So Do I Just Not Speak?

In a previous post I wrote about the false sense of persecution that many Christians seem to have. I received a nice little nudge for clarity from a friend of mine over on Google+, check out our conversation:

I really appreciate Jeremy's question. As I mentioned to him, I don't want to be throwing any babies out with the bathwater. So how do we as Christians respond to things that we disagree with in the public sphere? Do we simply sit on our hands? Do we balance every negative thing we say with something positive? What should our engagement look like?

Not very long ago, it was my practice to press against every single error that I saw in the world. I felt as though I needed to speak out against all things anti-Christian. I am sure to many of my friends and family member I was insufferable.

Then something changed; I realized that I was making lots of noise.  While important, I was arguing hard against issues not as important as other things. It was during a time I was studying the book of Colossians in depth God began opening my eyes to some of these areas in my life.

Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth, for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

-- The Apostle Paul   Colossians 3:1-3

I read this passage, and read this passage, and read this passage again. I was struck by the simplicity and clarity of what Paul was trying to get at. He wants our very identities to be transformed so we would get our heads and hearts set on things that matter most.

Through my time with Colossians, my heart was changed. Trying to change someone else's errors was not what I wad convicted to focus on. It became clear the primary thing God was calling me to do was to positively state the beauty and truth of Jesus.

This means there will be times when we, as followers of Jesus, must necessarily make a stand against evil and injustice. Jesus stood up against such things and challenged the status quo of his time. Paul pressed against issues of injustice in his letter to Philemon. The gospel, by its very nature, puts us into conflict with injustice, hatred, and evil. It is itself offensive. We don't need to help it.

So do I just not speak? By no means!  Let's just be judicious in the things that we speak against. Let's be wise in the way we act toward non-Christians; let's not play the victim card. We are not victims. Let's focus on the things that are above.