Winning Souls, Not Arguments

March 20, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

The men who were guarding Jesus mocked Him and beat Him. They blindfolded Him and hit Him again and then demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit You?” And it wasn’t just the physical abuse, but they heaped mocking insult upon mocking insult upon Jesus (Luke 22:64-65). 

All four of the Gospel writers recount how Jesus responded to both the physical and verbal abuse: 

  • To the false charges before the Sanhedrin, Jesus remained silent (Matthew 26:57-63) 
  • To the spitting and hitting by the members of the Sanhedrin, Jesus remained silent (Matthew 26:67-68) 
  • To the physical abuse of the guards, along with their mocking insults, Jesus remained silent (Mark 14:65; Luke 22:64-65) 
  • To the mocking He endured before King Herod, Jesus remained silent (Luke 23:9-11) 
  • To the false charges announced to Governor Pilate, Jesus remained silent (Matthew 27:12-14) 
  • To the insults and mocking thrown His way as He hung on the Cross, Jesus remained silent (Matthew 27:38-44; Mark 15:29-32; Luke 23:35-36) 

His only verbal response was after being slapped in the face by one of the officials in the Sanhedrin. Jesus said, “If I said something wrong, testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike Me?” (John 18:22-23). 

These are what we call an ad hominem attack. That is attacking the person, instead of confronting the ideas or arguments the person is presenting. 

The self-control of Jesus here is absolutely astounding! Peter records, “When they held their insults [and their fists and their spit] at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). 

Even as His trial got underway, Luke records, “the council of the elders of the people…met together, and Jesus was led before them” (Luke 22:66).

Dr. Henry Halley points out that extra-biblical sources have told us that this trial violated at least four of the Sanhedrin’s own rules:

  1. Meeting on the morning of a festival 
  2. Meeting in Caiaphas’ personal residence 
  3. Trying a defendant without defense 
  4. Passing the verdict of a death sentence in one day instead of two days 

I would add a fifth rule which is found in Scripture: At least two witnesses need to be in agreement with their testimony for there to be a death sentence (Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:5; Mark 14:55-59). 

When the Sanhedrin then hauled Jesus before Pontius Pilate, even their charges made before the governor in Luke 23:1-2 were flimsy at best: 

  1. Subversion—there is no proof for this 
  2. Opposing taxes to Rome—this was false (see Luke 20:20-25) 
  3. Jesus was a rival to the Roman throne—not true 

And still Jesus remained almost completely silent! He only spoke when asked a direct question, but He remained silent throughout the false accusations, the verbal taunts, and the physical abuse. 

When I am treated unfairly, when the rules are bent against me, when false charges are lodged against me, I get angry! I want to defend myself! I want to put my accusers or abusers in their place! 

Could Jesus have prevented His arrest? Yes (Matthew 26:53)! 

Could Jesus have defended Himself before the Sanhedrin, Pilate, and King Herod? Yes! 

Could Jesus have come down from the Cross to prove His power? Yes! 

But Jesus wasn’t trying to win a momentary argument; He was winning souls for eternity! 

Jesus came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45). So, “for the joy set before Him He endured the Cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” 

When anger boils up because of the mistreatment we are enduring, we must “consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (Hebrews 12:2-3). 

Like Jesus, let’s not try to win just a momentary argument that may result in the loss of a soul for all of eternity. There is a time to speak and there is a time for silence. As we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will know what time it is. 

(You can check out all of the Scriptures I referenced in this post by clicking here.)

P.S. You may also be interested in a previous blog post Winning the Argument or the Battle or my short video How Should Leaders Handle Pushback. 

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The Compliance Of Silence

April 11, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

A couple of weeks ago I shared a recap from my sermon called Eloquent Silence. Jesus serenely remained silent when He was being falsely accused by those who wanted Him out of the way. Yet, His silence was eloquent and convicting. 

We would do well to learn this lesson from our Savior. 

There is a flip side to this: Sometimes our silence can signal compliance or acceptance of those who are speaking or perpetrating evil. 

David wrote, “Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones? Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men? No, in heart you work wickedness; you weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth” (Psalm 58:1-2 NKJV). 

