Speak

What is it that makes some of us afraid to speak? When we seek to speak the truth, why is it that so many of us have a hard time uttering the words... the words of life? I myself am included in the we I am speaking about. Jesus gave all of His followers a commission... a commission to spread the good news... the Gospel of Grace. Yet it seems that many of His followers are tongue tied, unwilling or unable to do the simple task that He has asked.

Why is that?

For me, I have had many a conversation where I claim the Moses complex...

Exodus 4:10 (New King James Version)

¹⁰ Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.”

For the longest time I focused on those words of Moses, and used them as my very own excuse. To be honest, I still do. It is much easier for me to write than it is to speak. It is much easier when I can collect my thoughts and jot them down rather than ad lib on the spot. What I always tended to overlook are the words of the Lord that followed what Moses had to say.

Exodus 4:11-12 (New King James Version)

¹¹ So the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? ¹² Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”

I love that. That's a promise from God Himself for all those who He asks to go and speak on His behalf... which is all of us who call ourselves Christians.

I know that many of us tend to shy away from this responsibility, waiting for someone else to do it. Maybe that is out of fear... fear of rejection... fear of persecution... fear of being made fun of. These fears are real and they are strong... strong enough to keep so many quiet. When it comes to preaching, there may be some who think that they need to be perfect in order to speak on God's behalf. Gotta walk the walk before we talk the talk... right? Wrong.

Where in the bible does God use any man who is perfect? Where in the bible does it say that the mouth pieces of the Lord are walking the walk the way it should be walked, therefore they can preach? The answer to both of these questions is... nowhere. Nowhere in the bible does it say this. Most of the time the men God picked were blatant sinners... and the rest of the time they were just men and women... men and women just like you and me. Some were strong men of God like Daniel... but still a man nonetheless.

Moses was a murderer, hiding in the wilderness.
David was an adulterer and a murderer, and yet He is a man after God's own heart.
Elijah ran and hid in a cave.
Gideon was hiding in a winepress.
Jonah tried to run from his calling only to be swallowed by a whale.
Solomon was a womanizer of sorts, and allowed those women to turn his heart from the Lord.
Peter denied Jesus 3 times.
Saul was a persecutor, jailer, torturer, and murderer of Christians... all before he became Paul the Apostle. Even while he preached he still spoke of sinning... of doing "the things I don't want to do...." (see Romans 7 15-25)
And we can go on and on. Yes at times it seems as those who

So why do we feel the need to walk a perfect walk before we start to talk the talk of the gospel?

Now don't get me wrong... it is counterproductive to talk the talk and be walking in contradiction to the talk... kwim? It can be quite hypocritical to do this. The problem I have with waiting for the moment where our talk lines up with our walk is that... that day may never come. What people need to see is grace... the grace of God being doled out upon His people... an imperfect people.

We make mistakes, we fall, we sin, we bow down to temptation... but by His GRACE we get back up again. That is the power of our faith. That is where those who don't know need to know. That our faith does not make us perfect angels who never mess up and no longer need to be forgiven. This is the definite truth that those who don't know need to know... we all fall short of the glory of the Lord... yet He loves us anyway, forgives us anyway, and uses us anyway.

We speak because the truth we hold is too amazing to keep to ourselves. This truth is the life changing, soul saving, absolute, beautiful truth of God. How can we possibly keep it to ourselves?

For one, I have struggled with walking the walk... with talking the talk... and being honest with myself. The Way, the Truth, and the Life came to this Earth in human form, died on a cross so I can be forgiven... but not for me to keep that to myself. God will use the imperfect like me... like you... like Moses... like David... like Paul... to tell the world of the amazing grace that sets the captives free.

The question is... am I willing? Are you willing?

The commission given to all Christians was not an option for us to take or reject... it was a command. It doesn't only take Pastors, Ministers, Priests, bible scholars, seminary graduates, or missionaries to spread the gospel... it also takes you and me. I don't need a congregation to preach the Word. I don't need a title to preach the Word. I don't need a degree to preach the Word. It can be to one willing to listen, or a hundred. It can be on a corner, in a store, on a campus, or the hardest place to preach... in the home.

Yes, if we are called to be elders in a church, preachers or Pastors who stand behind a pulpit, a leader within the church... the Apostle Paul does give us standards of what that person will look like (see 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus). In a position of authority over a flock that belongs to the Lord, you will need to be in right standing before the Lord. But for the rest of us... while these same standards should be our goal, we need to open our mouths to the lost and dying all around us.

I do believe that as followers of Christ we are called to be Holy... to be separate... to be different... set apart unto the Lord. We are to strive to live free from sin... but if we sin, do we think that precludes us from speaking the truth? No, I don't think that does. Yes, if someone is walking in sin and shows no willingness to repent, no willingness to be corrected, no willingness to obey... then that person should not speak of something they know nothing about. But for those of us who have accepted that the mercy of God is for us... that we would be lost without it... that we are saved by grace through faith, the free gift of God and not of works... we have a message to spread, and this is why...

2 Timothy 4:1-4 (New King James Version)

¹ I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: ² Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. ³ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; ⁴ and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

We need to be ready...

1 Peter 3:15 (New International Version, ©2010)

¹⁵ "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,..."

My point to all of this is not to tell people to start going out and preaching the gospel that they may not know that much about. But what you do know... grace, forgiveness, mercy, peace, joy... holiness, judgment, righteousness... God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit... these things need to be told to a dying world that lives without hope. The gospel of Christ is the gospel of hope. The good news of the good Shepherd needs to be shouted from the rooftops, preached in the homes, sung in the streets... the question is who will do it? Will you? Will I? God willing.

May we all find a boldness to speak the truth.