Breaking the Silence

“Why is it that the people you love most are the ones with whom you have the greatest difficulty in talking to about spiritual matters? I reconciled this by believing that if I could help bring total strangers to know Jesus Christ, then one day someone might do the same thing for my own family—the ‘what goes around, comes around’ principle.” 

 Rotor in the Green Chapter 17

When I wrote the above for Rotor in the Green I had only been a Christian for about 12 months. I was so excited about the gift of Salvation I received when I became a believer in Jesus Christ that I wanted to shout it from the roof tops. I was very disillusioned therefore when even my own family didn’t seem interested in what I tried to tell them about preparing for the afterlife.

Since that time 13 years ago I met Suzanne and together we brought  a number of people to know Christ, and set many more upon the path to knowing Him, 8,000km away in China. But the prospect of raising the issue with our children is no less daunting.

So what is it that makes the task of sharing our faith with unbelievers, family or otherwise, so difficult? Following are selected excerpts from a booklet titled How Can I Break The Silence? produced by RBC Ministries in their Discovery Series.   

Introduction by Martin R. De Haan II:

 “Why is it so hard to say those first few words about the most important Person in my life? Why do I hesitate to pass along the best news I have ever heard? Is there anything that will help me to do the very thing I want so much to do – to tell others that I have found a way of surviving death, living forever, being forgiven of my sins, and exploring the goodness of God forever?"

With a desire to answer such troubling questions, senior research editor Hern Van Lugt has written this booklet. It reflects the wisdom of a man who understands the tension between the message that must be told and the silence that must first be broken (my emphasis). 

Sounds and Silence

In many ways the church is not silent. The sounds of well-amplified music echo through its halls. Impassioned sermons fill the sanctuary. Laughter and conversation flow into the parking lot. Yet, in the midst of all these sounds, there is a disturbing silence. John Stott calls it “our guilty silence”.

All too often, those of us who have so much to say to one another have little to say to those who desperately need what we have. Furthermore, we expect them to come to us when we should be going to them... 

(…in Corinth during the first century). Most of the people who turned to the Lord were what we would call low-class. They were predominately uneducated, poor, and socially unattractive (1 Cor. 1:26-31). They met the moral requirements of Christ who said that He didn’t come to rescue good people; He came to save sinners (Mt. 9:13). 

By that standard the Corinthians were well-qualified. Their ranks included people who had been known as fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, and thieves before finding forgiveness and life in Christ (1 Cor. 6:9-11). 

The sad truth is that all too often we are not carrying on that pattern of reaching the downtrodden with the good news of Christ. In fact, we fail to reach either the rich or the poor, the educated or the uneducated. While enjoying one another, we are not reaching those who still are as we once were – without Christ. If so this is “our guilty silence”.

The full article can be viewed at http://www.rbc.org/bible-study/discovery-series/bookletDetail.aspx?id=48276

08Sep09