"to say nothing or do nothing, but call it wisdom." Excellent post. I will re-post. I chose not to be silent. I don't always get it right, and there is risk involved, but the Holy Spirit is compelling me to speak.
Yes, Nadine. When the Holy Spirit is doing the compelling, staying quiet isn't wisdom. It's resistance to something bigger than us. Grateful for your voice, grateful you're not staying silent, and grateful you're sharing this. Keep speaking.
I could not represent personally what ICOC demands. My lens has widened and not because of culture, but because I dug into scripture and took responsibility for my own Journey. That leads me away from complementarianism and automatic exclusion of lgbtqia. Jesus loved first and open to the door to relationship. Only then did he challenge, not condemn.
Excellent, Harvey. MLK recognized the greatest weapon of those with power is to do nothing. The white version of that is detailed in Brueggmann’s The Prophetic Imgination.
Brueggemann's 'royal consciousness'—the numbness that keeps the comfortable from feeling what the vulnerable feel—is exactly the theological category the silent church is living in. You're right....MLK named the symptom and Brueggemann diagnosed the disease. Grateful you made that connection.
Thank God He is not silent! The silence was so deafening it drove me out after 45 years, almost 38 in ICOC. Along with over a dozen other faithful believers, both young and old. We are hemorrhaging and the only discussion seems to be on security and safety. Excellent article!
Forty-five years of faithfulness deserves better than a conversation about security cameras. You and a dozen others walked out still believing and still reaching for God even after the institution went quiet. That says everything about where the real faith actually lived. Grateful you read this, and grateful you're still in the conversation even after all that.
Very well written. But that silence is not accidental, rather it is cultivated by the church and state to keep people from questioning authority. This is how wars are waged and genocides are carried out while invoking the name of Jesus. Yet, the church remains silent, or in some cases, even advocates such policies.
You may find my writing on The Silenced Faithful of interest:
You're right that the silence is rarely accidental. It’s actually a choice and often structurally reinforced, which makes it all the more insidious. When institutions benefit from the quiet, they tend to cultivate it.
The prophetic tradition understood this, which is why the prophets were almost always speaking against the grain of institutional comfort rather than with it.
"to say nothing or do nothing, but call it wisdom." Excellent post. I will re-post. I chose not to be silent. I don't always get it right, and there is risk involved, but the Holy Spirit is compelling me to speak.
Yes, Nadine. When the Holy Spirit is doing the compelling, staying quiet isn't wisdom. It's resistance to something bigger than us. Grateful for your voice, grateful you're not staying silent, and grateful you're sharing this. Keep speaking.
Powerful!!!!
🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾
What kind of God are you or your church representing? Not in your theology. In your choices.
"We have, as a church, become quite skilled at using Scripture to make peace with the very things Scripture was written to disturb....
The silent church is a theological crisis. Not primarily for the people who have left. For the church that drove them out with its silence....
What Kind of God Are You Representing?"
“Powerful” from someone whose own writing and example I respect means something.
I could not represent personally what ICOC demands. My lens has widened and not because of culture, but because I dug into scripture and took responsibility for my own Journey. That leads me away from complementarianism and automatic exclusion of lgbtqia. Jesus loved first and open to the door to relationship. Only then did he challenge, not condemn.
Excellent, Harvey. MLK recognized the greatest weapon of those with power is to do nothing. The white version of that is detailed in Brueggmann’s The Prophetic Imgination.
Brueggemann's 'royal consciousness'—the numbness that keeps the comfortable from feeling what the vulnerable feel—is exactly the theological category the silent church is living in. You're right....MLK named the symptom and Brueggemann diagnosed the disease. Grateful you made that connection.
Thank God He is not silent! The silence was so deafening it drove me out after 45 years, almost 38 in ICOC. Along with over a dozen other faithful believers, both young and old. We are hemorrhaging and the only discussion seems to be on security and safety. Excellent article!
Forty-five years of faithfulness deserves better than a conversation about security cameras. You and a dozen others walked out still believing and still reaching for God even after the institution went quiet. That says everything about where the real faith actually lived. Grateful you read this, and grateful you're still in the conversation even after all that.
Naming names and calling out ineffectual leadership like a prophet. Good work.
Very well written. But that silence is not accidental, rather it is cultivated by the church and state to keep people from questioning authority. This is how wars are waged and genocides are carried out while invoking the name of Jesus. Yet, the church remains silent, or in some cases, even advocates such policies.
You may find my writing on The Silenced Faithful of interest:
https://benefitgreatly.substack.com/p/why-most-christians-do-not-see-the?r=fzbc6&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web
You're right that the silence is rarely accidental. It’s actually a choice and often structurally reinforced, which makes it all the more insidious. When institutions benefit from the quiet, they tend to cultivate it.
The prophetic tradition understood this, which is why the prophets were almost always speaking against the grain of institutional comfort rather than with it.
Thanks for engaging with this so thoughtfully.
There is always a remnant…
Always. And the remnant has never been the loudest voice in the room. Just the most faithful one. Grateful you're part of it.
Well said, Harvey. Been in similar rooms myself, sadly.
Sadly is the right word, but recognizing that is the right next step. Grateful you read it, my friend, and grateful you're still in the conversation.