Earn your voice.

"And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all." ~ Mark 10:44

"...those that would lead must first learn to serve." ~ Leroy Eims "The Lost Art of Disciple Making"


♫You and me we use so very many clumsy words.
The noise of what we often say is not worth being heard.
When the Father’s Wisdom wanted to communicate His love,
He spoke it in one final perfect Word.

He spoke the Incarnation and then so was born the Son.
His final word was Jesus, He needed no other one.
Spoke flesh and blood so He could bleed and make a way Divine.
And so was born the baby who would die to make it mine.♫

We all want to have a positive impact or influence on those we come in contact with. Sometimes our desire for influence is motivated out of love and wanting the best for others, but sadly many times that desire is not rooted in a spirit motivated to lovingly correct, but more concerned about flaunting our self righteousness and exercising our “authority”. We think that because we are armed with biblical truth or a personal application of God’s Word that we should be heard. Not just heard but we want our pronouncements to bring about the change we believe that other individual or individuals need to follow right that very minute.

What we fail to recognize is that while we all wholeheartedly agree that God’s Word will not return void and that the Gospel should change everything; many times we have not earned the right or the credibility to confront other followers of Jesus Christ.

Last year our Pastor challenged those in positions of church leadership to earn our voice. He reminded those holding the office of deacon did not automatically bestow upon you authority or credibility. Typically those that hold the office have to meet the criteria spelled out in scripture before most Gospel believing churches would allow them to serve. But the key thing to keep in mind is that the word deacon in the Greek means “to serve” and in the New Testament church they were tasked with taking on the service of the church and to literally “wait tables” to free up the Apostles and Pastors to study and preach.

How do we, you and I, earn our voice? There are many facets to this and it varies from person to person. The men and women that I have come to respect; those who have earned their voice with me are fellow believers (and Pastors) who have invested personally in me. Not just by sharing with me sound doctrine and teaching, but those who have taken the time to pour themselves into me. This has come either by spending one-on-one time with me and helping me through my struggles, listening to me when I have a besetting sin and not quick to judge but showing me Christ-like compassion and patience. They were “soft” when the situation called for it, but direct and frank to admonish me when I needed to be called out for a wrong action, attitude or motive. There was a balance…call it the Velvet Hammer…gently thumping me when I needed it but thumping me none the less.

Earning our voice came also come from faithfulness; faithfulness that is marked by remembering others in prayer, as well as faithfulness in service to the church and your fellow believers. If you are not consistent in your testimony, consistent in your church attendance, (week in and week out), how do you expect to earn your voice? Have you shown yourself available, open, vulnerable and honest about your struggles or do you simply think it is your place to point out to others where they are “spiritually lacking.” If you and I want to reach your fellow believers or the lost world we must first show them we have a loving concern for them. Otherwise we are just sounding brass and tinkling cymbals.

We also need in our minds redefine what a “friend” is; “…one attached to another by affection or esteem; one that is not hostile; a favored companion.” We all have many acquaintances or people we know in our daily life, but we have few true friends. Why do we act so surprised when we question someone’s personal standards and they react negatively? Maybe we have not earned our voice and lack credibility to speak at all.

One final thought; make it a point to seek out other believers that DON’T always agree with you on everything. If all we do is surround ourselves with people that think and act the same way as we do how will we ever know if we are spiritually in a ditch and just guilty of group think versus having this mind in us like Christ Jesus…

Having the title of "leader" or thinking yourself to be wise does not automatically grant you "street cred". “Love and respect do not automatically accompany a position of leadership. They must be earned.”

Proverbs 27:6 “Faithful [are] the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy [are] deceitful.”