Common Good

Common Good

Speaking Truth to Power

Scripture References

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Old Testament

Esther 4:13-16

13 Then Mordecai asked them to return this answer to Esther: “Don’t think to yourself that you will escape in the king’s house any more than all the Jews.

14 For if you remain silent now, then relief and deliverance will come to the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. Who knows if you haven’t come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

15 Then Esther asked them to answer Mordecai,

16 “Go, gather together all the Jews who are present in Susa, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day. I and my maidens will also fast the same way. Then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

New Testament

Acts 4:1-22

1 As they spoke to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came to them,

2 being upset because they taught the people and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

3 They laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was now evening.

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4 But many of those who heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

5 In the morning, their rulers, elders, and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem.

6 Annas the high priest was there, with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and as many as were relatives of the high priest.

7 When they had stood Peter and John in the middle of them, they enquired, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “You rulers of the people and elders of Israel,

9 if we are examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,

10 may it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, this man stands here before you whole in him.

11 He is ‘the stone which was regarded as worthless by you, the builders, which has become the head of the corner.’

12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven that is given amongst men, by which we must be saved!”

13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled. They recognised that they had been with Jesus.

14 Seeing the man who was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred amongst themselves,

16 saying, “What shall we do to these men? Because indeed a notable miracle has been done through them, as can be plainly seen by all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we can’t deny it.

17 But so that this spreads no further amongst the people, let’s threaten them, that from now on they don’t speak to anyone in this name.”

18 They called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves,

20 for we can’t help telling the things which we saw and heard.”

21 When they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people; for everyone glorified God for that which was done.

22 For the man on whom this miracle of healing was performed was more than forty years old.

Thought for the Day

Esther is not told to be fearless. She is told to be faithful. Mordecai’s words are stark: your position will not spare you; silence will not save you; the question is whether you have come to the kingdom "for such a time as this." Esther’s response is prayer-shaped courage: gather the people, fast with me, and then I will go.

Acts 4 shows another kind of public risk. The apostles are questioned by authorities who want the noise to stop. Yet they speak plainly about what they have seen and heard. They do not seek conflict; they refuse to lie.

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To speak truth to power is not to enjoy confrontation. It is to love the neighbour who is harmed by silence. It is also to remember that power itself is under God. In the public sphere, Christian speech should be neither flattering nor furious, but steady. We do not need adversarial theatre in order to be faithful. Courage may be quiet, disciplined, prayer-soaked, and more concerned with truth and protection than with looking brave.

Lord, give us courage that is clean. Teach us when to speak, when to be silent, and how to do both without cowardice. Protect those who must tell hard truths in institutions and workplaces. Guard us from pride in our own bravery. And make our witness like Esther’s and the apostles’: rooted in prayer, committed to truth, and willing to bear cost for the sake of others.

Prayer Points

Respond
  • Lord, give courage that is clean to those who must tell hard truths in public life.
  • Guard whistleblowers, reformers, and truth-tellers from fear, vanity, and retaliation.
  • Teach us speech that is steady rather than theatrical, truthful rather than furious.
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  • Protect neighbours who are harmed when institutions hide the truth.
  • Make the Church prayerful and brave, willing to bear cost without cultivating drama.