Silence Is Not Golden

I am sure you have heard the phrase “silence is golden.” The phrase has been around for a while. It suggests that while speech is silver, silence is golden and therefore more valuable. But is it always so? In about 5 weeks there will be many memorial services remembering the tragedy of September 11, 2001. No doubt there will be many “moments of silence.” What should be the Christian’s response? Are we to silently stand with non believers in a unified declaration of silence?
In 2001 after the terrorists had killed thousands of innocent lives, Rev. Duane Maxey wrote an article entitled “Silence That Insults the Living God.” In that writing, he contended that silence was actually cowardice. His reasons were as follows:
“(1) "Moments of Silence" are observed today because many feel that we must not insult Atheists and Agnostics who deny the existence of God and who derogate all prayer. So, instead of insulting them, moral cowards and deluded-do-gooders are insulting God! with their politically-correct dumbness toward the Deity!
(2) "Moments of Silence" are observed today to avoid insulting those who feel that "The Church" and "The State" must be kept entirely separate. So, they insult God, and drive Him farther from our nation at a time when He is most desperately needed, and when He might do wonders for our land if He was shown even the slightest modicum of respect! Those who perished last Tuesday and those who were imperiled were not praying to the ACLU, but that godless group is now being shown more respect in these "moments of silence" than is the God who controls our destiny!
(3) "Moments of Silence" are observed today in deference to many who deny that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. Such silence-advocates feel that we must not insult the Jews and others who think that the lowly Nazarene was nothing more than a good man, if even that! So, they dare to insult the Sovereign Deity of the Son of God while honoring all who deny Him! Even tacit approval of such politically-correct silence is itself a denial of Christ who warned: "Whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 10:33).
(4) "Moments of Silence" are observed today, lest we offend Muslim Americans who would feel insulted to hear God addressed as "Jehovah" instead of "Allah"! Public officials are going to great lengths now to differentiate between devout Muslims and Terrorists, but I think that a little investigation would reveal that in the minds of many Terrorists they are only putting Muslim Fundamentals into practice! NO -- A THOUSAND TIMES, NO! -- to the mistreatment of Muslims in America! Such hateful deeds are as foreign to true Christianity as are the deeds of those who committed the Kamikaze attacks upon the World Trade Center and the Pentagon last Tuesday. Still, it is an insult to the true God to refrain from calling audibly upon His Name, in deference to worshippers of the false "Allah".
(5) "Moments of Silence" are also observed today in deference to a number of deceived and deluded religious groups in America, including also Buddhists, Hindus -- all of whom, it is feared, would be insulted if we were to call audibly upon the name of Christ in public gatherings in memory of the thousands who died last Tuesday.”
There is a time of silence that honors God. Habakkuk 2:20 says: “But the LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.” Adam Clarke says of this verse: “Let all be dumb. Let none of them dare to open their mouths in the presence of Jehovah. He alone is Sovereign. He alone is the arbiter of life and death. Let all hear his commands with the deepest respect, obey them with the promptest diligence, and worship him with the most profound reverence.” In worship of our Sovereign Lord, silence can be a beautiful way to express an appreciation of the sacredness of the occasion. However, when standing with non believers who do not share our faith, we should not acquiesce for fear of offending them. It is a time to stand for truth. Our nation needs Christians to stand for the truths upon which this country was founded. Our Founding Fathers put their lives and lands on the line to establish a nation on Christian principles. It is not for us to remain silent when standing before men. We must not be silent.