Commenting on this psalm, Charles Spurgeon wrote, “It would be well, if people would sometimes pause and candidly consider this: ‘Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?’ Some of those who surrounded Saul were passive rather than active persecutors—they held their tongues when the object of royal hate was slandered. In the original, this first sentence appears to be addressed to them, and they are asked to justify their silence. Silence gives consent. People who refrain from defending the right are themselves accomplices in the wrong.”  

Silence does have its place. King Solomon wrote, “He who despises his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding keeps silent. He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy conceals a matter” (Proverbs 11:12-13 NASB1995). But to remain silent in the face of evil or falsehood could also be a sin. 

Consider a few other wise words:

“No one wants to be thought of as holding to a ‘minority position’ on anything, so, rather than speak up in the face of many who are doing so, most will remain silent. This is where the Christian community finds itself at this time, trapped in a spiral of silence before a blustering but empty secular and unbelieving worldview. So it is very important that believers in Jesus Christ make the best use of every opportunity to talk about what is good and pleasing to God.” —T.M. Moore 

“Don’t be a bystander, be on stand by. I will not allow a bully to bully others. I will not laugh at his jokes, I will not remain silent. I will stand up and say ‘Enough is enough.’” —Nick Vujicic 

“As Christians we are tempted to make unnecessary concession to those outside the Faith. We give in too much. Now, I don’t mean that we should run the risk of making a nuisance of ourselves by witnessing at improper times, but there comes a time when we must show that we disagree. We must show our Christian colors, if we are to be true to Jesus Christ. We cannot remain silent or concede everything away.” —C.S. Lewis 

“Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about things that really matter.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.

When to speak up and when to remain silent is a huge issue for Christians. This is why we need to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit telling us when to hold our tongues and when to speak out boldly.

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Poetry Saturday—Hasty Foolishness

April 1, 2023 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible.

This is a poem I wrote for my congregation after we talked about the eloquent silence of Jesus as His response to foolish heckling.

Learn a lesson from our Lord
Often silence cuts like a sword
When we stand upon the Rock
We needn’t bother when fools mock
Bantering with fools just won’t do
Unless you want to be foolish too
To the wisest words they won’t listen
But joy in airing their own opinion
Our Lord knew just what to do
When mockers hurled words untrue
He entrusted things to the King
Who perfectly records everything
Help us follow the example You gave
To not engage with those who rave
May not our hasty words undo
The loving way we shine for You —Craig T. Owens


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12 More Quotes From “Ordering Your Private World”

October 4, 2017 — Craig T. Owens 




Gordon MacDonald did a phenomenal job synthesizing biblical principles as he teaches us how to pay attention to our private, inner world. One of the things I enjoyed was the number of other authors and teachers he quotes throughout Ordering Your Private World. Here are a few of those quotes he shared…


“The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God, never first in the external world. … Nothing has any power over the man who has fought out the battle before God and won there. … I must get the things settled between myself and God in the secret places of my soul where no stranger intermeddles, and then I can go forth with the certainty that the battle is won.” —Oswald Chambers


“I took pleasure where it pleased me, and passed on. I forgot that every little action of the common day makes or unmakes character, and that therefore what one has done in the secret chamber, one has some day to cry aloud from the house-top. I ceased to be lord over myself. I was no longer the captain of my soul, and did not know it. I allowed pleasure to dominate me. I ended in horrible disgrace.” —Oscar Wilde 


“Think of no other greatness but that of the soul, no other riches but those of the heart.” —John Quincy Adams, in a letter to his daughter


“A public man, though he is necessarily available at many times, must learn to hide. If he is always available, he is not worth enough when he is available.” —Elton Trueblood


“Remember a long life of steady, consistent, holy labor will produce twice as much fruit as one shortened and destroyed by spasmodic and extravagant exertions; be careful and sparing of your strength when and where exertion is unnecessary.” —Catherine Booth, in a letter to her husband William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army


“There can be intemperance in work just as in drink. What feels like zeal may be only fidgets or even the flattering of one’s self-importance.” —C.S. Lewis


