Going Public (like Obadiah)

I have always loved to write (if you couldn’t tell by the length of this article). When an opportunity to become a journalist came to me in the first month of my freshman year, I jumped at the opportunity.

It was not until April of the following semester, after going through a breakup, that I really threw myself into it, looking for a way to pass the time and find some fulfillment in doing so. Shortly after the semester closed, I decided to apply and was granted an editorial position.

The thing about being in journalism, if you were unaware, is that you are expected to be unbiased if you truly want to be subservient to the “greater good” of informing the public. Nobody is really unbiased, but journalists like to pretend.

I was more than willing to do that at the time, but God almost immediately put me in a challenging position, much like he did to Obadiah, the steward of King Ahab, one of the worst kings of Ancient Israel.

There was a famine in the land, so Ahab told Obadiah to search for grass for his horses and mules to eat. Instead, Obadiah ended up finding Elijah, the only active prophet at the time, whom the king was not a fan of.

And he [Elijah] answered him, ‘It is I. Go, tell your lord, ‘Behold, Elijah is here.’

And he [Obadiah] said, ‘How have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me? …And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you I know not where. And so, when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I, your servant, have feared the Lord from my youth. Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord, how I hid a hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifty in a cave and fed them with bread and water?

…And Elijah said, ‘As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.’ (1 Kings 18:8-15, abbreviated)

Obadiah had answered the call to serve God privately while in the midst of an evil society, but when it was time to serve God openly, he was scared. He had objections. Like any reasonable human being would.

If he wanted to keep his religious beliefs to himself (which at this point in time were one in the same with political beliefs), it was probably a bad idea to serve in the court of a pagan king!

Just the same, attending a pro-abortion protest to write what was originally intended to be a news article was not the smartest idea for me if I wanted to keep a low profile on my political and religious beliefs as a journalist, one of which for me is the equal dignity and value of human life regardless of developmental stage.

On the sidelines of the protest, I met a man named Gregory Mayo who actually wrote for the same newspaper I did when he was in college.

He had some traumatic experiences in his childhood, was party to two abortions in his young adult life, but found God many years after finishing college. He had grief and shame about his decisions as a young adult for many years but ended up finding healing through Christ, and started a ministry to help other men do the same.

He answered the call, and put himself in an extremely vulnerable position as a man to serve God.

I decided I could not be silent any longer either.

When God calls you to be Christian publicly, it could be about a wide variety of things.

It could be by fighting for society to embrace human dignity in some form or fashion.

It could be by singing a hymn in public.

It could be by sharing the Gospel with a friend.

Most often, he calls us to be a Christian publicly by simply fulfilling our duties to our neighbor with the right attitude. This is just as glorifying to God as anything else.

Taking the risk to be a Christian publicly can be scary, because it’s tempting to think that we are doing the work, or that doing so will make us seem holier-than-thou, when most of us are more than aware of our moral failings.

But Obadiah was not the one doing the work. Ultimately, it was Elijah who stood up to King Ahab and questioned Israel.

How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. (1 Kings 18:21)

Just the same, it is ultimately God that does the work to transform hearts and in any event to bring about an outcome in accordance with his will despite our failures and our weakness.

It is also scary to publicly be a Christian because it's scary to be public about anything at all. Speaking is hard, but when it comes to the Christian faith, God promises that his Word will not return void.

So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. (Isaiah 55:11)

And God always keeps his promises.

While in America, being publicly a Christian may not cause you to put your life on the line like Obadiah, but it could very well cost you your popularity and your career plans.

In some sense, it did for me. I eventually lost my former editorial position and definitely put my graduate school applications at risk by being vocal about my beliefs.

Nevertheless, God has better things in store.

In the process of me deciding to be publicly a Christian, he tore down the idols in my life (my academic career goals, value-free journalism, and a few other things) and replaced them with better things that enabled him to have a more proper place in my life.

And we know all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).

So remember that when God calls you to be a Christian publicly, it is him doing the work, not you. You may be a dirty, rotten sinner (I know I am), you may be a broken vessel, and you may fear for your life like Obadiah, but God delights in using the broken vessels of this world to accomplish his purposes. When he tells you to speak, when he tells you to share his Word, remember it is him speaking and not you. You may lose the world, but you will gain your soul in the process.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (2 Corinthians 4:7)

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1:27-31)