The Church's Inside Voice

My dad and I went to the Navy vs Wake Forest football game on Saturday afternoon courtesy of a friend of my dad's. We sat in the Captain's BBQ at a table with two couples whom we didn't know and struck up a conversation. Initially the conversation was about rugby, as one of the guys had a rugby emblem on his shirt. It wasn't too long before our accent was noticed and the conversation switched to us and why we were here and how beautiful Ireland is, yada, yada, yada. However, only a little while into that discussion and a question came that threw me a little bit.

One of the ladies asked me if there was a rise in Islam in the United Kingdom and Ireland. She followed that up with a question basically asking what my thoughts were on how to combat that rise. This was interesting for me because the latest research that I heard suggested that Islam was the fastest growing religion in the UK and that mainly it was the presence of absolute right and wrong within Islam that was attracting people. I brought this idea out and she was intrigued. I decided that I had pushed the boat out far enough now that it was either jump right in or fall in the water. I jumped.

"You need to go back to Abraham," I said, and then I retold the story of Abram, Ishmael and Isaac and talked about the son of the promise. Within about 30 seconds I was retelling my previous Sunday School lessons and explaining the animosity between Islam and Christianity to 4 strangers. I added in my thoughts that the church needed to stand up and present the absolute truths contained in the bible. One couple were all over it, the other were a little less excited but listened along.

At one point one of the gentlemen asked me if I had ever thought of becoming a priest. I laughed. Those few moments discussing the truth with a couple of strangers were the best few moments of conversation I have had in a long time. It was obvious that they understood and even knew the truth of the gospel, but still to have the chance to discuss these things was fantastic.

You know, it occurred to me that at this time for the church to speak the truth will, in some instances here in the US, be deemed a hate crime and punishable by jail-time. Should we therefore hold back the truth or only speak it in times when we know we are safe? I don't think so. As I spoke with these dear people I realised that this is the time when the church should rise up and bring the truth. This is a time when the church should be determining the absolute boundaries of life - based upon God's will and His Word.

I realised that this is definitely a time for the inside voice to come out.