It is with a heavy heart that I write this post. For years, I have enjoyed the stand that Ravi Zacharias has taken for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has boldly taken the gospel to many places, and to many audiences where it was most unwelcome. He has courageously and faithfully stood up for the truth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But recently, a situation has been brought to light by Ingrid Schlueter at Slice of Laodicea, which shows that Mr. Zacharias, Honorary Chairman of The National Day of Prayer, when told not to pray in the name of Jesus, sadly succumbed to pressure and excised the name of our Lord from his opening prayer.
In order not to offend others, the National Day of Prayer opening prayer omits the name of Jesus. If it had been a Jewish leader who had done this, there would be no controversy. However, Mr. Zacharias is a point-man in the church who has, in the past, passionately defended faith in Jesus, and has remained loyal to His holy name. I was shocked when I first heard, and then extremely sad. I had not expected this from him.
I understand that the pressure can be great, especially in a place like Washington, DC. But, how do we respond when we are told not to speak in the name of Jesus? We respond as Peter responded:
Acts 4:15-20:
15 But when they had ordered them to go aside out of the Council, they began to confer with one another,
16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
17 “But in order that it may not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to any man in this name.”
18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge;
20 for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard. “
My opinion on the situation is this…Mr. Zacharias compromised and caved to the pressure. Regardless of who holds the meeting, when you, as a Christian, are called upon to represent Jesus, you don’t act as the world would act, you act as a Christian is supposed to act. You pray in the name of Jesus. If they did not want the name of Jesus to be uttered, then they should have asked someone from another faith to pray…but when asking a Christian to pray, Jesus should always be the focal point.
My heart’s prayer for Mr. Zacharias is that he would see the error of this, and let Godly wisdom show him that in these current dark days, we need leaders and speakers who will unabashedly represent the name of Jesus, not cave to pressure. Now, of all times, when we are getting so close to the soon return of our Lord, and times are growing increasingly darker, we need to be a light to all who may see.
