Finding Our Voice - Part 1
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We the church (generally speaking, not as a whole) have remained voiceless in all modern day hot button issues. I believe NOW more than ever, is the time to RISE UP! Give voice to our passions, give voice to the Truth, give action to our compassion – truly to become the eyes, ears, hands and feet of Jesus.
And we are CALLED to walk as our Savior did – He didn’t just walk the walk, He talked the talk. Our culture often does the reverse – talks the talk, but doesn’t walk the walk – what about the Church? Have we lost our voice? My question is WHY? We all know it’s not because we don’t have a voice – it is used every Sunday in our church buildings (or during Covid, it is being broadcast weekly). But we align so deeply to the “separation of church and state” that we instead walk around “crippled” – believing “silence” is better than discord, believing “silence” is better than having a voice and rocking the boat. We want to be liked by everyone; we don’t for one second want to risk offending someone. And we wouldn’t want our churches filled with less people – because then we wouldn’t be “doing the work of the Gospel” (and often there is fear of giving going down).
The original intent by our founding fathers for the “separation of church and state” had a totally different meaning than the one the Church often holds to today:
Our forefathers never sought to evict the church from society. They recognized that the several states did not share uniform values. We lived and worshipped differently. The framers were a diverse bunch with wildly divergent opinions on many issues, but eliminating the very foundations of America’s heritage would have horrified them. On few issues was there more unanimity.
Americans understood freedom without morality quickly devolves into debauchery. Whether from sincere faith, or, prudence instilling an honest, law-abiding, responsible and hardworking populace, all esteemed biblical morality as the bedrock of self government. George Washington believed, “Religion and morality are indispensible supports” for “it is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”
– Bill Flax, “The True Meaning of Separation of Church and State”, Forbes
The Church should hold a prominent voice in culture. And it should be a voice we are not afraid to use. We often succumb to the lie that saying something that is counter-cultural will keep people from the Gospel. Friends, the Gospel is offensive! It says there is ONLY one way – and that one way is by Jesus. And yet, sometimes we even forget to communicate the TRUTH behind why Jesus came – to save the lost. If we were once lost, we have to know what LOST means!
Jesus said to him, “I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6 AMP
For this beloved son of mine was once dead, but now he’s alive again. Once he was lost, but now he is found!’ And everyone celebrated with overflowing joy. Luke 15:24 TPT™
“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Luke 15:4-7 NIV
…I only know one thing: I was blind, and now I see. John 9:25 VOICE
If we present the Truth of what it means to truly be lost – if we aren’t afraid to let people know that their eternal well-being hangs in the balance – if we aren’t afraid to “save” people – we would boldly and confidently draw others into the Kingdom.
Our entire culture is built around making sure people “feel good” – and certainly church isn’t the place to upset them! Why? IF we are to be the change agent in culture (do you believe that???), then our voice may very well not sound like the culture. Lukewarm would NEVER be the definition by which we would define the people in our church. Fire, passion, fervor…Ladies and gentlemen, we might very well come to be know as those “crazy Christians” rather than Christians without conviction – people who live in duplicity and compromise – people who say one thing but do another – hypocrites.
Do not love the world [of sin that opposes God and His precepts], nor the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust and sensual craving of the flesh and the lust and longing of the eyes and the boastful pride of life [pretentious confidence in one’s resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father, but are from the world. 17 The world is passing away, and with it its lusts [the shameful pursuits and ungodly longings]; but the one who does the will of God and carries out His purposes lives forever. 1 John 2:15-17 AMP
This is what the Lord says about these people:
“They come near to me with hollow words
and honor me superficially with their lips;
all the while their hearts run far away from me!
Their worship is nothing more than man-made rules. Isaiah 29:13 TPT™
If we were to be people who walked like Jesus and kept Truth at the forefront of our lives, people would say – ‘I may not like what _________ says and believes, but I also know she won’t lie to me. She will tell me what she truly thinks, she is straight up with me…’ Dangerous, unveiling – but safe.
Don’t our children feel safer when they know what to expect at home, when we hold firm to the standard? Don’t they have greater faith in us when we ‘let our yes be yes our no be no’?
We think we are building this false sense of “safety” with our friends, with our neighbors, with our co-workers, with our family (believe me when I say I am speaking to myself more than anyone else)… when we stay silent.
