“Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”
(2 Corinthians 3:17)
“We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.”
(2 Corinthians 4:13)
“Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.”
(Colossians 4:6)
“For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers… Whose mouths must be stopped…”
(Titus 1:10 – 11)
I wish to write about something that is at the core of democratic values; free speech. At a time like this where something beautiful has begun to become destructive we need to revisit it to understand how something beautiful and evidently useful has started to have an adverse effect on us. Was it that our reasoning by which we judged it to be evidently useful was faulty? Then if it were, meaning it is not useful, then must it be banished. Free speech must then be scrapped. Or is it just that we are the ones who are making a bad use of that which is good? In that case we then need to reconsider our understanding of it and ensure our knowledge of it would lead us to a right and profitable use of it. As the saying goes, “where the use of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable.”
In many climes free speech is held as the inalienable right of citizens of each country, but with time there have been some laws that counter this. I have heard of laws of hate speech in Nigeria, though I don’t know if it was actually enacted. In other places I’ve heard of people getting arrested for making certain utterances. This all appears to be in conflict one with another. Free speech means you’re free to say what you wish without any fear of being penalised. If what you are allowed to say is restricted by fear of any kind then it is not free.
We know how powerful words are. From the pages of religious texts, scholastic and philosophical writings, grand wisdom of the ages flowing down from antiquity, all warn us about the use of words telling us of how profitable it is when used rightly and how destructive it is when not guided. To give people the power to say things in a way which infers unguardedness is very dangerous.
On the other hand, to cover up the mouths of people without allowing them air their opinion or what bothers them amounts to oppression. Restricted speech is a powerful tool of tyrants to evil ends. And this is where it becomes tricky. Free speech can be abused and restricted speech too is a tool of tyranny.
In a place like Nigeria where the doctrine of free speech is so powerful that even leaders are afraid to tackle the misuse of it, I have, with much sorrow, observed the misuse of free speech. News outlets pour out lies like the Devil’s factory but no one can say anything because of free speech. You see calumnies, character assassinations, and all wicked devices working under the full protection of free speech. The masses mock their leaders and derive so much fun doing so. What makes this rather funny is that in many of the foolish comments they pour out against their leaders they think they’re sounding smart and so intelligent, not knowing they’re just showing off their ignorance and foolishness. By the way, this is the main reason I decided to put this article together. When such crazed buffoonery abounds, it becomes imperative to look to God and say, “my Lord, this doesn’t look right. What do you have to say about all this.” And having prayed so look into the Bible to see what it reveals to us.
Before we go into the Bible, from casual observation of geographical locations, where free speech is mostly practiced it is easy to suspect that the idea of free speech is essentially Christian. It originates and is still maintained mostly in places that are dominantly Christian. Other regions don’t look too well to the idea of free speech.
So, in these regions where free speech emanated from, on what basis do they promote free speech? To give people freedom to be insolent? That is not true. Bill Barr, the two time attorney general of the United States said that the idea of free speech was designed so that people could speak freely with the belief that in the midst of all these words the truth will float to the top. So free speech was designed and promoted to be in defence of truth. It was advanced so that the truth would not be suppressed. So all that shit-talk against leaders is an abuse of free speech. People who don’t understand the essence of free speech would think it is a licence for insolence. That, I say, is infantile and naive.
Now that we’ve seen that the Christian world never birthed a defence of insolence, what does the Bible itself say about free speech? First the Bible is ever in support of liberty so much that even in preaching the Gospel, Christ commands that where it is not received, to simply shake off their dust, ensure that the message is declared, then simply leave (Mark 6:10-11). People are free even to go to hell. Therein is enshrined the doctrine of religious freedom. I spoke in detail about this in my article, “RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND TOLERANCE.”
As we can see in the key texts for this article, it is written, “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” (2 Corinthians 3:17). As Christians who have the indwelling Spirit of God we are to be free. And in the next chapter we read, “We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.” (2 Corinthians 4:13). We having the same Spirit of liberty do speak because we believe.
We do have liberty to speak and speak freely. However this liberty is according to the Spirit of God. So it is not an unfettered freedom. It is freedom guided by the same Spirit of liberty. Our words therefore must be in all the fruit of the Spirit. How we exercise our free speech must therefore be characterised by love, joy, peace, longsuffering (patience), gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance (Galatians 5:22-23). It must also be characterised by goodness, righteousness, and truth (Ephesians 5:9). What we say must always be characterised by these and the end of all we say must be these. How we use our freedom of speech shall tell whether or not we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us. Our usage of free speech is therefore a litmus test for the Christian. It is a mirror. In Nigeria it has revealed us in our worst and best, but mostly in our worst. Any way we exercise our freedom of speech that is contrary to this is un-Christian. It is evil.
