Remain Silent

All scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.          2 Timothy 3:16

I know I have the right to remain silent, but I don’t always have the ability.  copied

During my college years, I took a course entitled Speech 101.  Looking for an easy elective and since I had done declamation in high school, I thought it would be an easy A.  Not so much!  I picked a topic, researched it, wrote it, and prepared to deliver it.  That’s all good, but guess what?  I was unaware that not only must you deliver that speech, but also be prepared to defend what you have said!

Let’s just say it was easy to write a speech, not so bad to deliver it,  but it proved impossible for me to defend it.  I learned a valuable lesson – if you have to defend something, you better know it inside out.  Francis Bacon once said, “Knowledge is power”, and that is so true.

I can’t remember the answers I gave when questions came for which I didn’t have concrete answers, but I do know that it would have been best if I had remained silent.  If you can’t defend something with knowledge, then it’s best to remain silent until you can.

Thankfully, there are people who don’t need to remain silent especially where our faith is concerned because they have that knowledge. It amazes me that some people can quote scripture totally from memory with such confidence and accuracy.  They have studied the Bible, and it just comes naturally to them to pull up a scripture which matches the situation.  They use scripture to defend their faith.

It also amazes me that people can listen to speeches from teachers, politicians, preachers, professors, etc., and they do not ask them to defend their position.  We don’t have to accept things just because someone says it, there should be accountability involved.  We also can’t believe everything we read, and I admire those folks who write rebuttals which hold writers, speakers, media and others accountable.

The thing about the Bible is that it doesn’t seek to prove its validity.  It simply states what is and what is not true according to God.  It provides the facts, and it is up to us to accept it or reject it.  My prayer is we will not remain silent, but that we will seek the knowledge to defend our principles and faith.