I need to say something about silence. . .

I was driving in my car to work and I heard on the radio from Wood 8 a story about “The Ride of Silence.” Today in Kalamazoo 500 bicyclists are joining together to participate in an eight-mile bike ride to bring awareness to biker safety and to honor those who died in bicycle accidents.

So if you see people riding bikes silently today, well, you now know why.

My question is why? What do they hope to accomplish by their silent riding? I don’t get it? It sounds very “honorable” and “praise-worthy”; but if we look at it realistically, what is really going on? If you allow me to share my opinion, silent tributes sometimes are more for the bike rider than the car driver. It definitely isn’t for the dead. 

So what do the bike riders want me, the car driver, to know? It’s obvious, “Look out, and don’t hit me.” Well, I never hit a bike rider, in fact, what car driver is purposely trying to hit people on a bike? And if your response is they are simply trying to wake up those who don’t pay attention to bike riders, they are raising awareness. It still makes no sense.

Can you imagine driving by a bike rider who is trying to raise awareness by practicing silence? While riding their bike you shout, “Hey buddy, nice day for a bike ride isn’t it?” Silence. “I said buddy, great day for a ride, right?” Nothing. “What is wrong with that guy? Maybe if I hit him with my car he might finally say something?”

Or if I am a bike rider, what am I thinking? “Look at me, riding my bike, doing what I love to do to bring awareness to people who are dead. So I will ride silently. Aren’t I a good person? I am making a statement.”

What statement? “Bike riders matter?” Who said they didn’t? Or, I can ride a bike without talking? Hey, I can walk and chew gum at the same time.

This is how I feel about a lot of activists and silent movements. Often they are more for the person who is marching or bike riding than the person they are supposedly trying to reach. Who are we trying to reach? The person who already hit a bike rider and is sitting in jail, or the average car driver? The average car driver rarely hits bike riders, it usually is the drunk driver who hits the bike rider. Why not have a movement of riding bikes against drunkenness? Well, you can’t, people don’t like their sin pointed out, it hits too close to home. So they would probably hit you. It would be a lose-lose.

But riding a bike silently offends no one, and it makes the bike rider feel good. Win-win!

This reminds me of another silent movement: “Preach the Gospel at all times, and if necessary use words.” 

You will always need words because the gospel is meant to be spoken. This, again, is more for the person who doesn’t want to share the gospel than the person who needs the gospel. Can you imagine the guy who is lost and he sees a Christian being kind and nice? Do you think he thinks that guy is nice because of the gospel? No, he doesn’t even know the gospel. It is the last thing on his mind. But the kind and nice guy feels good about themselves because they just witnessed by not saying anything. Win-win.

I get it, don’t share the gospel if you are a jerk. But this is not where most Christians are today, most of us just will never share the gospel at all. Because we have been taught that being nice is enough. It’s not.

Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God unto salvation.”Sometimes silence is a code word for shame. You need to talk.