As I was studying this week, I read a verse that stood out to me more than any other. It was as if God was speaking into the state of our world today, though it was written thousands of years ago.
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV
We are in the midst of a spiritual war where Christ has already taken victory. The problem is that until the return of Jesus, the enemy is still working to deceive the entire population of this world. Believers and non-believers alike are susceptible to the lies of the enemy. Even as I sit here writing, I can not help but hear the conversation between people who have listened to the lies of the enemy for so long that they believe they are the only truth.
What are we to do in a world that cannot see the light of the gospel? The glory of Christ should be evident in our every action, but when the world is blinded to His light they will not see Him through those actions. To preach the gospel through nothing other than our actions is not actually preaching the gospel. Whoever has ears, let them hear. Those words are in the New Testament fifteen times (Matthew 11:15, 13:9, 13:43; Mark 4:9, 4:23; Luke 8:8, 14:35; Revelation 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:29, 3:6, 3:13, 3:22, 13:9), and there are additional verses that are very similar. We cannot depend on our actions to change the world without speaking the Truth in Grace.
The conversation happening beside me is relaxed enough that they have involved me to a certain degree. It started with an interest in my drink because it is different from anything they had ever seen. For the record, it is just a loose leaf tea in a tea bag, but they are coffee drinkers. We talked about the typography of a restaurant a few doors down from the coffee shop where we are as well as how their kids are picky eaters and mine will eat just about anything.
As their conversation continued on without me, I noticed the common thread of a lifestyle that I do not agree with. I chose to keep my mouth shut. The thoughts I had would not have been seen as a reflection of the love of Christ. There is an inherent problem with hot-button topics that have gone as far as causing division in the church. Nearly any conversation between people with opposing stances turns into nothing more than an endless debate that is viewed as hateful from either side of the conversation.
Our directive from Jesus is to make disciples, not to push people further from Him by arguing about whether something is a sin or not. If discipleship happens through relationships, and all of our relationships are within the church, how can we make new disciples? I chose not to bring up the church or what I do with the people sitting next to me. If I happen to see them at this coffee shop again, maybe our conversation will develop beyond the intricacies of my tea and the eating habits of our kids.
I know a few people who would have handled this situation differently, and they may have made a huge difference in the spiritual life of the people next me. They would likely tell me how The Spirit led them to pray for something specific with them. Sometimes The Spirit does tell us to remain silent. If God knew each of us before we were even conceived, He surely knows when someone is ready to hear the Gospel. Now that they have left, I feel disappointed that I did not at least share with them who I am, but I know that God will bring those moments in His own perfect timing as long as I remain open to hearing The Spirit.
I pray that He gives me the confidence to share the light of the gospel when I do hear The Spirit telling me to open my mouth. And I pray that when that time comes, any words I might speak that are not of Him will fall on deaf ears so that only His Word is heard.
