I have heard Christians today marvel at the craven silence of the Christians in Germany who never spoke up as 6 million Jews were slaughtered.
“How could they be silent! How evil! How terrible that they could know Jews were being dragged off in the night to be gassed, and they said nothing,” goes the indignant line of thought.
Don’t wonder about it. The instinct for self-preservation in the midst of moral wrong is alive and well, and it continues to allow rampant spiritual destruction among professing believers.
There are times when silence thunders so loudly that it hurts your ears. Christians are primarily cowards like everyone else. There are only a select few in this life who ever find the courage to speak out, even though they know that doing so will mean personal destruction. There’s a reason that names like Bonhoeffer and Neimoller are commonly known. They were two of the few with the strength of character to lose all for what was right back in Hitler’s hell.
You find out very quickly who your Christian friends are when you tell the truth in a difficult situation. Those you have known for decades and assumed were godly Christian friends will abandon you overnight if they stand to lose something by associating with you.
I detest the silence of fear. I’m tired of grown men who admit their knees were knocking so they allowed themselves to be bullied and to betray others in the process. But they stand to lose something, see? And the silence thunders while decent people lose all they have.
It’s been said before, and should be said again. Silence isn’t always golden. Sometimes, it’s just plain yellow. And God sees it.
24 comments
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May 23, 2011 at 17:24
Mrs. C
I have unashamedly shared with others, whenever a popular author or teacher is plainly mixing error with truth. And I have learned, when something makes my sisters/brothers in Christ “feel good” they are not interested in truth. They will strike out at you, and they will say things about you that are not true.
But, I’ve learned that I cannot let the fear of what people think of me, cause me to stumble or change. I won’t let fear take hold and make me be silent. I’ve been careful to share the truth in love, and will continue to do so despite the lies being told about me.
I see the “rampant spiritual destruction among professing believers”(as you stated above) and it grieves my heart.
May 23, 2011 at 17:53
Lisa K
I’ve always wondered how the world could have let the Holocaust happen. My father is Jewish and he said during WWII the U.S. was not aware of the Holocaust while it was going on. I’ve talked to other older American Jews who said the same thing. I truly wonder what people knew inside Germany at that time. Were Jews the acceptable scape goat for the nations ills?
May 23, 2011 at 18:17
Jimmy Friedman
I’ve seen some comments and posts on here before indicating that pastors are cowards. Firstly, I do agree that pastors should be more courageous. Too often they are silent.
Nevertheless, I often hear a lot of bloggers and commenter’s calling these pastors cowards. We have to recognize that a pastor has a great deal more to lose that a blogger. I’ve seen one wrong sermon cost a pastor his entire vocation. In one sermon, his means of support for himself and his family was lost. On the other hand, a blogger can pretty much say anything, and if he ever goes too far, all he needs to do is shut down his blog and move on. Sometimes he need not even do that.
Before accusing another Christian of cowardice, I encourage everyone to ask themselves what they have lost because of following Christ.
May 23, 2011 at 19:08
Don
Having asked God as a 10 year old that He would spare me from satans end time deception..and use me as a soldier of Jesus Christ , I never would have imagined the road that led me to understand the wiles of the enemy, both overt and subtle. Little did I guess that in this decade the biggest enemies would be preaching in pulpits and taking jobs as chancellors and Presidents of colleges and seminaries.
I see Satans strategy as putting his men in high places and then , having given them and their heresies a place of ” Standing and Notoriety”…sends his wayward pastoral pawns out to infect as many as possible with the spirit and leaven of antichrist as is possible.
The silence of the pulpits and pews is deafening. That silence is always going to be loudest to those whom God has called to blow the warning trumpets. Ingrid…you have no blood on your watchmans hands…You have stood when few men would even crawl or even think about being found in disfavor among the well-heeled pied pipers and their lofty and Biblically apostate and reckless means to their own vain pursuits.
I see the silence in thge pews today heightened by the ” examples” that sit in the leadership positions in the ” organized ” church….they have set a standard for truth so low …that it is all but imperceptible to almost all who hear them. This new gutless gang has softened the way of the cross,…gutted the pursuit of Truth, and sold out their souls for mens applause and worldy acclaim. They have their reward.