“The man of action has the present, but the thinker controls the future.” —Oliver Wendell Holmes


“No other pleasure suits every occasion, every age or every place. But the study of letters is the food of youth, the delight of old age, a delight at home and no burden abroad; it stays with us at night, and goes with us on our travels, near and far.” —Cicero


“We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature—trees, flowers, grass—grow in silence; see the stars, the moon and sun, how they move in silence…. The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life. We need silence to be able to touch souls. The essential thing is not what we say, but what God says to us and through us. All our words will be useless unless they come from within—words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness.” —Mother Teresa


“St. Augustine says, ‘God gives where He finds empty hands.’ A man whose hands are full of parcels can’t receive a gift. Perhaps these parcels are not always sins or earthly cares, but sometimes our own fussy attempts to worship Him in our way. Incidentally, what most often interrupts my own prayers is not great distractions but tiny ones—things one will have to do or avoid in the course of the next hour.” —C.S. Lewis


“Let inward prayer be your last act before you fall asleep and the first act when you awake.” —Thomas Kelly


“I know that there are certain mental and emotional and moral and spiritual attitudes that are anti-health: anger, resentments, fear, worry, desire to dominate, self-preoccupation, guilts, sexual impurity, jealousy, a lack of creative activity, inferiorities, a lack of love. These are the twelve apostles of ill health. So in prayer I’ve learned to surrender these things to Jesus Christ as they appear.” —E. Stanley Jones


You can check out my review of Gordon MacDonald’s Order Your Private World by clicking here. And you can read some quotes from Gordon by clicking here.






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Links & Quotes

November 12, 2015 — Craig T. Owens 




link quote


“I have learned now that while those who speak about one’s miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more.” —C.S. Lewis


“Jesus spilled His blood for you. You can spill your heart before God.” —Max Lucado


“Too often, when issues of sexual abuse come up, the Church simply stays silent. But a Gospel-centered response to sexual violation of anyone at any age begins with understanding that silence is not an option.” Read more in The Scandal Of Silence.


An abortion clinic in Michigan was shut down for numerous health and safety violations, but now it appears it may re-open.


[VIDEO] Here’s the truth of what abortion providers do—




Eric Metaxas shares the really cool story behind the Navy Hymn.


“You can be saved, Spirit-filled, and walking holy before God, yet still be guilty of unbelief. You may think, ‘I don’t have any unbelief.’ But do you get upset when things go wrong? Are you fearful of failing God? Are you restless, afraid of the future? The believer who has unconditional faith in God’s promise enjoys complete rest. What characterizes this rest? A full, complete confidence in God’s Word, and a total dependence on His faithfulness to that Word. Indeed, rest is the evidence of faith.” —David Wilkerson


Seth Godin discusses what starts to happen when our expectations slip.


 






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Sometimes Your Silence Says A Lot

July 9, 2015 — Craig T. Owens 




Silence speaks“Pilate [knew] it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him” (Mark 15:9, 10).


There was no credible evidence against Jesus, and Pilate knew it! Yet, “wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed Him over to be crucified” (v. 15). Even without evidence, Pilate was still swayed by the noise of the crowd.


How eerily similar to our culture today: Noise trumps evidence; emotions trump facts; the “popular crowd” gets their way.


It was not Christ’s words at this time—but His silence—that had the lasting impact. He did not try to defend Himself of the false charges before Pilate, but committed Himself to God (John 19:11; Luke 23:46). It was this that both amazed Pilate (Mark 5:5), and prompted the centurion to say, “Surely this Man was the Son of God!” (v. 39).


When I simply share the gospel, God will confirm His Word with miracles (Mark 16:20). I don’t need to match volume levels with the crowd, nor sink to their base rhetoric, nor defend myself—I commit myself to my God and His directive for me to be His witness (16:15). He will take care of the results!






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The Wit Of Will Rogers

January 27, 2015 — Craig T. Owens 




Will RogersThere are few who have rivaled the wit and homespun wisdom of Will Rogers!


