How many times have you heard the refrain, “Faith is a private matter?” It has been repeated so often that it has become sacrosanct to many. The truth however is far removed from the rhetoric. It doesn’t matter how many times a lie is repeated or how profound it may sound, a lie is still a lie.
Here are 11 reasons why Faith is NOT a private matter:
- Jesus said that we should go into all the world and make disciples. (Matt 28:19) Exactly how can that happen if we are silent?
- Pope Francis stated that prohibitions against worshipping God publically is a sign of “general apostasy” that …”makes us think of the final days.”
- When we fail to be a light, darkness prevails.
- Since a person’s religion encapsulates their view of God and responsibility to other people, no philosophy can be considered faith-less. If a Christian must be silent about his/her faith, then so must the Atheist. Before long there is little anyone can talk about.
- Amorality is a practical impossibility. By our very nature, we all have a sense of right and wrong – Just ask kids on the playground. That innate need for a moral code by which to live is evidence that man searches for authority. Whether a person chooses Jesus Christ, the Government or even themself as that authority determines the basis for that person’s view of God and therefore their view of religion. Therefore whatever their views – be they secularly or religiously based – they stem from their belief (faith) about the workings of the universe and therefore are informed by their version of faith.
- If faith were truly private, it could not survive past a single person or generation, yet it is all around us.
- Since faith defines what someone believes, when that person pontificates about the private nature of faith, are they not making their private belief public and thereby violating their own moral absolute?
- St. Paul obviously didn’t believe faith was a private matter. We see the opposite in his life and in his writing. “This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace.” (Col. 1:6 NLT)
- St. Peter wrote that we should always be ready to articulate why we have hope in Christ. (1 Pet 3:15)
- Paul also wrote to his protégé’ Timothy telling him to never be ashamed “of the testimony about our Lord…” even to the point of persecution. (2 Tim 1:8)
- If we truly believe that Jesus is the only way to God, then how can we say we love others yet never tell them how they can know God.