular seemed to just put on a show, singing songs with little to no substance and a ridiculous amount of phrase repetition. It was obvious which churches placed a high importance on the songs they sang and which ones only wanted to entertain, paying little heed to the words they were singing.
Gone are the days when we could simply trust a “Christian” label on a song. With so many false teachers infiltrating the ranks of Christianity and so much worldliness taking over the Christian music scene, it is important that we know how to evaluate music. It is easy to get caught up in the melody, the sticky lyrics, or the good “vibes” we get from the song and not recognize that we are not worshipping God at all.
Christian Music and Worship
First, it is imperative that we understand music is not evil. All throughout Scripture, we are told to worship God with Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. The longest book in the Bible, Psalms, is a book of worship songs the Jews sang as they set themselves apart from the world. David, a man after God’s own heart, was a gifted musician, called upon to soothe Saul’s spirit when he was out of sorts. And instruments are also not evil; the Bible mentions all kinds of musical instruments by name that were common during that time, lending to the assertion that we can use instruments common in our time. The Israelites were encouraged to use their instruments and their musical talents, even dancing, when they worshipped. While music and instruments can absolutely be used to draw people away from God, they can absolutely be used to draw people towards God, too. And there is nothing inherently more spiritual about an organ over a guitar. Both can be used to worship evil, and both can be used to worship God.
Besides worshipping God, there is another purpose to the song service: spiritual instruction. Our worship of God becomes deeper and more meaningful when we learn more about Him. As I mentioned earlier, music helps us memorize. That is why a song we heard on Sunday can stay with us all throughout the week. Therefore, we should be using the time during the music service to help in the spiritual growth of the congregation. This is why it is more important for a song to have doctrinal substance than a catchy tune.
Music is not the only way to worship. For some reason in our society, the “song service” and the “worship service” have become synonymous, but the song service is only a part of the worship service. The prayer, the sermon, the invitation, even the offering are ways we can worship God during the church service. And our worship is not limited to our time in church. Everything we do throughout every day of the week can be an act of worship. We can change diapers, make meals, do laundry, go to our jobs, drive down the road, play games, and sleep to the glory of God.
The Object of Our Worship
As with everything man gets his hands on, worship can be perverted. We need to evaluate the object of our worship. The music portion of the worship service in our churches is meant as a time to worship God. Unfortunately, many modern songs twist this purpose and worship “me,” “I,” and “myself” instead of worshipping God. If the song is about who I am, how God makes me feel, how I define God, or what God can do for me, then it is not worshipping God, it is worshipping me.
Not only can a song be twisted to worship self, but also it can be manipulated to simply elicit an emotional response. There are many songs that make us feel something. Maybe the music builds in a certain way as to increase our feelings of worship, causing us to close our eyes, stand spontaneously, or raise our hands. Maybe the lyrics strike a chord with us based on a particular circumstance in our lives at that time. Maybe the song lends itself to dramatic outbursts or added musical trills and runs. But, friend, we must keep our eyes on the intended object of worship! Emotional responses are fickle. Our emotions should follow our knowledge of who God is, not a fabricated, momentary feeling.
Christian Music for the Congregation
We should also consider what makes a good congregational song. If the goal of the song service is to lead the congregation to worship in unity, then the songs we choose to sing as a congregation should lend themselves to congregational singing. When there is a solo or the music leader strays from the melody, this causes confusion rather than unity in the assembly. One of the reasons hymns have been so popular throughout the years is because most of them are predictable. Even if you have never heard a particular hymn before, the melody often follows common musical patterns, so it is easy to pick up. Unlike most modern worship songs, hymns are repetitive in melody but not in lyrics. This makes them easy to learn, too. Contemporary worship songs often have difficult transitions, bridges, or vocal ranges making them more of a distraction and less conducive to congregational worship. Please don’t misunderstand me, not all hymns are good and not all contemporary choruses are bad. Each song should be evaluated independently before we choose to sing it in our churches.
The Origin of the Music
Finally, we must consider the origin of the song. Who wrote it? What affiliation do the songwriters have? What other kinds of songs do they write? The importance of these questions is two-fold. There is a practical, financial side to consider, and there is a spiritual-health-of-the-congregation side to consider.
Let’s start with the practical side. We live in a time when we value private ownership not only of property, but also of ideas. Being accused of plagiarism is no small thing, and using someone’s intellectual property without their permission is stealing. As a result, there have been checks and balances set up to ensure an artist is financially compensated when his song is played—as he should be.
