1 Timothy 3:16

Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of our religion: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory.

One of the central differences between what Christian faith is and what many people in the world would like it to be is the fact that, although most modern people think of religion as “private” Scripture reveals our faith to be incurably public.  As St. Paul says, the events of the gospel did not happen in a corner (Acts 26:26).  Jesus taught and performed miracles publicly.  And though he made certain things known only to his disciples for a time, he also made clear that their task was to make public everything he had temporarily made secret.  This the Church has been doing for the past 2000 years.  And that is why Christians today are obliged to make noise about the gospel in the world: for the gospel is an inherently noisy faith.  It insists that God has broken into our world and set up a ruckus by not only refusing to remain quietly and politely dead after we killed him but by proceeding to march out of the tomb to overturn entire social orders, kingdoms, political agendas, racial prejudices, pro-abortion and euthanasia ideologies and economic schemes ranging from laissez-faire capitalism to atheistic communism. Jesus, despite much whining from a squirming and uncomfortable world, won’t keep quiet.  Neither should we.