Standing Up for What's Right!

Pastor Jeff completed the last of a 6 week series on world religions today. I think I've learned more in the last 6 weeks on other religions than I've learned in my entire lifetime! One of the things that I LOVE about Jeff is that he is so PASSIONATE about speaking Truth, that nothing holds him back from preaching what might be difficult for people to hear. In a nutshell, he doesn't hold back out of fear of offending someone. Whatever God puts on his heart, he preaches it. He's not afraid to take risks because he believes God wants His message heard and he'll stop at nothing to preach it how it is.

Today he wrapped up the second Sunday spent on Islam. There was so much information that I went to the service twice just to get it all and digest it all. So much of it sticks with me, but one important point really made an impact on me. Jeff was preaching about the difference between Radical Muslims and Moderate Muslims. Although the majority of Muslims are moderates, society tends to believe most Muslims are radicals. But, here's the key point that really hit me, Jeff put the shame on the moderates for not standing up to the radicals, after all, they are a very small population of the Muslims. Then, Jeff compared that to Christians. He pointed out that we have become so passive that we are allowing American society to silence our voices. We are a country founded on Christian beliefs yet (how appropriate for Memorial Day weekend) we are sitting silently as prayer is taken out of schools, God can't be mentioned in public arenas and the list goes on. Christians should be standing up for ourselves. Christ never backed down when He walked this earth. He preached Truth all the way to the cross.

As I pondered this all day, I began thinking about all the times I've backed down from issues because it just wasn't worth the fight. When did that become okay? Would I not stand up for Christ because it's not worth the fight? Never! So, I took this theory and applied it to other areas of my life. Should I sit silently and let my daughters' school teach them about evolution and immoral values? Absolutely not! If I don't stand up for them, who will? This got me thinking about gang activity. There are always witnesses to crimes caused by gangs, but people are so afraid to stand up and tell the truth that their silence is giving permission for gang members to continue their criminal behavior. It shouldn't be this way! After all, the gang population is much smaller than the rest of the community. If the community would just say "ENOUGH," they could put the gangs out of business. The problem is that no one wants to be that first voice. I'd be willing to bet that if one or two people stood up and said, "no more, we will not take this anymore," more and more community members would join them. It's the whole "Pack Mentality." People are too afraid to go against the group, even if they know the group is wrong because they are scared.

So, you're probably wondering where I'm going with this. After all, I started this post with a sermon on Islam and now I'm talking about gangs. My point is this, I am just as much to blame for the silencing of Christians if I don't do anything to stop it. God calls me to stand up for what is true. This is something that I have always struggled with. It's just been in the past year that I've learned to stand up and speak and not sit back and be comfortable while wrong goes on around me. The funny thing is that by doing this and not allowing fear to stop me, I've finally learned how to live in true happiness. Standing up for what is right and true, even if it's unpopular, keeps me from holding in my true feelings which leads to frustration.

I have learned this first hand. I recently stood up to a person in power because that person was being destructive. As I began to slowly voice my concerns, people began to get behind me and encourage me. But, when it came time to stand up in a more "public setting," the people that were with me, began to slowly sit down because they didn't have the courage to do what they knew was right. It was much easier and comfortable for them to stay quiet and not "ruffle any feathers." God did not put me on this earth to "go with the flow" in times of trial. He put me on this earth to preach His Word and advance His Kingdom. If that means I have to stand alone and fight a Goliath, then I will because I've got God on my side and He is bigger and stronger than anything! Praise God for that!