“Even if you are on the right track you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” —Will Rogers


“You can’t tell what a man is like or what he is thinking when you are looking at him. You must get around behind him and see what he has been looking at.” —Will Rogers


“People who fly into a rage always make a bad landing.” —Will Rogers


“Live in such a way that you would not be ashamed to sell your parrot to the town gossip.” —Will Rogers


“It doesn’t take much to see something is wrong, but it does take some eyesight to see what will put it right again.” —Will Rogers


“Income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf.” —Will Rogers


“There are two theories to arguing with a woman. Neither works.” —Will Rogers


“Never miss a good chance to shut up.” —Will Rogers


“The quickest way to double your money is to fold it and put it back in your pocket.” —Will Rogers


“There are three kinds of men: ones who learn by reading, few who learn by observation, and the rest of them who have to grab the electric fence and find out for themselves.” —Will Rogers


“Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment.” —Will Rogers


“If you’re riding ahead of the herd, take a look back every now and then to make sure it’s still there.” —Will Rogers


“After eating an entire bull, a mountain lion felt so good he started roaring. He kept it up until a hunter came along and shot him. The moral: when you’re full of bull, keep your mouth shut.” —Will Rogers






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Links & Quotes

June 9, 2014 — Craig T. Owens 




link quote


Some good reading from today…


Food for thought: Worship In A Selfie World.


“The most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention. A loving silence often has far more power to heal and to connect than the most well-intentioned words.” —Rachel Naomi Remen


Pastor Dave Barringer has some good thoughts on Successful Communication In Marriage.


“Joy is distinctly a Christian word and a Christian thing. It is the reverse of happiness. Happiness is the result of what happens of an agreeable sort. Joy has its springs deep down inside. And that spring never runs dry, no matter what happens. Only Jesus gives that joy.” —S.D. Gordon


“The Holy Spirit does not bring text after text until we are utterly confused; He simply brings back with the greatest of ease the words which we need in the particular circumstances we are in. Then comes in the use of the will, will I obey the word which has been brought back to our remembrance? The battle comes when we begin to debate instead of obeying.” —Oswald Chambers






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Keep It Closed!

July 2, 2013 — Craig T. Owens 




Keep it closedJesus told us that the Holy Spirit would help us reply the right way when someone questioned us about our faith in God. But Jesus showed us, that sometimes no reply is the best reply.


After Jesus was arrested, He was first sent to Pilate:


So again Pilate asked Jesus, “Aren’t You going to answer? See how many things they are accusing You of.” But Jesus still made no reply… (Mark 15:4-5).


Then Pilate sent Jesus to King Herod:


When Herod saw Jesus, he was greatly pleased, because for a long time he had been wanting to see Him. From what he had heard about Him, he hoped to see Him perform a sign of some sort. He plied Him with many questions, but Jesus gave him no answer (Luke 23:8-9).


So Herod sent Jesus back to Pilate. And what was the bottom line? Mark 15:5 adds this important phrase about the Roman governor: “…and Pilate was amazed.”


Our ability to remain silent when the Holy Spirit bids us to be silent speaks volumes to those who witness our silence. Be careful. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Sometimes keeping your mouth closed may be the best testimony for God that you can give.






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Thursdays With Oswald—God’s Silence

October 13, 2011 — Craig T. Owens 




This is a weekly series with things I’m reading and pondering from Oswald Chambers. You can read the original seed thought here, or type “Thursdays With Oswald” in the search box to read more entries.


God’s Silence


     Has God trusted you with His silence—a silence that has great meaning? God’s silences are actually His answers. Just think of those days of absolute silence in the home at Bethany [John 11:1-6]! Is there anything comparable to those days in your life? Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? God will give you the very blessings you ask if you refuse to go any further without them, but His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into an even more wonderful understanding of Himself. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible response? When you cannot hear God, you will find that He has trusted you in the most intimate way possible—with absolute silence, not a silence of despair, but one of pleasure, because He saw that you could withstand an even bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence, then praise Him—He is bringing you into the mainstream of His purposes.


From My Utmost For His Highest


Can God trust you like that, or are you still asking Him for a visible answer? Wow! I need to think about this one for awhile…






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