Romans 5:3-5 ESV
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”
Freedom of Speech
A lot of people are pushing for freedom of speech, but is that
all good? Yes, it is wonderful to have the freedom to share our beliefs, but if
we actually got total freedom of speech in our nations, do you know what that
might look like? I mean, freedom of speech is the right to express ANY opinions
without censorship or restraint. Is that really what we want?
What if everyone could say whatever they wanted whenever or
wherever they wanted with no restraint at all, with no rules whatsoever
governing what they say? All hell could break loose! We would have to isolate
ourselves and our children from all outside influences in order to protect our eyes
and ears and their eyes and ears from seeing and hearing the utter filth of the
world. And people could say to us whatever they wanted with no restraint.
Right now, as far as I can tell, most social media sites or
blogging sites or other discussion sites, where people can express their
opinions, thoughts, and beliefs on various subjects, have rules of etiquette
and propriety and respect. Most appear to have reasonable guidelines in order
to avoid an absolute free-for-all and utter chaos, and some sites will allow
you to set your own guidelines as far as what you want to or don’t want to see
or hear.
But what if we all had total freedom of speech with no
restraint and no censorship (no controls, no rules, no guidelines)? You see, I
think sometimes we don’t always think these things all the way through. For, it
is a lot like those who are pushing for prayer to be back in schools, but what
about those not of the Christian faith? Are we to force our beliefs on them?
No! And do we want them to force their beliefs on us? No!
What would then keep the schools from allowing any religion
to force their beliefs on the students? Would you want Satanists to have the
right to force your children to pray to Satan? We have to not be so quick to “jump
on the bandwagon” of a lot of these things that sound good, in theory, but that
could open up a whole world of evil we don’t want, in practice.
So, just saying that if we have total freedom of speech,
which sounds like a good thing, with no restraints or censorship at all, then
it could backfire on us, and we could end up with what we don’t want at all. For
a society to operate properly, there has to be rules, but the rules should be general
rules of decency and respect and not be rules that force us to have to watch,
read, and/or listen to what we object to in our own consciences.
So, freedom of speech, even though it sounds good, could be
a door wide open into increased public persecution of Christians or any group
of people whose beliefs or opinions differ from theirs. Freedom of speech,
thus, could actually increase our suffering, as people would then have the
freedom to say to us whatever they wanted, without restraint, and there would
be no rules and/or moderators to stop them from doing so.
Suffering for Our Good
But then here is another aspect of this. The Scriptures
teach us that suffering is for our good. And actually, when the church is under
persecution, historically that has actually been a good thing for their
spiritual growth and for the advancement of the gospel and for the salvation of
human lives. For when we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, it motivates
us to draw closer to our Lord and to listen to and to obey him and to want to
share the gospel with others because we know that time is short.
So, although being persecuted for righteousness’ sake is
painful, having too much freedom with no persecution at all can lead us to
spiritual apathy and laziness and to being lukewarm in our Christian faith and
practice. So, if this “freedom of speech” actually increases our persecution,
it might actually be a blessing in disguise for the American churches who have
largely gone the way of the world and who are not being the light of the world
and the salt of the earth that God called them to be.
We know that the Scriptures teach that we who follow Jesus
Christ with our lives will be persecuted, and those of us who are following the
Lord with wholehearted devotion are being persecuted, to some extent here in
America. But overall the American church has not had to suffer the kind of
persecution for their faith that the church has had to suffer in many other
nations throughout the world, but that will change, most certainly.
If we are paying attention, we can see where things are
moving, and they are not moving in the direction of what is good, but what is
evil, and so we know that Christians will soon, or in the near future, begin to
experience increased persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ here in
America. It is inevitable, because it has been moving that direction for some
time, and because the Scriptures teach that persecution will increase in these
last days, and this increased “freedom of speech” could be one of the avenues.
But, again, when this happens, we have to remember that this
is for our good, and we need to let the Lord Jesus do in our lives what he
wants to do in our lives through this persecution. In fact, we are to rejoice
in our persecution and in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces
endurance and character and true hope. And many who are living now in spiritual
adultery or apathy right now will be revived in their walks of faith.
And we need to see this persecution, as well, as God’s love
being poured out on us because discipline is for our good to grow us and to
mature us in our walks of faith and so that we will be on fire for the Lord,
and so we will be sharing the truth of the gospel with the people of the world
for their salvation. So, when persecution increases, yield your lives over to
the Lord and let the Lord do his work in your hearts and lives he wants to do
for his glory and for your spiritual maturity, and walk by faith and not by
sight.
[Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1
Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; Matt 5:10-12; Lu 21:12-19; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb
12:3-12; Jn 15:1-11]
Trust
Him
An
Original Work / August 15, 2012
Based
off Psalm 27:14
Wait for the Lord; be of courage;
Be strong and take heart today.
Do not fear when foes attack you.
Trust in God always.
He will rescue you in times
Of trouble and distress,
He’ll comfort you in all ways
As you trust Him with your life today.
Trust in Him always.
God is with you; He’ll not leave you.
You can always count on Him.
He will fulfill all He promised
Before you began.
His word teaches you
All that you need for this life.
Let Him lead you. Open your heart;
Let his truth envelope you today.
Listen and obey.
Love your Lord God; follow Jesus.
Repent of your sins today.
Make Him your Lord and your master;
Trust Him and obey.
Follow Him where’er He leads you
In His service; be His witness,
Telling others about Jesus’
Price that He did pay
For your sins always.
No comments:
Post a Comment