This is true in all our speech, including our spreading of the gospel. If we are deliberate, looking for opportunities to talk about Jesus, our hearts drive that. If we almost inadvertently talk about Jesus without even looking for openings—He’s just naturally on our minds and out of our mouths—our hearts drive that as well.
So also, our hearts are behind our silence. If we have friends, family, neighbors with whom we’ve never shared… If we have people with whom we’ve mentioned Jesus, but we’ve never made concerted effort to proceed toward a full presentation of the gospel, aren’t our hearts in the driver’s seat? If we rarely or never share the good news, there must be some kind of deficit or imbalance in our affections.
If we would speak the gospel, we must address our hearts.
Obviously, we all love many things simultaneously, and this is good and appropriate. A rightly ordered life will flow from a heart that loves God above all things (Deut 6:5; Matt 22:37-38).
What am I loving most?
So, a question to consider in our silence is, “what have I loved more than the Lord that is preventing me from sharing the good news?” Some might say, “I would share the gospel, but I just don’t know how.” Could it be this is actually a fear of man issue? Those truly zealous to share the good news tend to jump into the deep end of the pool without much concern for form. That is, they learn by doing. Someone who holds back for lack of training may be more concerned about looking foolish than about actually not knowing what to say.
And for many, this is the main issue—fear of man. We package it in a host of ways, but at the end of the day, our biggest concern is how others are going to view us. In other words, we love for others to think well of us. We fear the ramifications of failing to please men. There may be many other inordinate loves that lead us to silence, but this is a major one, especially in the persecution-light West. As we proceed below, we’ll use fear of man as our model.
Whatever the object of affection, dethrone it through meditation and prayer.
Fear of man ascends to the throne of our hearts through wrong thinking. By meditating on the Scriptures, we can conform our thoughts to God’s. Many great passages and verses can be found in Psalms regarding the fear of man. Psalms 27 and 56 are classics, both of which minimize the power of man: “I shall not be afraid; what can flesh do to me?” (Psa 56:4b; cf 27:1-3).
Meditation seeks (among other things) to think deeply about a Scripture or truth and apply it to a concrete situation. Here, one might spend time considering, “what are the worst consequences of my neighbor rejecting my gospel presentation? What could my family member, co-worker, acquaintance actually do to me? Can they take my house, my name, my work? Supposing they could, what have I lost eternally?”
Prayer takes meditation and asks for divine power in implementation. “Father, may your Spirit move me to think rightly about all people. I ought not ultimately love the applause of men nor ultimately fear the hatred of men.”
Magnify a greater object of affection through meditation and prayer.
The same psalms—27 and 56—show God to be the true ultimate object of fear and affection. Meditation on these and other passages are wonderful helps. Additionally, we can meditate on the attributes of God in order to minimize man and exalt God in our own hearts. The more we do this, the more natural it is to speak of Him in any situation. One could meditate on a divine attribute per day for a season—thinking specifically about why God (as opposed to man) is worthy of worship.
For example, God is omnipresent. One could spend a day meditating on this as an excellency that separates Him from men. “I can hide myself and my secrets from men. Yet, there is nowhere I can flee from His presence, nothing I can hide from Him (Psa 139:7). Walls, time, and death limit man’s ability to help me. Yet, there is nowhere that His help cannot get to me (Psa 139:10).”
With prayer, we can both adore God and petition His help in solidifying our thinking and affections. “Father, You are my great everpresent help. You are the one always with me, seeing me, saving me. Grant me to fear, adore, and love you above all things.”
Obey.
As we are reshaping our hearts, we should open our mouths. We must recognize we’re not dealing with a preference issue here. We’ve been called to make disciples (Matt 28:19-20). If we are not doing so, we are disobeying. Let’s repent of this and speak the truth, even as we engage in the above means of sanctification.
May we direct our hearts toward God and His gospel, opening our mouths in proclamation.
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