Lift Your Voice: A Weapon For Good

Do you remember any sayings your parents or grandparents or teachers or other adults would say to you as a little kid? Any that have stuck with you for years? Do you find yourself saying any of them now… it kind of slips out and you think, “Woah!? I sound just like mum!”

Life Your Voice pic One of my mum’s favourite sayings was, “If you haven’t got anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all!” I’m guessing it was a popular saying in our house because I was always running my mouth off. My dad tells me that when I was a little tacker often my mouth couldn’t keep up with all the words my brain was trying to get out. It could get messy.

Back to mum’s quotable quote about only talking if it’s going to be positive. It was a fair call; with four boys in our house there could be a hefty amount of jibing and mocking – sometimes in jest, other times a little more heated and perhaps a tad nasty. Mum’s view was that we should be careful about how we use our voice.

We all have a voice, an ability to make some sort of statement. And our voice isn’t limited to just our mouths. Message t-shirts, Bebo banners, bumper stickers, signs and symbols, there are heaps of ways we have a say. The more important question is: what are we saying with this voice of ours?

Speak Up

Some people go all funny and out of character when you give them a crowd and thrust a microphone in their face. Some go super quiet, while others think it’s their chance to shout to the world. I’ve heard a story about a young guy who was being asked a few questions by a host, on the stage in front of a large conference crowd. The young guy was so excited about his voice being heard that he persisted in trying to rip the mic out of the host’s hands and it became a mini-wrestle, creating one of those awkward moments where everyone wishes they could look somewhere else.

In the Bible, Jeremiah realised that he had a voice and was called by God to use it to bring God’s Word to the people. Jeremiah’s first thought was, “No way! Not me! I’m too young… I don’t know what to say.” God’s reply was simple, “I’ll tell you what to say, you just have to do it.” In fact, God promised Jeremiah that He would put the words in his mouth.

We have a voice to make a difference. When we’re too passive – silent when we shouldn’t be – we’re probably not using our voice as God intended. Back when God was creating man and woman, he declared that humans should “subdue the earth” and “rule” over it. We have a God-given mandate to make a positive difference in this world, to speak up in godly authority, especially if things are happening that don’t line up with God’s plans.

God gave us all a voice, and sure enough, He expects us to use it. However, like everything He gives us, He expects us to use it wisely, not just for the sake of it.

Big Mouth

When a man gets a flash new power tool, he needs to understand what it’s for, that way it can be put to good use and assist in building something. If a small child gets a hold of that same tool, they have the same power, but because they don’t know what it’s for and how to control it, it could have very detrimental effects; probably tearing things down rather than building. If we’re unwise with our voice, with how and why we speak out, we can get the same negative effects – tearing down instead of building up.

It’s about whether we’re trying to point the finger of blame or offer a hand of assistance. Unfortunately, often we use our voice as one of judgement and condemnation; even the Church has had a reputation of pointing out everything that’s wrong. But the power of our voice can be used constructively if it’s harnessed well.

There are times when something evokes a response from us. Maybe it’s seeing an injustice and knowing it needs to be called out. For example, the Olympics in China have given rise to a voice against the injustice in Tibet. Maybe it’s a hurt we have deep inside and we need to speak it out to see it overcome. For example, lifting the veil on depression takes the power away from that illness. Our voice can bring life to seemingly dead situations.

When God showed Ezekiel a valley of dry bones, He didn’t say, “Condemn all those bones for being dead!” God instructed Ezekiel to speak words of life into them, to bring God’s Word into a barren situation and see it come to life. Our voice can see the opportunity, not the problem.

Another Old Testament prophet dude, Isaiah, had a life-changing experience when he had a vision of God coming to Him (Isaiah 6), and like with Jeremiah, God urged Isaiah to be ready to speak up. Isaiah understood that by himself, he doesn’t quite have full control of that power tool: his voice. “My lips are unclean,” is how he puts it, but God sorts that out, anointing Isaiah’s mouth with a burning coal. From there Isaiah is sent to bring messages that have shaped the lives of people following God ever since.

Burning your lips with coal sounds pretty rock ‘n’ roll, I know, but it paints a picture of how important it is for us to be wise with our voice – even if it means learning the hard lesson of what not to say and what’s good to say!

Your voice is there to be used; you needn’t shut it away and leave it in the backseat. But it’s to be used wisely; as part of the solution, not adding to the problem. “If you haven’t got anything good to say, don’t say anything at all!”

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