Before we go further on the right use of free speech and how to address leaders, let’s quickly look at what the Bible says about the abuse of free speech. As we are to be guided by the Spirit of liberty in our use of our freedom, the Bible does give us clear commands against the abuse of free speech. It is written, “Thou shalt not speak evil of the ruler of thy people.” (Acts 23:5). This was the apostle Paul speaking and was probably making reference to Exodus 22:28. Speaking evil against leaders is wrong any time any day. Let no Christian deceive himself.
The Bible also does pass a judgment against the abuse of free speech where it is written, “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers… Whose mouths must be stopped…” (Titus 1:10 – 11). This was written in the religious context against heresy, however on the same ground of the abuse of free speech being an act of unruly and vain talking meant for deceit, the same judgment goes against any form of evil talking done under the cover of free speech. Note those words, “whose mouths MUST be stopped.”
In like manner it is written, “But the king shall rejoice in God; every one that sweareth by him shall glory: but the mouth of them that speak lies shall be stopped.” (Psalm 63:11). And, “The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth.” (Psalm 107:42). This is prophetic but it tells of the necessity of the mouths of the evil ones and iniquity being stopped. As it is the obligation of the church and church leaders to stop the mouths of unruly and vain talkers and deceivers to prevent them from speaking heresies, it behoves the powers that be to stop the mouths of vain, unruly, and deceitful talkers who use free speech as a protection while doing evil.
This is not an invitation to suppress opposing opinions. But there should be a system to checkmate the abuse of free speech with clear evidences that all may easily see. It may be a bit lax but never lax enough for people to abuse free speech with absolute impunity. Failure to do so is laziness. I believe that the world has never been equipped with the tools to do this as it is equipped today, particularly with the use of AI.
Let’s leave that there and having said those, let us now take a look at Christ our blessed Lord and perfect example about talking to leaders. Christ had the power of free speech above all because he was actually untouchable (Luke 4:28-30), but what did Christ say about Pilate who was actually a brutal person in power? In my book, “THE LIGHT AND THE SHINING LIGHT,” I wrote the following:
“Christ too had a brutal person in authority during his time… People in Christ’s time complained to him that Pilate had committed the atrocity of brutally killing people who were sacrificing [note: they were performing religious obligations] and mixing their blood with the sacrifice (Luke 13:1), but this didn’t make him [Christ] rebel against Pilate. He even paid his tax and remained submitted to authority even till death.”
So Christ, though absolutely free to say what he willed to Pilate, turned the minds of people to heaven giving the words of caution that ended with, “I tell you… except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5). It was not like Christ to pick up such things and start a revolution. Rather he turned their hearts to God, his kingdom, and the salvation of man.
I hear someone say, “granted, but did Christ not call Herod a fox?” It is written, “And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.” (Luke 13:32). That’s true but that is a mild thing to call a man compared to what he called the Pharisees. He called them vipers, hypocrites, blinds, and other heavy names. He even called Peter Satan. But were those justifiable? Well, if Christ did it then it is right because he is the King of kings and Lord of lords. It does not pertain to dust and ashes to question his rightness. However we can learn from the wisdom of his actions, so let’s consider particularly why was he easy on Pilate and brutal with the Pharisees and Herod? He was brutal with them because the Pharisees held religious posts and carried out the functions of that office in a way that withstood the salvation of men. Peter rebuking him and withstanding his choice to die was also inadvertently standing in the way of the salvation of man. Because of their standing in the way of the salvation of men Christ was ruthless with them.
But what about Herod? Was his post not a political one? Yes it was but he meddled into religious activities and even withstood Christ himself which effectively means he too was standing in the way of the salvation of men. Remember his father was responsible for all the deaths of the children in Bethlehem from two years and under. His mission was to destroy Christ who came to save the world. He in person (not his father) beheaded John the baptist. And he personally withstood Christ by trying to impede his work.
The first way we shall look at in which he tried to impede the ministry of Christ was in what happened before Christ called him a fox. Christ was preaching the good news and doing many great works in the name of the Father, then came the words of the “political” office holder where it is written, “The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.” (Luke 13:31). To stop his good works which were aimed at the salvation of men he threatened to kill him. For the fact that this message was delivered by the Pharisees it shows that he had started working hand in hand with the Pharisees in their design to prevent the good works of Christ.
Next Herod tried to implicate him where it is written, “And they send unto him certain of the Pharisees and of the Herodians, to catch him in his words.” (Mark 12:13). We all know what followed, how they tried to lure him into saying something against Caesar and how he silenced them. Not even their craft could lure Christ into saying something against a constituted authority. Note that the Pharisees worked together with the “Herodians” here. Why would the Herodians be seeking to set a net for his feet?
