When people have been hurt by an injustice of some sort within the church—especially when somebody has abused their power and used an appearance of godliness to cover it up—we help precisely nobody by insisting on silence. Silence is precisely how these things were allowed to happen in the first place! Worse, we communicate to those who have been damaged that we either don’t care or don’t have the spine to admit that what has happened was wrong, unjust and should not have happened.

A few years ago now, I was getting battered in the ministry. I don’t want to rehash all the gory details here. Suffice to say it was an extremely unpleasant time for me and my family.

But the hardest part of that time was not the unpleasant stuff being said about us, the lies being passed around, the whispering campaign or the unsubtle efforts to make life so difficult I would quit. Those things were all nasty, but not really the worst. Nasty and ungodly people will, inevitably, say and do nasty and ungodly things. I was not the first, I was merely the latest.

No, the thing that stung the most was the the friends who didn’t really say anything. The people we hoped might speak but, for various reasons, didn’t. I don’t bear any ill-will to any of those friends at all—things can be complicated and it’s not always easy to speak due to complex situations (I love them as much now as I ever did)—but there were days we just longed for somebody, anybody, to stand up and say clearly and without equivocation that what was happening was unjust and wrong. In fact, the balloon of nonsense began to deflate the moment somebody did just that. It spelt the beginning of the end of that unfortunate episode.

Now, I don’t share that to elicit any sympathy. If I wanted that, I’d rehash the whole sorry saga. It is something in the past and I am grateful to have two godly men, whom I love, to lead the church alongside me. The reason I write it is to make the point, of which I am only too aware, that silence is not always golden. Sometimes, saying nothing is ultimately not the godly response to wrongdoing and injustice. In fact, our silence can cause even more pain than that brought by the sin we ought to be exposing.

In our case, the problem at hand flourished in the dark corners and under cover of silence. Whilst people could whisper to each other, speaking what was neither true nor helpful, issues could not be handled or addressed. Gossip thrived in the vacuum of silence and relished its private meetings to try and address matters. It was only with the disinfectant of light and as things were brought out into the open that matters could begin to be resolved.

Even then, there was a tendency to want to appear moderate. Let’s try not to take sides. Let’s make sure we ascribe blame on both sides because that has the appearance of balance. Let’s ensure that we don’t say what we think because our silence has the appearance of godliness and wisdom. But when there is a simple matter of right and wrong before you, it is ungodly and unjust to pretend it is something other. To suggest the issue is complicated, or there must be blame on both sides, when—in reality—somebody is simply behaving in an ungodly manner, is not wise nor godly. The right thing to do is simply call sin out for what it is, plainly and clearly. Balance and moderation is for when there is considerable doubt about the matter, not for when it is apparent that somebody is trying to stage a coup and sow the seed of division.

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