It’s ok to not have the answers.
It’s ok to not have an opinion on something everyone seems to have an opinion on all of a sudden.
It’s ok to not post about something everyone is posting about, or change your profile picture to a filter that everyone has changed theirs to.
It’s ok to not change your G-d given mandate because all of the mainstream news is telling you to focus on something else.
It’s ok to pray and ask G-d for clarity.
And then, it’s ok to get up and keep moving forward.
You have a G-d-given purpose on this earth.
Your calling, ministry, service to people, etc. is just as important today as it was yesterday.
You’ve been working in anti-human trafficking for the past few years? When is the last time you went to the airport or the gym and most of the televisions were CNN talking about human trafficking?
You work in violence prevention in your inner city? When is the last time there was 72-hour nonstop coverage on the homicide rate in your neighborhood?
You have a heart for the 1 million+ slaves across the African continent? When is the last time you saw YouTube ads highlighting the largest slave trade in our history?
The news is great for informing us, but hardly ever tells us everything. Do not get distracted into thinking that nothing else in the world matters. Stay consistent. Stay faithful in what you know you are supposed to be doing.
I would even argue that in these days, the very fact that the whole world is telling you to focus on one thing and express the same opinion is the very indicator that you should probably take a beat, let things play out, stay focused on your mission, and if you want to speak up on the trending topic, do so when you’re comfortable, on your time, using wisdom.
People will tell you your silence is evil. Ignore them. Other people will ridicule you for the way you spoke up if you chose to speak. Ignore them too.
When the dust settles, you’ll find most of them will have moved on, and eventually onto the next all-consuming issue, and the whole cycle will start all over again.
My father taught me that “we do what we do as unto G-d.” Meaning some, sometimes most people will reject or ignore what you say or do. A small percentage may listen and be changed. It’s not our job to take note or tally up scores. It’s our job to do our assignment. G-d sees, and he will judge accordingly.
Speak the truth.
Messaging is important. Language is important. Packaging has its place. But no packaging, no language, no way of messaging is going to convince someone who abhors the truth and abhors you by proxy. The notion that if we could just be cooler with how we present things to people, they’d listen is a fallacy. That method may seem to work in the short game, but the people who were drawn by swag rarely ever stick around when it matters most. G-d even said to Ezekiel:
“As for you, son of man, your people who talk together about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses, say to one another, each to his brother, ‘Come, and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.’ And they come to you as people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear what you say but they will not do it; for with lustful talk in their mouths they act; their heart is set on their gain. And behold, you are to them like one who sings lustful songs with a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument, for they hear what you say, but they will not do it. When this comes—and come it will!—then they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
-Ezekiel 33:30-33
People may have found Ezekiel to be an incredible public speaker; charismatic, smooth, good-looking, etc. But in the end, they would only realize he was a prophet from G-d when it was too late. It wasn’t Ezekiel’s job to try and find another way to speak to the people. It was Ezekiel’s job to tell Israel what G-d said. And as the Lord tells Ezekiel in the same book, when calamity comes, it will only be Ezekiel’s fault if he didn’t tell the people what G-d said (Ezekiel 3:17-21).
So not only is it ok to not get swept up in whatever trendy madness is going on, it’s actually imperative. Abandoning your post in the name of virtue signaling, or jumping on a crusade you know very little about can have tumultuous consequences. It also goes hand-in-hand with not speaking hard truths because they go against the prevailing narrative. If speaking that truth is your job, do it. If it isn’t, do what you’re supposed to be doing.
Time will bear witness to the truth.
Time will bear witness to the truth! That is the truth.