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Your voice could start a Godly revolution. Will you stand up and speak out?
The moment we begin to fear the opinions of others and hesitate to tell the truth that is in us, and from motives of policy are silent when we should speak, the divine floods of light and life no longer flow into our souls. Such are the confrontational words of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a reformer, writer, lecturer who led the 19th Century American women’s rights movement.
Keep in mind that Stanton wasn’t leading a feminist movement ala Gloria Steinem; a movement that laid the foundation for a sexual revolution. Stanton was fighting for voting rights, property rights, employment rights, income rights and other basic rights women freely enjoy today. Stanton was considered radical and faced plenty of opposition in her day. But her uncompromising voice that declared “all men and women are created equal” impacted generations of women after her.
Perhaps Queen Esther’s story inspired Stanton. When it comes to demonstrating the power of one voice, Esther is a classic biblical example. Despite personal peril, she stood up, spoke up, and shook up the devil’s plan when she risked her own life to reveal to her husband, King Xerxes, wicked Haaman’s strategy to murder the Jews. That one voice saved a nation.
Of course, Esther’s act of courage – her willingness to be a godly voice that brings change amid a corrupt generation – is a thread that weaves through the Bible. Consider John the Baptist. John was a voice – one voice – crying in the wilderness. That one voice awakened the likes of the Sons of Thunder to the revelation that the Messiah was walking among them. John’s voice – a reforming voice that challenged people to change the way they thought – shook the Pharisees to the bone.
Let’s not forget Old Testa-ment reformers like Jeremiah, Amos and Hosea, who took the lonely road, trumpeting the will of God in faith. Who could forget Moses, who dared to confront the oppressive Egyptian king on behalf of the Israelites? How about the Apostle Paul, one voice that yielded to the Holy Spirit to write two-thirds of the New Testament that we hold so dear today?
Now, let’s turn the tables to modern times and look at the power of one voice. There’s Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ghandi. There’s Nelson Mandella, Helen Keller, and Ralph Nader. There’s Al Gore, Oprah Winfrey and Osama bin Laden. Not all of these voices are godly, though. And the truth is some of the ungodly voices are crying out louder, longer and with more passion and impact than the righteous ones.
Indeed, there seem to be more audible voices declaring the message of the kingdom of darkness than there are declaring the message of the Kingdom of Light. My brethren, this must not be so. As Christians, we can’t leave it up to our pastors to be a voice in our communities. We are the salt and light. We are the ones who have been equipped to take dominion in the marketplace. We carry the responsibility to be God’s voice in the political realm, the humanitarian realm, the environmental realm – and every other realm.
I like the way Haile Selassie, the former Emperor of Ethiopia, put it. He said, “Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”
I agree. Let’s not repeat the mistakes of the past; the mistakes that opened the door to the devil to force prayer out of our schools; the mistakes that made way for legalized abortions in the United States of America; the mistakes that are even now curtailing the religious freedoms our forefathers took measured steps to ensure. Let’s wake up, stand up and speak out.
I teach a media class at my local church. The goal of the teaching is to equip the saints to skillfully wield the pen, which is mightier than the sword. We’re teaching believers how to communicate effectively, be it through writing, speaking or even imagery. The goal is to raise up believers who can be strong voices for God.
It starts at the grassroots level. For example, a mayor in our county is being viciously attacked for trying to protect the community. Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jim Naugle exposed rampant gay sexual activities in public restrooms and launched a plan to install doors that automatically open after a given period of time to try to discourage the behavior. His goal was to protect families, especially children, who visited the public parks in question.
Broward County commissioners assaulted Naugle with hate-filled speech and removed him as a member of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau because they feared his presence would keep gay tourists from spending their money here. Broward County all but crucified Naugle because they feared backlash from an extremely vocal minority. My media class set out to write responsible editorials to the local newspaper in defense of Naugle’s position to protect public safety. It’s not a gay issue, it’s a public safety issue.
We plan to be the extremely vocal minority in our community from this point on. I encourage each one of you to talk with your leaders about launching similar initiatives in your community. Be that voice. Don’t sit on your hands and let ungodly influences rule and reign in your territory. Remaining silent only helps build the devil’s platform. It may not affect you personally today, but don’t be fooled. Eventually you could find yourself or someone close to you under attack.
Charles Eliot Norton, an American scholar known as the “man of letters,” said this: “The voice of protest, of warning, of appeal is never more needed than when the clamor of fife and drum, echoed by the press and too often by the pulpit, is bidding all men fall in and keep step and obey in silence the tyrannous word of command. Then, more than ever, it is the duty of the good citizen not to be silent.” Amen.
Jennifer LeClaire is the editor of The Voice magazine and author of "Doubtless: Faith that Overcomes the World." You can also visit her online at www.jenniferleclaire.org.
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