“We have the obligation to speak the truth, but we don’t have to convince anyone.” -Mother Theresa
A recurring theme in Jeremiah is courage. Courage to stand firm in truth and speak up. Jeremiah’s words were unpatriotic, unpopular, and labeled as fake news by the leaders he was speaking against.
In our nation today, plenty of issues require the attention of Christians. Our society, politics, the church, are riddled with suffering and evil. What truth is the Lord asking you to speak? Fr. Kevin preached recently, [listen here] “Whenever a church or an organization or a country declines, it gets harder and harder to speak the truth. Doing that costs us more. Wherever evil goes up, truth goes down. It gets harder to live for God, and to speak the truth for God.”
I recently found myself in a situation where I had to stand firm in truth. This summer my three best friends and I signed up our kids for a Vacation Bible School in the area. We were all excited to send our children to VBS together for a full week of games and fun and learning about God. The four of us planned to have brunch together when all the kids were gone. Anyone with children would understand that a kid-free mom brunch is so precious!
When I signed up my two children, the online form asked what pronouns the children identified with. I thought that was a strange question and it made me a little uncomfortable. As VBS came closer, I couldn’t get the question on the form out of my head. I reached out to the woman who was putting on the VBS, and she kindly sent me the curriculum. I ultimately decided to pull my two young children out of the VBS due to the LGBTQ content.
I then had to explain to my friends that we were not going to do VBS. My decision was not the popular stance. All three of my friends listened to my concerns but continued with the program. It was awkward and uncomfortable, and multiple times I had thoughts of, Goodness, Caprice, maybe you are overreacting. The kids are going to encounter this subject the rest of their lives.
I took a stand, and honestly it makes me uncomfortable to even write about it here. In our society many times disagreement means hate. What if they think I am a hateful person for the decision I made? What if someone who identifies as LGBTQ reads this and is hurt? What if, like Jeremiah, I am persecuted for the truth that I spoke?
The truth that is found in God is not subjective. Just as Jeremiah had to stand firm in truth given to him by God, so should we. The Lord promised Jeremiah, “They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you” (Jeremiah 1:19). The Lord watched over Jeremiah. In Fr. Kevin’s words, “Friends, do not fear. The God who gave you the job will protect you as you do it. He will be with you, and he will rescue you.”
Do you feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of issues in the world today? Are you tempted to slink away from the task at hand, to stay silent on an important topic? Speaking out will look different for everyone. What is God asking of you?