“Please understand my reasons for not speaking today. I am participating in the Day of Silence (DOS), a national youth movement bringing attention to the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their allies. My deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by anti-LGBT bullying, name-calling and harassment. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward building awareness and making a commitment to address these injustices. Think about the voices you are not hearing today.
What are you going to do to end the Silence?”
—From dayofsilence.com
Or should we? Are we called to do anything to end the silence? By “we,” I mean those of us who have placed our trust in Jesus Christ as our only hope of salvation. Call us “Christians,” or “Christ followers.” And because of those titles and the commitment that lies therein, are we called to do anything? Or can we just bury our heads in the sand and wait for the day – April 20th – to pass?
Well, head-burying is rarely an effective faith-sharing strategy. So one of the first things we must do as Christians is drop the labels and begin to see all people, regardless of whether they are living outside of God’s blueprint for sexuality, as our neighbor…
If you find opportunities to discuss this topic with your friends as a result of the Day of Silence – dialogue, don’t preach. We’re all broken people in need of a redeeming relationship with our God through Jesus. Christians should be among the first to reach out toward LGBT. After all, we have Jesus as our model and He was often criticized for hanging out with the wrong people.
So what’s a Christian to do with the Day of Silence?
Acknowledge the struggle it presents for you as a follower of Christ. Personally wrestle with the tension between not compromising your convictions about morality, while loving all your neighbors as Jesus said in Mark 12:31… and also sharing the good news of Christ.
Click here to read the entire Soul Fuel Article specifically designed for students to relate to current events.
As a leader, how can you help your students respond in a Christ-like way to the Day of Silence?
We’re handing out “Love Your Neighbor” stickers for our students to wear at school on Friday. A third option rather than wearing the tape over their mouth supporting the homosexual agenda or being branded bigots for not wearing anything.