Speak

Peter and John, according to Acts 4, are great examples to us of two men who were not intimidated to speak out for Christ.  Empowered by the Holy Spirit, they confounded the authorities, who sought to
silence them. We can read:
18 And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.
20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."

So what have we seen and heard?  We can think about what God has done in our lives, and be motivated to speak out about it.  We can also speak out about what we have seen in the Scriptures; reliant on the Holy Spirit to give us the words to say and the boldness to speak them. We can be ready to speak truth to whoever we encounter, grounded in the Word and devoted to presenting a Biblical perspective on issues and situations.

+++++

There is a Biblical concept of reliance on the Holy Spirit to give us words to say, especially in
difficult situations. Luke 12 says this:
11 Now when they bring you to the synagogues and magistrates and authorities, do not worry about how or what you should answer, or what you should say.
12 For the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say."

When you consider the complex and sometimes uncomfortable relationship that the faith community has with President Trump, you can find a certain amount of comfort in his stated commitment to religious liberty.  At the Values Voter Summit last week, an annual event sponsored by Family Research Council, Trump said this about an executive order he issued on religious freedom on the National Day of Prayer, according to the White House website:

Among many historic steps, the executive order followed through on one of my most important campaign promises to so many of you: to prevent the horrendous Johnson Amendment from interfering with your First Amendment rights. 

That was greeted by applause. He added, "We will not allow government workers to censor sermons or target our pastors or our ministers or rabbis. These are the people we want to hear from, and they're not going to be silenced any longer."

Just this week, the Alliance Defending Freedom, according to its website, sent a letter to members of Congress on behalf of 4,000 religious leaders that ADF says are in favor of repealing the Johnson Amendment, which places limitations on what pastors are allowed to say on political issues.  Included in the letter are some results from a LifeWay Research survey.  The site states:

The LifeWay Research poll of 1,000 Protestant pastors, conducted Aug. 30 to Sept. 18, shows that 91 percent agree that “pastors should have the right to speak freely from the pulpit without the fear of being penalized by the government.” In addition, 73 percent agree that “Congress should remove the IRS’s power to penalize a church because of the content of its pastor’s sermons.” The poll has a margin of error of approximately 3.2 percent.

The letter says:

It’s time for Congress to restore a pastor’s right to free speech.

The Free Speech Fairness Act does just that. This bill stops the IRS from being speech police, and allows pastors to speak—or not speak—as their conscience requires. America’s pastors have asked for this legislative fix, and you have the opportunity to restore their First Amendment freedoms by including this bill in tax reform.

Earlier in the letter, it states:

For over sixty years, Section 501c(3) of the Tax Code (the “Johnson Amendment”) has forced churches to surrender First Amendment freedoms in exchange for a tax status and empowered federal bureaucrats to dictate what pastors may not say from their pulpits. Simply mentioning biblical issues—like the sanctity of life and marriage—too close to an election could risk intrusive IRS audits, incur steep fines, and even jeopardize a church’s tax-exempt status.

George Barna of the American Culture and Faith Institute alludes to that framework as an intimidation factor for pastors speaking out on a Biblical viewpoint on current issues.  In a 2015 article on the Institute website, he says, "The corollary information in our studies indicates that theologically conservative pastors are refusing to teach biblical principles related to current issues because they are concerned about being seen as political, not wanting to risk the loss of numbers of people or donations, and concern about the status of the church’s non-profit designation..."

His research showed that willingness to preach on social issues declined between 2014 and the 2016 election cycles.  For instance, in 2014, 63% of pastors said they had addressed or planned to address the topic of religious freedom - that was 36% in 2016.  Abortion: 48% in 2014, 26% last year.  And, immigration: 17% in 2014 and 8% in 2016 - no wonder there is confusion in the Christian community about that issue!

Barna also relates that, based on research, "A large majority of Christian conservatives are actually eager to learn and to be challenged how to think biblically about today’s issues. If they do not receive that teaching from their church, they are not likely to receive such insight at all. It certainly won’t come from the mainstream media, which is their primary source of news about the elections and the state of America. Conservative churches have a biblical mandate to teach these things but are choosing to ignore the opportunity in favor of remaining safe in their teaching and practices.”

I don't believe we as Christians are called to exit the political realm - the decisions made by our lawmakers can affect our lives and our families for bad or for good.  That is why we need to be engaged.  And, that will involve speaking up from time to time.  Addressing current issues Biblically, I don't believe, is politicizing the pulpit; rather it is being a good steward of applying the truth of the Scriptures to the times in which we live.

I also think this intimidation to speak up extends beyond our churches.  It affects the willingness of the Church to speak in the public square.  We see this in our schools, where officials misunderstand and misapply the rights of students, and even teachers and administrators.  We also see this in our military, where brave people of faith have found their freedom of expression curtailed.  Why, just recently, according to ChristianHeadlines.com, WORLD News Service reports that:

U.S. Air Force officials have suspended a decorated officer and revoked his recommendation for promotion to brigadier general because he would not sign an unofficial document affirming a retiring subordinate’s same-sex marriage.\

I think it's helpful as we examine and wrestle with our place in the culture to recognize how the Bible speaks to the issues that confront us.  We all have media sources that we turn to, but we have to be discerning in what we allow to influence us.  We can rely on the direction of the Holy Spirit to shape our views - and our responses.