Silent as a Corpse

On a recent week-end when the weather was bitterly cold, I stopped by Blockbuster to rent a DVD for my wife and me. As you can imagine, our choices are always limited because we don't care for movies that depict sexual immorality as beautiful or helpful, and we reject movies that are laden with profanity. So I read DVD cases carefully and look for good reviews by critics I have learned to appreciate.

A DVD called Constantine's Cross caught my eye. I'd never heard of it, so I glanced at the cover to look for critical reviews. To my surprise, there were several excerpts of lavish adulation, all of them by "big name" writers. Expectantly, I flipped the carton to read the plot synopsis on the back. Is this a thriller? Is it an historical mystery? Nope, it's a documentary that explores bloody atrocities committed by the Christian church during the age of Constantine! The film suggests that Constantine's cross was really a sword. In an age when radical Muslims are hacking off heads and blowing up innocents worldwide, what is the relevance of isolated violence by Christians 1700 years ago?

It occurred to me: The more silent and passive we Christians become, the more aggressive and intolerant our secular world becomes!

In the 1960's they called us "hypocrites" because we were not morally perfect, so we agreed to stop talking about morality. In the 70's, they criticized our "confrontational" evangelism, so we stepped back and agreed to share our faith only "in relationships." With the arrival of the 80's came the charge that our worship was irrelevant to truly searching people. So we shrouded Jesus in robe of pop psychology, and began to talk about sex, success, and personal peace. Then the 90's arrived and we were warned that all public faith is offensive, so we must keep our spiritual thoughts to ourselves. We agreed, of course. We don't want to offend anyone, after all.

These days Christians hide their faith in quiet anonymity, so the message has evolved: Christianity is dangerous- it's violent, barbaric, hateful and discriminatory. Best selling books insist that Christianity must be condemned and eradicated.

This has all served to suddenly "radicalize" me. I'm not offended. I'm not angry. And I'm not discouraged. I have simply awakened to the fact that the World does not really want to silence the church: the system wants to destroy the church! It always has. And my friends and I have been silent collaborators. The American church is just about as silent as a corpse.

My new attitude is "Never Again." Never again will I stand by in silence while people are being swept away to destruction. I will be much more intentional in finding ways to inject my Lord, my faith, my experience, my church into commonplace conversations. If offending people is about being rude, insensitive, or hostile in my attitudes, I never want to offend. But if "offensive" means lovingly sharing ideas with which some disagree, Jesus Christ was the most offensive person in history. So I'm with Him. The Samaritan Woman should have sued! But amazingly, she got saved.

If you're ready to take the pledge, share your thoughts........