Why Is the Church Silent?

Open your mouth for the mute, For the rights of all the unfortunate . Open your mouth, judge righteously, And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9

To be honest I am sitting here struggling to write. I struggle to find the words that need to be said. I struggle to speak louder than those that would rather I remain silent. I fear, that once again, I will be told to“get over it!” simply because I choose to speak for those who can not speak. I fear that I will lose my voice again.

I am told to “stop speaking” because there are those who misunderstand why I speak. I do not speak out of my own hurt, for I no longer hurt. I do not speak because I am  not healed, for my God has healed me. No, in fact when I wasn’t healed I couldn’t speak. Before healing I found that my voice remained silent for fear of what others might say or that they wouldn’t believe me.

But healing came,  now I have a voice.

So I shout out for those who are still silent because I want to help them find their voice. I shout for those who are still being abused, afflicted and traumatized. I speak out for those who continue to remain in places where those in power tell them so “shut up”. I speak so that the darkness is exposed. I speak so that others may wake up and join me in defending the weak.

I will speak for as long as the church remains silent!

We (the church) forget that God has called us to be defenders of the weak. We forget that we are to expose the darkness of evil. So we go on covering up and hiding behind doing what we think is right. We fear what society might think or say about the church, or God if they hear someone within her walls is abusing their children. As if God needs defending, or protection.

God can defend His church and His reputation, He calls us to defend the weak.

Why must the church go on protecting child molesters, wife beaters, and those who oppress the weak? Why do we believe those who appear godly and righteous over those who have been afflicted by them? Why do we sit silently while there are those in the community who kidnap, rape, enslave our children? Shouldn’t the church be leading the war against such atrocities instead of remaining silent?

God says we are to judge rightly. Doesn’t that mean that we judge without partiality to the poor or the great? (Lev 19:15) Doesn’t it mean that we not need to be fearful of man or fear what the world might do? (Deut 1:16-18)

I read daily in news about girls being kidnapped and sold into slavery, children being beaten to death, boys and girls molested, wives beaten and I wonder, “where are God’s people? Where is the church?” Some of these things are happening within the walls of the church and in our own communities and families, yet we choose to remain silent. Why?

Why in deed! I have no answer. I do not understand why many churches would prefer to remain silent. I don’t understand those that would prefer others to remain silent. So I continue to question, continue to speak and write until the church wakes up even though every time I speak (or write) there are those that tell me both verbally and non-verbally to be quiet.

So I ask the church why do you keep telling the wife to stay with the man that continues to threaten her life? Why do you believe and support the perpetrators of abuse instead of the child? Why do you force forgiveness from the child of abuse and them tell them to remain silent? Why do your leaders cover up evil and pretend it doesn’t exist? Why aren’t you confronting the sin of abuse in all it’s forms? Why do you fear going to the authorities when a crime is being committed against those that are weak and needy?

I get no answers, so I will continue to pray. I will speak. I will write. I will allow God to use me however He chooses to defend the helpless and protect our children.

I can not speak for God, but in His word He has a lot to say about defending the weak, protecting the children and exposing evil, that I think I can safely say that the heart of God weeps when His church remains silent.