Let’s Have a Word, Shall We?

I am officially a part of my college's newspaper! I will now be posting my articles here on my blog so be looking out for that!





Imagine a time in life where you had an epiphany, a realization. Not a realization like when you found yourself accidentally walking out of your house without pants on, or when you, on many occasions perhaps, realized that you dropped mayonnaise on yourself and there is no time to go change clothes. No. I’m talking about that real life, world-rocking, mind-altering awareness that sticks with you for the rest of your life. That thing inside of you that suddenly bursts forth with force and takes your mind captive. For a while you can think of nothing else. You are consumed by its passion and its intrigue. Are you catching my drift? These moments shape us. They make us new all over again. And one of these moments happened to me not long ago.
The reason this thought even came to me was because, in short, my faith means a lot to me. It is the cornerstone for everything I do, so when I learn something new about it, I get really excited. On the other hand, however, when I hear or sense something negative, something contrary to what should be true, I get frustrated and want to say something about it.
This is where my realization comes in. See, I opened my eyes one morning to find a generation of Christian young men and women walking around with eyes wide open and mouths sealed shut. I looked around and saw them all scurrying here and there fixing, building, giving, even teaching, but there was no sound! The only time I saw a mouth open was when the the Truth was being given out, but even that went sour within them. The only words to hear were the words of our lost brothers and sisters calling out for the same Truth that was making our belt buckles burst, but it was as if no one could hear them.
I see this picture and I desperately want it to change. We as Christians have lived on the message of “if I just live in a way that honors Christ people will notice” for too long. It is time for us to go beyond that! Our lives as a picture of Christ is a brilliant foundation for our declaration, but speaking out about the Gospel of Christ is the capstone of the example we give as believers and followers. In the Word, those who are lost are most frequently described as “blind”. If those who do not know Christ are supposedly “blind” then it would make more sense for us to speak for them to hear! Where are our voices? When the opportunity comes along to share the Truth with someone, one can almost see the words of our mouths retreating to hide behind the barrier we put up to keep ourselves from feeling vulnerable. It is now time to call on Christ to break those walls down and to supply you with the words that you have avoided for so long.
I challenge you now, brothers and sisters, to take off the mask you have formed from your Christian education, your reliability on a “action-only” doctrine, and your fear of rejection (for fear is the basis for all of our hesitancy), and let your voice go along side your deeds to declare that Jesus Christ is King. If our Father is on our side, who can stand in our way, right?