Lift up your voice like a trumpet;
Tell My people their transgression,
And the house of Jacob their sins.”
- Isaiah 58:1
Most of us (those with children) have known the disappointment of having a child fail to make the proper choices in life. Even from the earliest days, when we taught them how to share or simply “get along” with their siblings and playmates, there was a real sense of let-down when they exhibited stinginess or difficult behavior. How often did we think, “They have been taught better.” How much more were we, and are we, disappointed with the mistakes they make in adulthood. If it certainly infuriates our Heavenly Father when He sees the unsaved behave in their petulant disbelief, imagine His disappointment when He looks down upon His church and sees our transgressions.
While we may sternly correct or admonish a stranger who violates civility today, we would be even more so vocal when it comes to our own loved ones. And our voices may indeed rise (along with our concerns) depending upon the nature of the consequences of such violations. John Calvin put it this way - “if the prophets merely spoke of the Law of the Lord, and showed what is the rule of a good and holy life, and recommended the worship of God, and likewise reproved vices, but without employing any vehemence of language, what impression would they produce on hypocrites, whose conscience is lulled in such a manner that they cannot be aroused but by applying spurs?”
The Puritan, John Trapp, had this to add - “If a man’s house be on fire, we must not speak softly, as loath to awaken him: Sir, your house is on fire.” It should be our intention to get their attention by employing whatever vocal manner we find effective. Remember the words of Isaiah 40:3 - “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.’” Truly, we live in the wilderness. It seems there are times we don’t even hear our own inner voices warning us of our missteps.
Ours is not a calm request to our brothers and sisters in Christ! It is an urgent cry to awaken their sleeping faith; the very faith they need to save them from eternal condemnation.
“Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.” - James 5:19-20.
As in Trapp’s commentary, would we be so demure in our warning of a house fire that we would hesitate to raise the alarm? Could we in good conscience and out of love merely whisper of the danger awaiting the occupants? Could we merely tap on the glass rather than break it? The 19th Century American theologian, Albert Barnes, commented - “Speak loud and distinct, so that the language of reproof may be heard. The sense is, the people are insensible and stupid. They need something to rouse them to a sense of their guilt. Go and proclaim it so that all may hear. Speak not in whispers; speak not to a part, but speak so earnestly that their attention will be arrested, and so that all shall hear.”
Is it not then our duty as Christians to reprove and correct one who is in error and for us to accept the same should we be the one stumbles in our walk? “‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’ - Revelation 2:7. Can there possibly be a greater motivation for raising the alarm? May we always seek to edify one another to the glory of God.
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