2 Great Ways To Be Ineffective

I'm not a musician, but I’m always around them. And among things I’ve observed, there seems to be two equal opposites against good music: Silence and Noise. Silence, meaning the absence of sound; and Noise, as in a purposeless, disorganized racket.

Paul says “knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men...”(2 Corinthians 5:11). In that vein – as we engage the surrounding culture – The Bible calls all believers to be effective and persuasive.

Like music, these same polarities of Silence and Noise are the surest ways for any believer to be irrelevant.

First, Silence refers to the lack of sound. Our damnable need to be liked, accepted, and belong, cause us to silently tolerate things we shouldn’t. But by the world’s assumption, silence means consent. So by putting our hands over our mouths, we have forfeited our ability to persuade.

At the other end of the orchestra, is Noise. The only thing worse than Silence, is a reckless cymbal, unrelentingly crashing against itself and others.  This is us when we point to sin without being rooted in love and wisdom. Somehow we think that by simply calling out failure, we’ve accomplished our mission. Wrong! Just as noise disrupts music, being obnoxious towards sinners dissolves our effectiveness.

To be effective, we must speak and engage the world, but we must do it with wisdom and love.