In today’s day and age, especially here in the United States, there appears to be a growing group of leaders and people of great influence, who wish to suppress the Christian voice. We see it happening in the type of laws which are being passed or are trying to be passed in our government. We can also see it taking place in the significant effort being made to silence Christians in social media sector of our society. And we can definitely feel the pressure on Christian Churches to adhere to the beliefs and teachings which are moving America’s culture toward an anti-Christian mindset and worldly direction.
For those of us, who are a part of the Christian community, there is the reality of societal resistant and persecution that we must plan on addressing and dealing with. At some point, even if we have not yet been confronted with the negative push back and resentment, we are all going to have to make a firm stand in the name of Jesus. To not do so is to allow ourselves to be silenced and forced to conform to the mentality of a misguided and destructive system.
In Acts 4 we read about the episode of Peter and John being arrested and jailed for preaching the message of the Gospel. These two faithful men of God were brought before the Council and were chastised for speaking of the risen Christ in the Temple square. They were commanded to keep quiet and not talk or teach about their resurrected Savior. Thus, Peter and John had a choice to make concerning such a request.
What was their response to the command of the Jewish hierarchy? “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” I would venture to say, and wouldn’t you also, that this was a pretty straight forward answer? Now, I am not promoting the ideals of an outright rebellion of sorts, yet you and I are called by the Lord to be confident in our profession of faith as Jesus’ disciples.
We do have a choice on whether to stand up against these kinds of demands, but in God’s eyes there is only one right decision.
Let us learn from Peter, Paul, and all the other faithful saints who have taken a bold stand in the name of Jesus. God has and will forever honor the faithfulness and fortitude of His people. When you think about it dear friends in Christ, it really isn’t a matter of choice is it? Pastor McCarty
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