Christian Music and Stewardship
We are called to be good stewards of the money God provides us, both on a individual level and as a church body. I don’t want to get into the weeds on this, but churches purchase a license to use an artists songs, and as individuals, we either purchase the song or listen to it on a membership platform like Spotify or Apple Music, all of which we pay to use. This is a way to ensure the artists are compensated each time we play or use the song. So when we play a song on one of these platforms or we sing a song in church, we are financially supporting that artist and should consider if that is good stewardship of the money God has provided.
Each church should make this decision prayerfully, but I will share my position on this. An individual artist or band who is not affiliated with a larger organization can learn and grow during a musical career, so picking and choosing individual songs that are doctrinally sound from those artists whose lifestyle and teaching align with Scripture is acceptable. Of course, if you find that they have made a statement that goes against Scripture, supporting their ministry should end until such time as they repent.
A band that is affiliated with a larger organization or ministry should be regarded with more scrutiny. When we financially support a band that is part of a church or ministry, our money may not stay simply as a support of the music portion of that organization but may be used to finance other endeavors. For example, Bethel Music is part of Bethel Church, which includes a ministry training facility. When I support Bethel Music, my money may well be used to fund the training facility. What does that organization teach? Does it align with Scripture? Would we invite that pastor to preach behind the pulpit of our church? If not, we should not be supporting that ministry with our dollars.
When we consider adding a song to our church’s music service that comes from one of these bands, we also need to look at their entire repertoire of music, not just the one song in isolation. When we look at the entirety of their work, do they only sing about those attributes of God that make us feel good, like His love, mercy, and goodness? Or do they also sing about His justice, holiness, and righteousness? Do they ever mention His wrath or His power? Just like a lie of omission (telling only part of the story) is a sin, singing only about the parts of God we like paints only half of the picture.
Christian Music and the Assembly
Perhaps we think we can still pick and choose songs that don’t meet this sniff test because that one song is just so good and the lyrics are spot on. Let’s consider the effect that could have on the spiritual well-being of the members in the assembly. One of the church members absolutely loves the song and looks it up online to find the artist. As soon as she find it, she adds it to her Spotify playlist and begins listening to it on repeat. She loves the song so much that she downloads the entire album, she goes to YouTube and searches the artist, and then she begins listening to sermons preached by the pastors in that organization. Suddenly, you have a member of your congregation falling into false beliefs which cause her to deconstruct her faith.
The music we encourage our church members to listen to is no light issue, friend! The song service should be just as concerned about the spiritual growth of the assembly as the sermon portion of the service. The music pastor should be more pastor than musician, weighing everything he brings to the congregation against the teachings of Scripture.
Conclusion
I know this is a heavy and controversial topic, and if you have read this far, I commend you! I encourage you to do the research and come to your own conclusions about the music you choose to play in your home. You may have convictions about music that your pastor or music minister don’t share. Like I said at the beginning, I consider myself a music snob and have dealt with this situation repeatedly. Prayerfully consider which aspects can be covered in love, which aspects should be addressed, and which aspects are deal breakers for you.
Ultimately, God is sovereign, and He can redeem those things the enemy intends for evil. While this is not a salvation issue, we are told in James 4:17 that it is a sin to know the right thing to do and not do it. That applies in every area of our lives, including the music we listen to and sing.
Few books have left me with so much food for thought as Rebekah Merkle’s book Eve in Exile. In this book, Merkle explains some daunting and controversial passages of Scripture in a way I haven’t heard before. She also explains how women have been the drivers of our cultural downfall and how we can drive the rebuilding of our society. Merkle is clear, concise, and even funny at times in her unpacking of difficult topics, making the book an easy and enjoyable read.
She begins the book by reminding us that freedom does not mean we live without boundaries. Her analogy of a basketball game with no hoops or lines hits home as she compares it to our society’s current inability to define what a woman is. She says, “True freedom lies in the opportunity to pursue excellence, and that opportunity is dependent on the boundaries that define and restrict the entire field of endeavor” (10). Later in the book, she adds, “[…] we can grow, mature, and change, sure. But we can’t grow past the fixed limits that He has built into our natures” (99). It is a sobering thought as we wrestle with what our purpose is as women created in the image of God.
Part 1 of the Book
The book is divided into four sections that develop the purpose of women and how and why we have gone so wrong. The first section of the book explains some of the pitfalls. Whether it is longing for a fictional era or chasing a mythical idea of fulfillment, women have been the driving force behind the downfall of our society and culture. We long for a time we have only seen in the movies, and we have distorted our God-given drive into something completely disconnected from our purpose.