But you press on toward the prize of the high calling of Jesus Christ who commands all of His follwers to earnestly contend for The Faith once delivered to the Saints. There is no more noble battle than to be a vessel in the Lords hands in defending and contending against all the vain philospohies and vain gainsayers who pose as believers in our King.
I died long ago to the need for affirmation. I believe Gods Word shows me that to be despised and rejected of men for His sake and for the defense of His Gospel and His Truth is to truly be His disciple. I stake my life and soul on that…I can do no less for Him who gave His life for my soul , and who told me that He too was despised and rejected and told me to expect it.
Rejoice.
May 23, 2011 at 23:47
Paula
Amen, Ingrid. God forgive us for our cowardice.
May 24, 2011 at 13:10
Darlene
Could you please post this on FB. It’ excellent.
May 25, 2011 at 12:35
celine
Have lost some friends by telling the truth…
Have had one get back to me years later, telling me I was right to warn her of false teachers, for she’d finally seen the truth herself.
But it still costs …and it is worth it… to stand for what the Word says, even when it shows up the cowardice of popular preachers!
May 25, 2011 at 13:09
Margaret L. Been
How true! How awfully true!
May 28, 2011 at 18:01
Roxanne
My prayer is that you will be able to keep the love as you speak the truth. Let God avenge you. He will uphold you and your cause as you rest in Him. I hope this weekend will be especially peaceful and fun for you, my dear sister.
June 3, 2011 at 12:42
Donna
They could be silent for the same reason Christians in American sat in churches on Sunday and beat, kidnapped, raped, killed, etc. their slaves later on that day… its called sin… and man has been able to kill his brother for his own personal desires and greed since the day Cain killed Abel.
We assume that somehow American is different, more “Christian”, more moral, but America has always been just as sinful as the next nation, even more so because it has been controlled by an idolatry for America, following a religion called Americanism which closely mimics Christianity and has many in the pews confused and bewildered and “silent”.
Nothing new under the sun.
June 3, 2011 at 15:38
When silence is not golden. | Defending. Contending.
[...] after what happened to her recently, this piece holds much weight. Here’s a quote from The Color of Silence: “You find out very quickly who your Christian friends are when you tell the truth in a [...]
June 3, 2011 at 15:57
Pilgrim
Great piece, Ingrid.
I’ve always wondered why the “cowardly” were included in the list that contains the abominable, the murderer, the immoral, the sorcerer, and the idolater who will all have their part “in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone” (Revelation 21:8). I’m beginning to better understand this.
I fear that, as time goes on, we’re going to see a lot more of this and a lot more betrayal.
- Pilgrim
http://defendingcontending.com/2011/06/03/when-silence-is-not-golden/
June 3, 2011 at 17:13
DavidW
Ingrid:
I have greatly appreciated your ministry, and have greatly benefited from it. May the Lord Jesus uplift and strengthen you as you continue to follow Him, looking forward to that great day when He wipes away all our tears and we enter into His glorious presence.
June 4, 2011 at 00:45
Ingrid Schlueter
David, thank you so much for those kind words. They mean more than you know to me and my husband.
June 4, 2011 at 06:29
brdavision
Sister Schlueter,
I read a little about what happen to you as a result of your dedication to the truth and I just wanted to let you know that my prayers are with you. You are not alone as I have suffered the same reproach for my uncompromising stance on the word of God. Continue to be an example…..
God Bless!
brdavision
June 4, 2011 at 13:57
Jeremy
Ingrid, you have my deepest sympathies. My forced departure was even worse than yours. After I was forced to leave, I didn’t even get so much as a phone call asking how I was. This was from people I had known for years, and whom I thought were my very close friends. I could have handled cowardice — how I wished it were the case that they were just scared. I would have been angry, but I could have forgiven them and been friends again. But it wasn’t the case that they were scared as much as they just didn’t care. I was treated like a plastic cup that one discards in the trash. There wasn’t happiness or sadness over my leaving — I was just tossed aside like I was nothing. I later realized that I never had any friends there to begin with, but rather only common enemies that we talked about regularly. When something one believes with all his heart is true is found out to be false, one doesn’t trust himself on anything anymore, and doubt is cast on everything.