Can you imagine the “end of life” conversations if we stay this course? ‘I never knew you were a Christian. Why did you keep Jesus secret? Why didn’t you tell me there was a “way”? I was hopeless – why didn’t you tell me there was an answer?’
All that being said, we are also called to be men and women led by the Spirit. Sometimes though, this becomes code for “waiting for the PERFECT moment”, waiting for “all the stars to align”…we err on the side of never speaking for fear of “getting it wrong”.
Don’t I know this? I was born to be a peace keeper (don’t confuse this with when Jesus called us to be as “peace makers”). I was born into such a chaotic family environment that I “believed” that if I didn’t do the work to keep the peace, everything would fall apart. From my earliest memories, I was in the middle of marital discord (and later divorce), trying to stop the rage, the hate, the escalation…. I would do just about anything to not disrupt the peace, to avoid conflict or hard conversations at all costs.
This continued into my teen years and even into my marriage – believing somehow it was “my job” to keep the peace. I have MANY stories of how this did not protect me, no matter how determined I was to get all things right!
In my forties now, I am having to learn to “undo” (with God’s gracious intervention and gentle prodding) all those years of “coping”. And I am learning how to live as a woman whose ear is in increasing measure given over to hearing the voice of my Shepherd.
Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Listen to this eternal truth: The person who sneaks over the wall to enter into the sheep pen, rather than coming through the gate, reveals himself as a thief coming to steal. 2 But the true Shepherd walks right up to the gate, 3 and because the gatekeeper knows who he is, he opens the gate to let him in.[a] And the sheep recognize the voice of the true Shepherd, for he calls his own by name and leads them out, for they belong to him. 4 And when he has brought out all his sheep, he walks ahead of them and they will follow him, for they are familiar with his voice. 5 But they will run away from strangers and never follow them because they know it’s the voice of a stranger.” 6 Jesus told the Pharisees this parable even though they didn’t understand a word of what he meant.[b]
7 So Jesus went over it again, “I speak to you eternal truth: I am the Gate for the flock.[c] 8 All those who broke in before me are thieves who came to steal,[d] but the sheep never listened to them. 9 I am the Gateway.[e] To enter through me is to experience life, freedom, and satisfaction.[f] 10 A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter,[g] and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, [h] more than you expect[i]—life in its fullness until you overflow! 11 I am the Good[j] Shepherd who lays down my life as a sacrifice for the sheep. 12–13 But the worker who serves only for wages is not a real shepherd. Because he has no heart for the sheep he will run away and abandon them when he sees the wolf coming. And then the wolf mauls the sheep, drags them off, and scatters them.
14 “I alone am the Good Shepherd, and I know those whose hearts are mine, for they recognize me and know me, 15 just as my Father knows my heart and I know my Father’s heart. I am ready to give my life for the sheep.
16 “And I have other sheep that I will gather which are not of this Jewish flock. And I, their shepherd, must lead them too, and they will follow me and listen to my voice. And I will join them all into one flock with one shepherd.
“I have told you the truth already and you did not believe me. The proof of who I am is revealed by all the miracles that I do in the name of my Father. 26 Yet, you stubbornly refuse to follow me, because you are not my sheep. As I’ve told you before: 27 My own sheep will hear my voice and I know each one, and they will follow me.
John 10:1-16, 25-27 TPT™ (emphasis is mine)
What about you? Are you using your voice? Where are you afraid? Where have you bought into the lies?
Have you considered that conviction and living boldly is more attractive than simply “playing nice”?
PRAYER: Sit before the Lord today and bring those fears that have been stirred up – lay them at His feet. Ask Him to reveal to You where He is asking you to find your voice. Ask for conviction, confidence, boldness and grace. Pray that our churches would find their voice – pray against fear and tradition. Pray for a Church on fire!
Scripture quotations marked TPT are from The Passion Translation®.
Copyright © 2017, 2018 by Passion & Fire Ministries, Inc.
Used by permission. All rights reserved. ThePassionTranslation.com.
Just found your website and tried to subscribe to receive it via email, however it required a website address and would not allow me to subscribe.
I’m sorry about that Ann! You should be able to subscribe without adding a website. I went ahead and added you manually. I’m so glad you stopped by!
So perfectly timed! The Lord is working on me with this too! <3
Thanks Heather! I found such freedom working through this with the Lord today! I LOVE this season of hearing such similar messages being downloaded into our hearts!