Silence Is Consent

Matthew 10:24-28

When I see wrong, how should I respond? When I hear something said that is offensive to others but I ignore it, am I giving consent? One’s personal answers to these questions are likely to be different depending on one’s personal experiences. If something offends others but it does not offend me have I become insensitive to the hurt and pain of others? Let me tell you why I raise these questions.

The comedian Bill Maher used an offensive racial epithet. Let me warn you that I am about to repeat what He said. “I am a house Nigger.” The word “Nigger” is so offensive that in today’s world of “political correct” speech we no longer say the word. Instead we say “the ‘N’ word.” Many people responded to what the comedian said and called for him to be fired. Now, I do not want to discuss Bill Maher. Rather, I want to use this space to talk about silence in the church. Are there subject matters that the church refuse to discuss? If the answer is yes, then is silence consent? Should not the church be a safe place where truth is welcome? When Jesus says to His disciples, ‘“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I command you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age,”’ (Matt. 28:19-20, NASB) is the church guilty of ignoring the command to teach the disciples all that Jesus says when it remains silent on important issues that have great impact on the lives of its members?

Let me briefly go back to the Bill Maher incident. Bill Maher made a statement that is very offensive to a lot of people. Personally, I have had the attitude that I don’t care if a white person or any other person calls me an “N” word. I am a sixty-nine year old African American male born and raised in Tennessee. I have been called the “N” word so many times that hearing it is just noise to me, much like any other background noise that I hear. I know who I am. I know that I have proven to myself and others that my intellect and my abilities are just as good as any other average person. So, basically I just keep moving. However, my twenty-five year old daughter takes a different view. She believes that if I hear a white person use the “N” word I am obligated to tactfully inform the person that using the word is offensive to others. Maybe, I am guilty of being insensitive to the hurt and pain of many others that have not had my experiences. Our conversation on the Bill Maher subject led us into the subject of the church being silent on many subjects and how silence gives consent for abuse and pain to continue among members in the church. The subject of rape is one example.

Have you heard a frank discussion about rape in your church? Is this a subject that young ladies are told to keep silent about and pray? Are children afraid to tell others about their experiences? Are the victims of abuse made to feel guilty of causing the abuse? Are we guilty of covering up for the perpetrators by keeping silent? Are you aware that rape is a subject matter in the bible? Have you read in Genesis 19 that the men of the city wanted to have sexual relations with Lot’s male guests (two angels)? Lot offers his two daughters in place of the men. In Genesis 34 we read about Jacob’s daughter Dinah being raped by Shechem. The sons of Jacob, Dinah’s brothers, learn what happened to their sister and decide to get revenge. Have you read about the rape and murder of the Levite’s concubine in Judges 19? Again, evil men want to have sexual relations with a man, but women are offered as a substitute. How does this attitude and practice contribute to men’s idea that men are more valuable than women? How does this practice contribute to the silent suffering of women today when they have been raped and abused by men in their homes, in the work place, and even in relationships between influential men in the church and women? Why is it that the church refuses to at least have a conversation on these matters? Silence is consent, and a lot of women and children are having their lives destroyed because the church is silent on this subject.

Black children are failing in the schools and we are blaming the teachers. We blame the teachers because the church is not speaking up on the abuse that children suffer in their homes. Boys and girls are sexually abused in their homes. They go to school and act out with inappropriate behavior. It is not safe to protest at home? The church will not minister to the children. So, the children go to school, sometimes hungry, and act out, displacing their anger and pain on other children and the teachers. Let me tell you what really bothers me about this. Many of these children are the children and grandchildren, the nieces and nephews of church members that we praise and elevate to high positions in our churches. Added to this is the fact that many of these abused children grow up and get married and have children. Many are not able to trust their spouse and this lends itself to an unhealthy marriage in which the cycle of abuse continues.

Did Jesus teach us to do these things? What is the church’s responsibility to these families? I believe that Jesus is appalled. I believe that Jesus teaches that we should value people above practices and traditions. For example the Pharisees criticize Jesus because His disciples are hungry, and they pick corn to eat on the Sabbath day. Jesus responds to their criticism. He says, ‘“The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath’” (Mk. 2:27). Matthew 10 gives us a framework by which the church can build on their education of its members in regard to difficult subjects.

Matthew records, “Jesus summoned His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness” (Matt. 10:1, NASB). Jesus gives His disciples authority to address mental illness, physical diseases, and emotional trauma; anything that hinders a person from living a wholesome life. The command to love God, self and other people (Matt. 22:36-40) is difficult for all people and especially for people who have found it difficult to have a positive image of themselves, and at the same time, they have not learned to trust other people.

Now, in those days the medical community had not discovered methods of diagnosing and treating many of the diseases. So, they simply called them unclean spirits, diseases, and sickness. However, today, we have access to medical knowledge and health care. There are members sitting in our pews that are health care professionals, but still we keep silent about the things that we know to be true. We blame others, but we will not speak the truth. We give consent because we remain silent.

Jesus says to His disciples that they will meet opposition when they proclaim His name. Why is the world threatened by the name of Jesus? Is it because when we proclaim Jesus and tell of His ministry and teaching that expose the evils that exist in our world? Do we think that if we keep silent and pray God will protect us and forgive our sins because He is a God of mercy and grace? Do we think that we can hide? Do we think that things will just work out? Do we think that all we need to do is come to church, sing and praise the Lord? Are we only required to talk about the goodness of Jesus while at the same time fail to teach all that Jesus teaches us? What are we afraid of? What are we trying to hide? Does the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20 give us permission to keep silent or is it a command to expose the evil that pervades our lives? What did Jesus say?

Jesus said, ‘“Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ‘What I tell you in darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops’” (Matt. 10:26-27, NASB). It is time for the church to speak up. The truth is being revealed. What Bill Maher said was simply something that he has hidden in his heart and in his mind. He may have apologized for saying the word publically, and this may satisfy the people. This does not mean that he thinks differently. It does not address his deep feelings and beliefs. It is time that the churches search the scriptures and learns what Jesus says about the issues that we are confronted with today. The church cannot be silent. Silence is consent.