Christians must stand up and be a voice for oppressed: Letter

Poughkeepsie Journal

Christians are often accused of shoving our religion down other people's throats, this usually from a group who ban free speech on campuses and oppose alternative options in public discourse. But how I wish there were at least some substance to their accusation. The fact is Bible-believing Christians are a bunch of apathetic cowards, easily and willfully intimidated into silence on all sorts of issues. Are there even any in the Hudson Valley? Oh, I know some who profess to be get together for 90 minutes every Sunday, but what goes on behind those walls nobody knows.

It is no wonder people are abandoning the church. If pastors and elders and congregants aren’t excited about what they believe, why should anyone else be? Oh weak, pathetic, silent ambassadors! We profess to have a treasure, to have power, to have hope for a lost and dying world, to have good news, and then we bravely cower in the upper room, content with our solid theology and bold professions made behind closed doors. Our master is alone in the garden. His friends are still asleep.

The lost, the deceived, the unborn, the fatherless, the persecuted, the hungry, the imprisoned, the lonely, the forgotten, they are our business. Pastors, elders, Christians, please don’t tell me it’s not your job. Yes, yes it is.

It is time we either break out and engage the world or shut our doors and turn out the light. Sadly, if we did, I can’t help but wonder who would notice?

Jeffrey Mahoney

Hyde Park