Lastly, the Herodians continuously worked with the Pharisees to destroy Jesus as it is written, “And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.” (Mark 3:6). Did Herod still feel the insecurity his father felt at the birth of Christ? From his birth to his dying day Herod Sr. and Herod Jr. consistently sought to kill Christ. After the death, resurrection, and ascension, the same Herod beheaded James and would have killed Peter too had not God sent his angel to save him. All these Pilate did not venture to do. Pilate’s focus was on earthly matters and didn’t do things to impede the salvation of men. Left to Pilate alone Christ would not be crucified. So Christ did not call him names and was mild with Pilate.
So when you see the gravity of the actions of Herod, it is in no way lighter than the grievous works of the Pharisees, the Scribes, the Sadducees and the likes. So if he rightly called them vipers and hypocrites for resisting God’s work of eternal salvation, calling Herod a fox was very lenient of him.
What do we have to learn further that we must not omit? He as Lord did these things and called them names as Lord of all, but his disciples never did so. To be a light as Christ was the light we must imitate Christ in everything, yet in seeking to imitate him we must not lose sight of his disciples who, like us, are his servants. For they too imitated him and did his works, but their conducts showed how servants ought to imitate their Lord. So they as disciples rarely called people names though they were firm and were sometimes as ruthless too (Acts 8:20-23, Acts 13:9-10). We will always see how these were instances where people stood in the way of the work of God. These were in fact said under the influence of the Holy Ghost. But never spoken against constituted authorities.
The account of Herod beheading John written by the disciples of Christ wasn’t full of bitterness. They excused him saying how it was Herodias who demanded for his head, how he was forced by circumstances, and how very sorry he was to do it. They were not full of hate for him. The only condemnation they gave to the man were just simple statements of facts like, “But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him [John] for Herodias his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison.” (Luke 3:19 – 20).
So we should learn from Christ and his holy apostles and let what we see in them be our light. Let us walk in the same Spirit. Down the ages I’ve read of how holy brethren led a peaceable life by walking in this same Spirit to great profit.
Respectful appeal to leaders may be needed at times but you don’t need to criticise leaders. There’s no wisdom in that. In Nigeria you’d see people not only criticise but insult, mock, and ridicule them. I don’t know where they learnt that for they definitely didn’t learn that from Christ, his disciples, or scriptures. It is written, “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” (Colossians 4:6). So where did they learn to insult, mock, and ridicule leaders? A Christian’s speech to his neighbour must be with grace, yet shall we dare speak evil of leaders who we have been especially commanded to honour? This is done by Christian politicians, Christian masses, both clergy and laity. And so doing they mock the gospel of Christ. It’s a sorry thing to behold.
This is not good brethren. We should be more eager to spot good works of leaders and praise them for it. “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God…. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil… For he is the minister of God to thee for good…” (Romans 13:1 – 4). Did you hear that? He is appointed for your good. To work against them is to work against yourself. To mock them is to mock a minister of God.
And these “pastor and daddy Christians”, the political leaders hold a more scriptural ministry, well proven in the scriptures, than all these your founders of churches. Some people can fight and pull the whole Internet down in defence of their pastors whose office the Bible never endorsed, doing this as an act of reverence for the so called “man of God,” only to turn back to abuse the real men of God appointed for their earthly good.
If we make it a habit to praise leaders for obviously good deeds, we wouldn’t need to criticise their bad actions as even our silence and refusal to speak in praise of their action alone would be enough criticism. So when we perceive a bad action or policy, our silence would suffice. That then gives you power to express displeasure without sinning. So whatever the freedom that free speech gives, the Christian must be guided by the fear of his God.
It may rise in someone’s mind that if a Christian is free under the law to say whatsoever he wills why is it bad to say anything? It is okay to marry more than one wife under the same law. Can he then marry more than one without sinning against his God? Does the law of God that supersedes the law of man not forbid him? So the law of God that supersedes the law of man restricts the freedom the law of man gives you. You may be free to ridicule your leaders without any form of legal consequences, but your God forbids you from doing it.
What is the way forward? As dangerous as the idea of free speech is and all the evils that can be done under its cover, it remains a sacrosanct and an incontrovertible right of everyone. There are definitely ways to checkmate abuses of it and this should be carefully considered, but that’s not the main point here. The fact is the Christian man must be guided in his freedom by the fear of his God. And in so doing he must set an example for the world to follow in the way they exercise their freedom. Checkmating our earthly freedom by the fear of God is the major safeguard against abuses.
Prayer: Dear Lord and God, teach us to use our freedom aright. Let us express our freedoms within the confines you have set. Teach us to honour our leaders and keep us from all forms of abuses of our privileges. May the world see us and learn from us the right use of freedom. This I ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.
