Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The Power of One Voice


In our democratic society we often celebrate the voice of the people and we applaud when the masses stand together. We love unity and teamwork and celebrate the voices of the many more than we celebrate the power of one voice. The problem is that many people can join their voices with the masses to be politically correct and to fit in with the times even if both are wrong. The truth is that for many people it is easier to join the masses whether they believe the mantra or not. It is easier to say the right things and to get along than to be isolated and ostracized.
There are times when the one voice has proven true over and against the voice of the masses. At a time when the Roman Catholic Church had become corrupt and were deceiving people while fleecing their pockets Martin Luther stood up with one voice to oppose the church and the Pope. His was the powerful voice of the reformation.
Martin Luther King Jr. was the voice of the civil rights movement and is still remembered today as a champion for racial equality even though he was tragically gunned down decades ago. His voice still resonates in the hearts and minds of millions.
Mother Theresa was the voice of the poor, downtrodden, and suffering and her one voice has now turned into thousands of people who have fallen in her footsteps. These people serve and give their lives away to some of the lowest of the lowest.
William Wilberforce was the voice of abolishing slavery in England many many years ago. His critics sought to silence him for decades but he kept sounding the trumpet of racial equality and the end of slavery. In the end his voice triumphed.
William Wallace was the voice of freedom for Scotland against the tyranny of England. His voice inspired the masses to fight for and gain freedom for their families. In the end William Wallace was executed but his voice was not silenced.
We are increasingly becoming a nation where you are encouraged to speak your convictions only as long as they line up with what the rest of the mainstream think. Billy Graham has been the voice of God to evangelize sinners to salvation and point people to the narrow road of redemption through a relationship with Jesus Christ exclusively. Graham has never minced words about how a person can be saved. He has pointed people to the truth of the Bible and hope of forgiveness through Jesus.
Political pundits would have you and I believe that every opinion, all world religions, and all political policies are equal. They are not. Our society tolerates and even promotes freedom and diversity until you stand up for your convictions as a follower of Jesus Christ. If you are devoted Christian you are often branded as intolerant, judgmental, narrow minded, and a hate monger. This label is not attached to many Muslims who hate and kill the innocent. Society thinks it is okay to state what you believe as long as you believe what everyone else does. Stray from the political and social agenda of certain people and you will be bullied into submission or humiliation.
Isn’t that what recently happened with a certain beauty pageant contestant who refused to cave into the pressure to give a politically correct answer to a loaded question about homosexual marriage. Miss California simply spoke her convictions and the backlash has been unbelievable. She did not even win the pageant but her name is all over the internet and the media. I simply typed her name on an internet search engine and there were over 600,000 sites with her name in them. Many of them are bashing her for standing up for what she believed, and by the way what I, in!
The power of one voice is incredible but how many people cave into the peer pressure to not rock of the boat. What if nobody stood up with one, lone, solitary voice to defy the masses? If nobody ever did this on juries more innocent people would be wrongly incarcerated. Politicians would be silenced from reform and bought by the highest bidders to push lobbyist’s agendas. If nobody had the courage and backbone to speak up, what would happen in our public schools and if no school board member had the courage to vote their convictions and speak the truth what would ensue. If no parent has the guts to shout out that all the idolatry in children’s sports, dance, gymnastics, and cheerleading must come to an end as young boys and girls are burned out and face the never ending pressure to perform at high levels to satisfy insecure parents who are trying to relive their lives through their prodigy. Who has the one voice to shout out to the masses of Christians who have been sucked into this lifestyle that we are sending our children mixed messages when we tell them give their hearts and souls to ball and to give what they have left to serve Jesus Christ. Like the old saying goes Jesus is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all and for many families Jesus has taken a back seat to our children and their involvement in sports and dance etc. Who has the backbone to say anymore that you cannot sing the praises of God on Sunday and talk with the filth of a pagan using profanity and obscenities Monday through Saturday? This is blatant hypocrisy but who has the one voice to hold people accountable anymore. We cower behind the verse “judge not lest you be judged.” True we should take the log out of our own eye before taking the speck out of someone else’s eye. That does not mean we should condone blatant hypocrisy. Which states have the backbone to vote for traditional marriage between one man and one woman and withstand the tidal wave of peer pressure as other states cave in to homosexual marriage?
Voices are being silenced more and more. People give up and give in. Like the old adage goes if you cannot beat them join them. There are some things we are not supposed to join. This nation was founded on religious freedom but I have been increasingly offended that followers of Jesus Christ are often censored, held to a different standard and written off as antiquated for our modern times.
I thank God for the lone voice of Billy Graham’s daughter, Ann Graham Lotz, who told our nation after the 9-11 attacks that we could not have it both way. We cannot push God out of ever fabric of our society and then have the audacity to complain that He did not protect us when the terrorists attacked. She passionately proclaimed we cannot have it both ways.
There is power in one voice. Whether that voice is on a committee, a city council, a jury, in a family, in a community, in a school, on a mission field, in a pulpit, in a newspaper, or in some other place of influence, there is power in one voice. One voice committed to truth can accomplish a great deal. Being a lone voice will not always bring accolades from the crowds and on more than one occasion they have been silenced by a sniper’s bullet or by burning at the stake or having a head chopped off. In this day of pluralistic voices ranging from the bizarre to the fabrication of truth, who has the courage to stand up and be the power of one voice?

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