Christians, It's Time to Speak Out What We Believe

Love can't stay silent.

That was the focus of Audacity, a movie put out by Ray Comfort, who goes to the city streets of California and talks to people about Jesus. In this particular movie, a young man has a nightmare that leads to a lesbian couple who die because he didn't warn them of an oncoming danger. He then goes to the Bible to search for answers to find out how he can witness to homosexuals. In the end, we find that true love is not letting someone die in their sin, but speaking out in love what the Bible says about their sin.

"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

 -John 13:35

Love does not just sit by and do nothing while a friend is in eternal danger. No, love speaks the truth. Ephesians 4:15 says, "...we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church."

Christians, we cannot sit back and let our friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors just go by with their life, thinking they are okay living in sin. We have to warn them of their grave danger if they do not repent and accept Jesus Christ into their hearts. 

The biggest thing holding us back is FEAR. We fear that these people will not accept us, that they will reject us. We are afraid of what they will say. We are afraid that we will not say the right thing. 

But we need to shake this fear off, because fear comes from Satan. The thing is, he does not want us to witness to these people, because he wants these people to suffer with him eternally. 

I don't know about you, but I sure don't want anyone to go to live in eternal suffering. I mean, I can't even stand the thought of someone I know going to Hell when they die. It's a tough pill to swallow. But we have to think about these things. We have to have an urgency about it, because we never know what tomorrow will bring. Life is fleeting. 

So how do we build up the courage to speak out what we believe? 

Well, first of all, we have to know what we believe and why we believe it. We need to be prepared to give an answer.  "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander." - 1 Peter 3:15-16 

Second, we need to study the Bible and pray. Find out what the Word says about a specific topic, and ask God how to speak to others. He will give us the right words to say what He wants us to say. 

One of my biggest fears is that someone will ask a question I really don't know how to answer. It's okay to not know everything. We should not act like know-it-alls, because people are normally turned off by this. It's okay to say "I don't know." People want honesty, not fakes. What we can do is say, "Why don't we pray or read about that together?" 

Christians, it's time to speak out what we believe. There are so many people dying each day, and we can't just sit here and do nothing. We have to witness to people. "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?" -James 2:14

Our purpose on this earth is to witness to others. Even if we ourselves do not see the salvation of others, at least we warned them. God will do the rest. We just have to trust Him and pray for them. 

So let's speak out.  Let's speak out with a boldness and an urgency. Let's speak out in love. Because love can't stay silent.