Part 2
In the second section of the book, Merkle delves into the history of feminism, but she does so in a way that makes the journey very clear. Her explanation makes it obvious that we would end up where we are long before we arrived. Going back to a “simpler” time will lead us to the same place we currently stand because the seeds were sown during that “simpler” time. Merkle doesn’t get into the weeds of a purely academic history, but instead, looks at the potential and legitimate causes of the different waves of feminism. While some of her ideas are purely opinion, they make sense when you follow her logic.
Merkle describes my dilemma with feminism so well when she points out that some of the causes the feminists took up were good, but how we accomplish those outcomes matters, and a feminist is never going to get there the same way a Christian should. She reminds us that, “Trajectory matters, and the trajectory of the feminist movement has been opposed to Christianity since day one. We need to get over the fact that sometimes we happen to agree with feminists on this or that issue. Just because we occasionally agree with the what does not mean we were ever agreed on the how or the why” (92).
Looking at the outcomes of feminism we are experiencing today and the fact that more women seem to be unhappy now than ever before, we must ask if feminism will ever deliver on its promises. After documenting the statistics, Merkle summarizes, “For the last fifty years, American women have chased the rainbow and the pot of happy has not turned up” (69). She adds, “We need to figure out what went wrong—not so that we can sit around and criticize our grandmothers, but so that we can figure out how to spare our daughters” (73).
Part 3 of the Book
In the third section, Merkle takes us back to Genesis to unpack our purpose. She points out that, “Design matters. The intent of the designer matters. And we women, as God’s creatures, are designed by Him to fulfill a particular role” (98). But that role may not look like what we have been led to believe it looks like. What does the Bible say we are designed to do? What does this look like for women in our current time? As she develops the ideas presented in the passage of subduing, filling, helping, and glorifying, she explains what the biblical terminology means and draws analogies that make those meanings clear. In this section, Merkle goes to great lengths to define the biblical view of submission.
Part 4
Merkle gives examples of ways women can fulfill their purpose in the fourth section of the book. She reminds the reader that one woman’s way of fulfilling her purpose may not look like her neighbor’s way, yet they can both be obedient to their callings of womanhood. While she talks about different ways we can subdue, fill, help, and glorify, she is careful to repeat that the examples she gives are just some of the things we can do, and we can make them our own. Merkle describes women as, “[…] born translators. We take principles, abstract ideas, and then put flesh to them” (143). One analogy Merkle makes when it comes to the difference between the roles of men and women is that of music. Men are singing the melody while women are singing harmony. But feminists want all of us to be singing the same note, making the music monotone and boring (174).
In the conclusion, Merkle sets out the path to rebuild our culture. While it will look very different than the path to destruction looked, there really is nowhere to go but up from here. Ultimately, we should not seek to escape, but we should rise up to fight for our convictions as we instill them into the next generation. Merkle points out that, “God hasn’t called us to run away from the world […] Christ expects his church to launch a full scale assault on the world” (24). While I may not agree fully with her statement that, “The majority of our most pressing moral issues are the direct result of the women of this nation fighting for what they have declared to be their ‘rights,’” I can understand that there is definitely truth in it (197) because, “A wise woman is capable of building a house just as much as a foolish woman is capable of tearing one down” (202).
Draw Back to the Book
One draw back to the book is that some of the ideas presented, when followed to their logical conclusion, could lead to an attitude of arrogance or self-importance even for the godly wife. And considering that has been the crux of the entire feminist movement, it is something we should guard against. After all, isn’t it just like a sinner to take what God created as good and pervert it into selfishness and self-service?
Are we commanded to be “nice”? For too long we have allowed an unbelieving world to tell us what it looks like to be a Christian. So what does the Bible actually say about it?
One of my favorite preachers, Voddie Baucham, Jr., is known to point out that, in our society today, “There is an 11th commandment. The 11th commandment is ‘Thou shalt be nice,’ and we don’t believe the other ten.” Unfortunately, this belief has snuck into the church and given Christians an excuse not to call out sin. We are so afraid of offending that we don’t speak truth even though we know that the truth is what sets people free from their captivity to sin (John 8:31-32).
You might be thinking that the Bible tells us to be kind and to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15 & 32) so, of course, we should be nice! But loving truth does not equal watered-down truth. Biblical kindness does not mean affirming or enabling sinful behavior. When Scripture talks about unity, it doesn’t mean unity at the expense of righteousness, but unity through righteousness. While there is no excuse for rudeness, name-calling, or mocking, there is definitely a time to be blunt and direct. Tiptoeing around the truth and leaving room for misunderstanding does not meet the standards of kindness or love set forth in Scripture.