Speaking of cowardice, my biggest regret is that I never detailed my abuse there to the Christian community at large. To outsiders, it would have appeared that it was just a matter of “differences”. As a result, I know of at least one other person who later suffered spiritual abuse from the same guy. Fortunately, somebody else did expose this person.
This experience profoundly affected me, and I greatly anticipate your new program.
June 4, 2011 at 15:20
Lady D
Wow!!! Sister Ingrid, I have not read about any of this until I saw the article on DefCon, and then I did some research. Be encouraged, God is the glory and lifter of our heads. I’ve come to a conclusion about the whole matter regarding Rick Warren and other purpose driven people (and someone please tell me if I’m wrong).
It’s all about money, power and influence. Rick proved how weak his walk with God is when he watered down his presdential prayer for Mr. Obama. He sold out Jesus for fame – and others are following his lead; right off a cliff.
Keep pressing the battle to the gate and declaring God’s truth~
June 4, 2011 at 15:27
Ingrid Schlueter
Jeremy, that is how Tom and I have described our experience also. Discarded. Narcissistic leaders use people and then when their usefulness is done or they become problematic by raising issues, they are tossed aside.There is no “natural”, i.e. Christian love for another and a view to what is in their best interest. Maybe you are right. Maybe it isn’t cowardice so much as apathy from co-workers.. We may be misreading the whole thing. A lack of love is the hallmark of these organizations where there are Christian “standards” upheld and common enemies “exposed” but no love for those right around us. I mistook common cause against liberals, apostates, etc. for relationships. Those are not even close to being the same thing.
June 5, 2011 at 02:09
Carolyn
Ingrid, my thoughts and prayers are with you. It sounds like the fury of hell is being hurled your way. And these are “the sufferings of Christ”. There is no reasoning with them, no countering them. For everything you say will be used against you and is fuel for the fire. There is nothing to be done but to go through them. Christ has a purpose. His glory.
All who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. It just comes through unexpected means sometimes, which is part of Satan’s strategy of unbalancing your heart and your faith. Trying to figure out the purpose for these fiery trials seems for the most part, an exercise in futility. We can’t see the spiritual battle going on…but we can certainly feel every fiery dart that pierces our soul.
Put on the armor. Christ. And stand…
I will share a verse that has been meaningful to me lately:
Philippians 1
27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit,[e] striving together as one for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.
God be with you, Ingrid. You are not alone. Those who do the will of the Father are those who remain our friends forever. And you have more friends than you can imagine.
June 5, 2011 at 23:20
Rose
Amen and Amen, Carolyn! Wonderful post and, Ingrid, what she said is so true…’you have more friends than you can imagine’…people you do not even know and may never meet in this life who love you and have appreciated your faithful ministry over the years. Be encouraged…many are praying daily for you and your family.
June 6, 2011 at 19:57
Chet
Ingrid, I say Amen to what Rose said about you having friends who have benefited from your ministry on the radio or your blog site. I remember turning the radio and going from one station to another and came across the sound of church bells ringing and it was you talking about abortion and ever since i have been blessed by your ministry and your stand for the true Gospel, and that was six years ago. I’m sadden by what has transpired, May the love, grace, mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be with in the coming days. chet
June 7, 2011 at 10:27
Michael Acidri
Some times silence isnt golden, and is a pale shade of yellow…kind of slimey peach. A far cry from a virtuous character. I knw that color because I too havebeen guilty of not standing up when I ought to. I unreservedly repent of this!
December 15, 2011 at 03:03
Pamela Hatch Manard
Dear Ingrid,
God bless and comfort you with the consolations of Christ, promised to all the faithful saints who have and are sharing in His sufferings- for the Name of Jesus Christ and for the gospel and doctrines, once and for all, given to us by the Lord Himself and His disciples.
I too am one of those who have benefited from listening to your programs. I praise God for you and am praying for you and your family.
December 24, 2011 at 15:28
Cathy Wells
Yes, it was a huge shock to find out that my ideals about Christians being heroic, above-average, just, brave, true, etc. were just that….ideals. When people knew that our pastor had lied about us, twisted facts, etc. to shut us up, they did….nothing. They advised us to “find a new church” because these things just happen. I still cannot swallow it to this day. I now understand how a mob of people can watch someone pushed onto a subway track lie there helpless and do nothing. I honestly thought we were better than this.