Standing Up

Phil Robertson voiced what he believed. But he wasn’t standing up for what he believes. He wasn’t fighting for a cause. He wasn’t being persecuted and or battling oppressors. In fact it is likely that he lives a pretty comfortable life every day, able to say what he wants. And when he happens to get a line wrong they can just re-shoot the scene; the life of reality television.

But he is not a hero. Members of the Nanle County Christian Church in the Henan Province were beaten by local police and their thugs because if their beliefs. They are heroes.

Missionary Kenneth Bae, an American citizen and Christian was imprisoned by the North Korean government because of his beliefs. He is still in prison, his beliefs unchanged. He is a hero.

I have never watched Phil Robertson’s television show, Duck Dynasty. I understand that it is a pretty good show; in fact they even end the show by praying. Good for them. Having never seen it I don’t know if maybe the show is the Robertson’s mission field. I doubt it, but if it is there probably isn’t a government official waiting to lock the cast away because of what they believe.

Robertson’s words were offensive. Not his belief. I believe in the sanctity of marriage. I believe that God designed man to be with a woman and a woman to be with a man. I also believe that Christ taught us to love, to control our words, to walk in a way that others will see Jesus Christ in our walk. In Mr. Robertson’s words these things cannot be found. I believe him when he says he is a Christian, I can see it in his face and hear it in his voice…but would a non-believer? Could someone who was searching for the truth be inspired by someone whose language is so demeaning? If you did not know that he is a Christian man would you have thought so after hearing his words?

I also believe the behaviors that are offensive to God are sin. We sin only against God, and we seem to do it a lot. We offend others or they offend us and then we are compelled to tell them why. Phil Robertson decided to tell everyone that which offends him, but he did so in an offensive manner. This brings us back around to standing up for what you believe in.

Our freedom of speech is perhaps the greatest freedom we have. Men and women have fought to keep this Right for hundreds of years. As with any other Right we are blessed with the owner of that Right has a responsibility; including the Right to Speech. When a gun owner acts irresponsibly with a weapon there are consequences. If it is egregious he may even void his Right to gun ownership. Being responsible with our freedom of speech, with our words, should be as important to us as any other responsibility we cherish.

The Phil Robertson story will run for a while I suppose until something better comes along. I hope that it goes away before Christmas. You see my friends; if you are a Christian there is no better time to let your light shine than now. The world, your friends, your family, your children…they are all watching you because it is Christmas. They want to know why you smile all the time. They want to know how you are able to go on when problems are abundant. They want to know about this man named Jesus. Let your light shine bright this time of year.

Nothing will turn your light off faster than your words.

Stand up for what you believe in but do it with love. Speak them as if Christ was standing with you, right there by your side…listening.

Because he is.