Do you hear it?

Hear what?

The silence.

It was my first visit back to the US while living in one of South America’s great industrial cities. We went to visit my parents in the far western edge of New Mexico.

When stepping outside the first evening I heard it. It was startling. A sound I had not heard for some time. It was the sound of silence.

Periodically, a breeze, a rustling tree, a cricket disturbed the night but the overall sound was silence.

Living in a huge city that never slept, I had forgotten the sound of silence.

Suddenly, silence filtered out the encroachment of months of noise. The silence seemed to bring with it extra space within my brain, my emotions, and my soul.

For a short while, standing in the dark spring silence, disharmony disappeared.

For the past several weeks, I have been seeking to discover a clue as to why there is disharmony between churches. I keep wondering what it might take to plant churches that are faithful to God yet perhaps churches so different I might think them strange.

What might it take to plant churches wired to show Jesus to different segments that are widely diverse?

I want to go back to a thought I raised earlier. Is it possible, I could read the New Testament with different lens?  Too often, I see the Gospels as announcing the good news of Jesus and see the remainder of the New Testament as the source of doctrine for the church.

I believe the Bible is inspired by Holy God.

The Gospels teach me of the sacrificial gift of heaven to cover my sin and shows me the teachings and example of Jesus to follow in my daily life. The Acts and the Letters show how I enter into relationship with Jesus and examples of a struggling church’s attempts to follow His teaching and demonstrate His life.

Here is what I am beginning to see. There is a beautiful golden silence in the New Testament.  The sound of silence plays in harmony with the Spirit. Paul tells me, the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

Is it possible if I were to give more credence to the silent places in Scripture, harmony with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ would become easier?

For example, Scripture teaches me God is worthy of worship. Scripture teaches me worship must come from a grateful heart. Scripture does not give me an exact format to follow. Silence leaves the “how to” to flow from the heart.

Scripture teaches me to pray. Prayers vary in content and form from Genesis to Revelation. Silence allows the content of prayer to flow from my heart.

The Bible begins with a song of creation. Songs, hymns, and praises appear throughout the Old and New Testaments. Biblical silence doesn’t worry with mechanics. Mechanics as to how we sing is a non-issue in Scripture. God wants me to praise Him from my heart. His silence on mechanics allows great freedom for praise through song.

Scripture teaches me to care for the poor. Its silence allows me to decide how to help make a difference.

I fail and falter in my attempt to follow explicitly each command of Jesus. It makes me even more grateful for the golden sound of silence in Scripture. I don’t need the burden of living up to rules made by fellow Christ followers.

Stay Tuned.

Gary J. Sorrells – On Cross Church