Speak Up or Shut Up?

Isaiah 6:8 “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

I remember being on a train once and a drunk man urinated in the corner. Everyone kept their eyes down and pretended to ignore it. I was disgusted and challenged him. He got extremely aggressive. It was a difficult situation to deal with, and as I left the train, I felt frustrated because although I wanted him to be punished, I didn’t want my ongoing journey to be inconvenienced, so I let him get away with it. In a small way, I’ve reflected on that incident many times. I spoke up, but didn’t follow through, so I might just as well have shut up.

There are many people who are weak and marginalised who can’t speak up for themselves. There are many situations that need challenging. There are injustices and abuses of power that need campaigning about – both in our nation and overseas.

Edmund Burke’s famous quote that “all it takes for evil to prosper is for good people to do nothing” has never been more true.

Martin Niemöller was a pastor in the German Confessing Church who spent seven years in a concentration camp. He wrote:

“First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the labor leaders, and I did not speak out because I was not a labor leader.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out for me.”

Who might you speak up for today? Pick a fight, a cause, a campaign. Don’t just be a good person who does nothing.

Lord, thank you that you spoke up loud and clear for humanity in being willing to die on the cross for us. May we similarly speak up and actively get involved in your Kingdom causes. Amen!