A sidebar to the current health care controversy raging in this country is the unprecedented outburst of a U. S. Congressman who called the President of the United States a liar during his address to a joint session of Congress. This Congressman has been roundly criticized for voicing his view publicly and, as a result, not only faces sanctions by his Congressional colleagues for his actions but also may lose his bid for reelection to his House seat because of it. Oddly, few have readily addressed whether or not this Congressman's assertion is true, only that he had the nerve to speak his mind aloud. I wonder how many others in that audience thought the same thing but chose to ignore their conscience and keep silent out of fear of embarrassment or reprisal? Likewise, how many times do we as Christians keep silent in the face of what we know to be lies about and assaults against our faith? And how often do we fail in our responsibility as followers of Christ to speak truth to power?
Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. He addressed sin openly and directly with those who were sinning. The Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes were the power brokers of his day. He called them out for their phony religiosity and legalism; and because of it, they were determined to shut him up. But Jesus was a God-sent messenger who would not be silenced. In fact, he responded to his critics by announcing: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, and to set at liberty those who are oppressed (Luke 4:18 NKJ)."
With Jesus' departure from the scene, the anointing to do God's work now rests upon the shoulders of the people of God. It is the responsibility of every Christian to carry on this mission. We are not to keep silent on the issues of the the day like abortion, sex education in the schools, corruption in government, crime in the streets, poverty, homelessness, homosexuality and immorality. And we must not neglect or be afraid to police our own house -- even the church. As Christians, if we don't speak up, if we don't promote this gospel to the poor, the brokenhearted, the captives, the blind, the oppressed and sinners, then it must also be said of us, "You lie."
Excellent and insightful as usual. I sometimes have the opportunity to speak to a person about God and the true mission of Jesus especially as it relates to saving them/us/me from the life- path they/we/I have chosen. I usually start with remindign them that Jesus came into this world to save them from sin, even from themselves usually -and that thru Christ, they can be reconciled back to the father who loves them "especially". Last week, I had an opportunity to disucss the old testament and the new testament and clear up a few "myths" but nevertheless, you are correct we must each tell the truth and not lie or stand-by when lies are told about out faith our God and our salvation. I just love the way you have with words. Keep telling the truth!
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