Just A Thought

 There is an adage that says, “Speak truth to power.” That is easier said than done. By nature, speaking to someone of power or influence is intimidating. To be safe, many of us probably find ourselves taking a pass when given a chance to talk to people of influence.

When I was in eighth grade, my mother showed me how to push past fears and speak up, when the situation warrants. When I came home with new book assignment for English Literature, she was concerned. The book was famous, but it also had content she did not feel was appropriate for kids my age. In those days, most parents had a high respect for school officials, and it was not common to make waves. But, after prayer, my mother felt she needed to do something.

Now, I was not aware of all that transpired over the next few weeks, but I know she made an appointment to talk with my teacher. She explained that the book was inappropriate, and she asked that I be given an alternate assignment. Come to find out, several other parents had also expressed concern and the teacher granted their requests and assigned a different book. To be honest, I was a little embarrassed at the time. Only as I grew older did I realize how brave my mother had been.

But the story did not end there. When being lovingly confronted by several Christian parents, the teacher was evidently being introduced to people of strong faith for the first time. We later came to find out that the incident motivated him to begin attending a church. It appears that he was led into some level of relationship with Christ, all because a few homemakers cared enough about their kids to speak up against inappropriate school assignments. 

More recently, during the COVID 19 pandemic, some government officials took the extreme measure of shutting down churches even when many other gatherings were not shut down. Some pastors rose up to speak to people of influence and point out the injustice. Eventually the matter came before the US Supreme Court. Thankfully, the court ruled in favor of churches. So, as a result of somebody giving judges the opportunity to be fair, millions of church goers were protected from future over-reaching officials. The process of speaking truth to power was expensive and costly for the pastor and church who saw this matter through to the nations’ highest court, but every church won as a result. Churches were able to resume services, judges could be proud of defending freedom, and over-reaching government officials were reminded how they should treat people who believe in freedom.

In reality, many times speaking truth to power does not yield such positive results. Sometimes those who are doing the right thing seem to lose the battle. But, when good people give people in power the opportunity to the right thing and lose, they have still done a good thing. Others are encouraged to stand for truth. Heaven watches. If no one had stood up, there would have been nothing good that came of it. Are you willing to pay a price to help someone else do the right thing? It could be an opportunity to change many lives.

# posted by John W. Hanson @ Saturday, April 06, 2024