Where Acknowledging Ends and Disowning Begins

"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven." Matt 10:32-33

I remember reading the verses above not long after I became a Christian and feeling a bit anxious. Frankly, those verses still scare me today. How do we know the boundaries of “acknowledge” and “disown”?

As I mentioned in my previous post on Christian women debating, there seems to be a large proportion of Christian women online who prefer not to tangle with the tougher issues and prefer others not tangle with the tougher issues. I for one am not afraid to debate, or to point out the issues I see with certain religions or denominations. But am I wrong? Is it better to know in my heart that there are issues but keep quiet so as not to offend?

I remember a few years ago I was eating lunch at work with a few women in my group who I didn’t know very well. These women were also scientists and for some reason the topic of Intelligent Design came up. One of my colleagues made the comment that she couldn’t believe that there are people who don’t believe in evolution.

Now, I could have just sat there and said nothing and the conversation would have moved on. There was no direct attack against God, nothing obvious to defend. But I couldn’t just be silent. I simply said, “I don’t believe in evolution” and said something else that made it clear I was a Christian. I don’t remember what exactly happened after that but the direction of the conversation quickly changed.

So why did I speak up? It certainly wasn’t pride because when you tell a table full of scientists you don’t believe in evolution you might as well tell them what size straight-jacket you wear.

Did I do it so I could brag to the people at my church about it (and years later blog about it)? Nope, other than my husband no one has ever heard this story.

I did it because when something is said that is out of line with the truth of God, I simply feel the need to speak up. To just sit quietly and say nothing FOR ME would be like disowning Jesus. If I didn’t say something it would be to avoid conflict, embarrassment, not call attention to myself – it would be all about me.

So where does acknowledgment end and disowning begin? Obviously if I say I am a follower of Christ then I acknowledge Him and if I say I am not a follower of Christ then I disown Him. But what happens in between those two extremes? Do my actions on a day to day basis acknowledge or disown?

If I sit quietly and say nothing when I know that God is being misrepresented, am I acknowledging him or disowning Him? I think that idea is what summarizes my actions in the blogosphere. It is not my intent here to judge others or throw stones or prove that I am Queen of the Mountain. I simply talk about whatever happens to be on my mind and in line with what I know about God’s truths.

I felt the need to share this because I want people to understand why I say the things I say here. I don’t think Christianity is a spectator sport. My goal in life is not to have friends on earth, but to make sure my friends will be in heaven. The only way I know how to do that is to speak His Truth as best I can.