Too much information. There are many people who love to share. Often, they share more than we want to know and it seems the objective of their sharing is to draw attention. We once had a couple come to our church and they said they had left their previous church because you weren’t valued unless you had a problem. We even get competitive in what we share. Isn’t that what drives the success of Twitter and Facebook.
According to Nouwen the desert fathers felt that the heat of the Holy Spirit in us is diminished when we open the doors of our mouth and speak words to let it out. For them, to build the fire of the Spirit to a roaring blaze inside a person must keep silent.
The perspective I’m more familiar with comes from a very simple song.
I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me!
Makes the lame to walk, and the blind to see.
Opens prison doors, sets the captives free!
I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me!Spring up, O well, within my soul!
Spring up, O well, and make me whole!
Spring up, O well, and give to me
That life abundantly.
I can’t find either of these perspectives clearly supported by scripture. They both seem to be more about me and my experience than they are about making God more visible.
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, 4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, 5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, 6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, 8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV)
So, if silence is about listening to the Spirit, then it has a clear purpose that can glorify God and transform me. Speaking in community now has increased value because I’m expressing what God has given me to share. It seems that the test of whether I’m getting this right is all about who my speech draws attention to. We’re never in danger of sharing too much information if it’s God’s voice we’re sharing.
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