“Our once great western Christian civilization is dying. If this matters to followers of Jesus Christ, then we must set aside our denominational differences and work together to strengthen the things that remain and reclaim what has been lost. Evangelicals and Catholics must stand together to re-establish that former Christian culture and moral consensus. We have the numbers and the organization but the question is this: Do we have the will to win this present spiritual battle for Jesus Christ against secularism? Will we prayerfully and cooperatively work toward a new Christian spiritual revival ― or will we choose to hunker down in our churches and denominationalisms and watch everything sink into the spiritual and moral abyss of a New Dark Age?” - Mark Davis Pickup

Tuesday, August 14, 2018

WE WERE NOT SAVED TO BE SILENT

We were not saved to be silent. Christ wants us to take the Good News to the world. He said:

 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the ends of the age."[1] 

 In another place, Christ said that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name. He said we are witnesses to these things.[2] I was not saved to be silent and if you have met the risen Christ and given your heart to Him, then you know the hope and joy that He offers. You were not saved to be silent. 
Not only that, Christ also said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."[3] Elsewhere we read Saint Paul's words of encouragement to fellow-Christians: "And may the Lord make you increase in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you.[4] [My emphasis added]

 If Christ told his disciples to take the Good News to all nations, then surely that also includes our next door neighbor and our own communities. We were not saved to be silent. Our secular culture demands that we keep our faith private, that we 'don't shove our faith down their throats.' It is not Christians shoving our faith down their throats, secularism is being shoved down our throats. Who shall we obey: the secularists or Jesus Christ? 

 As I write these words, my teenage granddaughter and grandson are
witnessing to people in the poorest areas of a major Canadian city. They are bold yet tender; their faith is alive and joyful; they want others to know the same life and joy in Christ. They are not only witnessing to addicts and prostitutes and other broken people living in the inner city, they are witnessing to their grandfather. If they can travel a thousand miles to take Christ's Great Commission to the world around them, then surely I can take the Gospel to my comfortable, tidy and well-tended street and community. 

 The young teach the old.

MDP
_________________
Notes:
[1] Matthew 28.19-20.
[2] Luke 24.47-48. Cf Acts 1.8.
[3] John 13.34-35. cf. 1Thessalonians 4.9
[4] 1Thessalonians 3.12.
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