In his wiser, more inspired moments King Solomon once wrote …
Ecclesiastes 3:6-7
“[There is] 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, ...”
“A time to be silent and a time to speak” … amongst other many other matters mentioned where timely wisdom is required. Probably the critical flow of thought beneath the text of Ecclesiastes 3 is timely wisdom – when to know what to do. There is a time, or season, for everything, Solomon wrote, with the unmistakable inference that there is also a very wrong time to do things, too. Some call this a measured approach, or keeping one’s powder dry, or biding one’s time and so on. But I think Solomon was speaking about something far more important in the course of community and, probably, national events.
Picking your moment is also not what Solomon was saying, either, although that is a factor, sort of. It’s not about what will give me an advantage or get me ahead in life, although there is some of that in there, too.
We have a raft of social media platforms where anyone can speak and have their say from Facebook to Instagram, to WhatsApp or TikTok – at any time of night or day. There is so much time for so much speaking that most of it now washes over us. I mean, can you remember what was on the TV news last night? There is a lot of speaking noise in our world today, and not much space for silence and so, speaking has lost a lot of value and “weight”. Even wise voices are drowned out by the noise of nonsense. I knew a very wise man once (he is with the Lord now) who had a reputation of not saying much but, when he did, people seriously listened. He had this wise authority that was never lost in the other verbal noise. He knew when to be silent, and when to speak.
I think this is what Solomon was actually getting at – that when we do speak, we need to ensure that what we say carries the proper weight of wisdom and measure in order to really make a difference.
This is why the Church, and Christians individually, need to heed Solomon’s admonition. And this is why the Church, and Christians, need to know when to be silent. If the Church speaks all the time about anything and everything it loses the weight of wisdom and measure in all the other noise. It loses its distinctive prophetic edge – there is too much salt, so to speak. The world switches off and hears only a squeaky wheel - which does not always get the oil – and we are derisorily dismissed.
So, when should we be silent, when should we speak?
God’s people are the salt of the earth. Salt dramatically slows the process of corruption. It preserves. It cleanses. It flavours. It is antiseptic. The salt metaphor gives us pretty good clues about when to speak.
Many of you are aware of the state government’s plan to introduce special new “Pandemic Legislation”, the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (Pandemic Management) Bill 2021. It has been secretly discussed with a number of upper house crossbench senators since March in an attempt to garner majority support for the new bill when it comes time to vote. In a nutshell, this new legislation will give the premier of the day the following powers:
· The power to declare a pandemic if satisfied there was a serious risk to public health – with or without the advice of the Chief Health Officer.
· The power to call pandemic declarations at any time and renew these for up to three months at a time – with no limit to the number of three-month periods.
· The power of the Chief Health Office to make pandemic orders would be removed – medical advice would no longer be the driver of decision making – this power would be transferred to the Minister for Health.
· The power to declare a pandemic would exist even if there were no cases of any specific disease in Victoria for a period of time.
· Victorians could face up to two years’ prison time, or $90,500 in fines for breaching ANY pandemic order and the conditions pertaining thereto.
And that’s just for starters. This new legislation would override the current emergency management framework (composing two far-reaching acts of parliament), which provides all the necessary power for any government to manage any health crisis – as we have seen and experienced these last 20 months. No government needs a bigger stick. This new Pandemic Legislation clearly allows a premier to rule by decree – and not the law. Think martial law here. It would give the government virtually unlimited capacity to restrict movement, ban public gatherings, close businesses or order quarantine requirements as required.
In my view this is completely unwarranted, unfair, draconian and dangerous, and it allows a premier to completely bypass the parliament of the people. Our voice is shut down when parliament is shut down. The new Pandemic Bill is always inherently dangerous and avoids any accountability – and it is not democracy. I wrote to the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee of the parliament, last week, expressing my opposition to this proposed legislation. (SARC close examines proposed bills to ensure they do not nullify other legislation provisions, especially human rights).
I am convinced that this is one of those times when the people of God need to speak and voice their concerns about the preservation of justice and fairness for everyone. It is time for God’s people to add their salt to all this. Thomas Jefferson has been attributed with saying, “When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.” There is much truth to this.
Space does not allow for much more comment here except to say, I am deeply concerned at the prospect of such powerful legislation and am convinced Christians need to speak pout and voice their concern for the sake of the wider community. According to the scriptures there is a time to be silent and a time to speak.
This is not a time for God’s people to be silent.
If you would like to know more, or wish to write to SARC about you concerns, please drop me a line.
Selah!
Ps Milton