Madison J. Caplinger

A guilty pleasure of mine is reading posts on an app called Whisper. It’s an app on which users can anonymously post confessions about themselves or their lives, and other users can anonymously reply. Some posts are a little inappropriate, but others are hilarious, scandalous, and highly entertaining. 

Sometimes the threads of posts turn into religious debates. I saw a post the other day in which the user confessed that she had been reading the Bible to help soothe her depression. Praise God. This post attracted many replies; lots of fellow Christians encouraged and rejoiced with her. Others said that when they read the Bible, they only hated themselves more.

My heart broke a little. The God that I am seeking to know has never made me feel hated. Imperfect maybe, but still loved beyond a measure of doubt. So I had to wonder, how does one read this divine love story and feel discouraged? The only answer I can find is the supernatural forces at work when the Bible is read. The Holy Spirit speaks when we read God’s word, but Satan shudders and cannot sit idle. He fills the vulnerable with feelings of doubt and shame when he knows he can get away with it. 

So what is to change their minds then? Who can confront their hateful perceptions of the gospel with the truth of God’s love? It’s our job. God calls us to confront lies with the truth and make disciples of all people. Which is not to say that we are responsible for their response to the gospel, but neither can we sit idly by while they believe lies that are leading them to destruction. 

Disclaimer: I am definitely preaching to myself. I’m very uncomfortable with confrontation and am not good at speaking up when I know I need to. But I pray for courage and discernment when opportunities arise to speak the truth.

It’s easy to look at this world and think it’s on it’s way to hell, and wonder why God isn’t doing something about it. But when we go back to scripture, we learn that he charged us with the responsibility of pointing the world to him. We must be the change we want to see. If not us, then who?