For too long, we have allowed the world to tell us what it means to be a Christian. We have allowed the world to set the rules for the church based on a worldly interpretation of Scripture. While worldly “wisdom” tells us that we shouldn’t hurt the sinner’s feelings, biblical kindness is concerned more with the sinner’s eternal destiny than temporary offense. It isn’t loving to neglect to tell someone the truth that will save his soul; in fact, it is selfish because we care more about our own temporary comfort than his eternity.
No matter where you land on the debate about election versus free will, Scripture is clear that we believe because we hear the Gospel (Romans 10:14). As Christians, it is our job to tell people the truth so they can hear it and believe. Not wanting to step on toes, not being liked, or not wanting to offend are not defensible excuses for not sharing God’s plan for His creation.
Imagine You’re on a Plane…
I want to tweak an illustration I first heard from Ray Comfort in his book, The Way of the Master. Imagine you are on a plane with several other people, and during the emergency instructions you’ve heard a million times, an announcement is added informing everyone that, at some point during the flight, the plane is going to crash. You don’t know when this is going to happen, but you know there will come a time when you will need to bail out of the plane. Because of this knowledge, you don a parachute. This is a unique parachute because you only have to put it on. When it’s time for you to jump, the parachute will do all of the work. You don’t have to pull the ripcord or even build up the courage to take the plunge. All you have to do is wear the parachute.
There are other people on the plane with you, and there is a parachute for each person, but no one else is wearing one. Maybe they didn’t hear the announcement because they tuned it out with all of the others. Maybe they think it isn’t true; it’s just the airline trying to manipulate them. Or maybe they are waiting until it’s necessary to put the parachute on.
You grow concerned for their safety and start asking them why they haven’t put their parachutes on. One woman tells you that the parachute will mess up her hair and ruin her outfit, so she doesn’t want to wear it. Her appearance and reputation are too important to her.
Another passenger points out the fabric of the parachute. It is too itchy and will be uncomfortable. It will rub him the wrong way and make him miserable. He might even end up with a rash that will make others laugh at him.
Still another passenger tells you he doesn’t need the parachute; he can save his own life if the plane goes down. After all, he spends so much time at the gym that he is strong enough to endure anything that might come his way.
The final passenger has plans for this flight. She brought some things to do, and if she puts on the parachute, it will hinder her mobility, and she won’t be able to follow through with her plans.
Everyone heard the announcement that the plane will crash, so you simply put your parachute on and hope that you can show them how much better it would be if they did the same. Perhaps they will simply learn from your example. Then you lean back, close your eyes, and pray the plane will crash soon.
Should You Be Nice?
Hopefully you can see the correlation. Can you see how, at the risk of offending one of these passengers, it is still better to share the truth with them? Your appearance and reputation aren’t worth your life. A little discomfort is a small price to pay to save your life. You can’t be strong enough to save yourself. Changing your lifestyle is worth saving your life even if it means you can’t do the things you have always done before. And simply living by example isn’t enough to show others that they need to make a change.
In the same way, we can’t keep silent about the Gospel because turning to Jesus might ruin someone’s reputation, require them to change their lifestyle, or force them to recognize they can’t save themselves. Relying on lifestyle evangelism in hopes that they will learn from our example isn’t enough, either. We don’t know when, but soon this world will come to an end, and after that, we all face an eternal destination. Hunkering down and simply waiting for it to end, repeating, “even so, come quickly, Lord,” isn’t fulfilling our responsibility.
Eternal Perspective
Everything we say and do must be done with eternity in mind. It doesn’t matter if you offend someone with the Gospel if your goal is to spend eternity right next to her in the presence of God. Affirming someone’s sinful lifestyle is actually unkind because that lifestyle will lead him to eternity apart from God. Because this life is all we know, we often forget this life is a vapor (James 4:14). The decisions I make in this life determine the course of my eternity, and that course can’t be altered at that point. We must take advantage of now!
One of the things that has become abundantly clear to me over the last few years is just how much our grip on eternity, or lack thereof, affects our daily choices and actions. It is easy to say we believe something until the rubber meets the road, and we are forced to live it out. But we will never get a grip on eternity unless we spend time with the creator of eternity. The more time you spend in the Word of God, the greater your knowledge and understanding of Who He is and how He operates. And that gives you confidence to live in light of eternity rather than fearing man.
Christian, stop allowing the world to tell you how you should behave, what you can and cannot say and do, and what the Bible means. When we take the time to read and study the Word for ourselves, we get to know God, and this gives us the courage to speak truth to this lost and dying world.
