“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand.” –Philippians 4:5
I cannot get this verse out of my mind. Reasonableness could easily be translated gentleness or meekness. It’s the same word used in 2 Corinthians 10:1 in reference to the meekness of Christ. The word is often connected to response in the midst of persecution. Rather than retaliating we respond with gentleness. It’s not weakness but rather actual power which is under control.
But the part of that verse which is giving me such a stir is the phrase “let…be known”. It seems to me that it’s not only a call to consistently respond to persecution in this fashion, but it also has a “don’t hide it under a bushel” quality. Here I think of that Edmund Burke* quote, “All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” It’s a quote that’s been hijacked by the militant. It’s a great flaming arrow to pick up if you want to torch somebody. But I think it belongs better in the hands of someone like myself who shies away from conflict—often to a fault.
If I’m being honest I’ve been silenced. I tell myself that I’ve gone local and I hope to combat error on a personal face-to-face level rather than writing hot-takes. That’s true. I still believe this and this is still a good part of my strategy. But I believe there has been a cost to my public silence. I believe God has called me to a ministry of prophetic reasonableness. It’s a painful ministry in a season when we are so divided. More times than not I’ve chosen personal comfort over truth speaking. I’m still learning the balance here. I’m still healing from my own trauma’s and knowing when and how to speak. But there has been far too much resignation on my part, and the Lord has convicted me of this.
Consider this illustration from Debra Hirsch:
“No one would blink an eye at a woman bringing a Women’s Day into church, yet there would be an uproar if a man arrive with a Playboy under his arm! Aren’t both types of magazines pornographic? I put women’s magazines into the category of “social porn,” because they can be just as damaging for women as “soft porn” can be for men. Think of all the faulty notions of beauty it breeds, the covetousness it generates, not to mention the gossip that ensues…Porn is porn, no matter what form it comes in.” (Hirsch, 77)
In the same way I think of all those who bring outrage porn into the church. And we don’t bat an eye. In fact, in some circles we produce the porn.
Philippians 4:5 is set within a context. On one end it’s part of how “true companion” is called to “help these women”. And 4:5 also leads us into the beautiful garden of Philippians 4:8. Letting your reasonableness be known to all is connected with unity and beauty. So how does one who is called to prophetic reasonableness respond to the ugliness of outrage porn? Is it as simple as telling a better story? Or would you respond with the same vigor as the meek Christ who flipped over tables and crafted a whip to run people out of the temple?
I’m not certain the answer, but I believe I’ve been a bit too silent. And that’s not okay. I feel a bit like that dog in the picture–fires all around me and hoping that my calm will somehow put out the fires. It won’t. I need to stop pretending like it will.
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*This probably isn’t from Edmund Burke: https://checkyourfact.com/2019/06/05/fact-check-edmund-burke-triumph-evil-good-men/
