Joel 2:1 – “Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near.”
The Little Christian Who Cried “Wolf!”
For thirty years, I’ve lived near a busy fire station. Day and night, firefighters and paramedics sound the alarm as they speed down the street below my apartment. In my first year here, I was startled at the sound of every fire truck that raced by. If I were asleep, I would awaken. If I were working at my computer desk, I would jump out of my seat, head to my apartment door and peer down the hall nervously.
Over the years, I have become so used to the sound of the sirens, I am barely even aware as they race past. I have become desensitized to their sound unless I am unmuted on a Zoom call!
Have you sounded the alarm so often that those around you no longer listen?
I’ve noticed quite a number of Christ followers sounding alarms left, right and centre by passing on sensationalistic tidbits without first checking their sources. After all, it is much easier to hit that share link on a Facebook status than it is to think logically and do some fact-checking of your own.
I compare such alarmists to an overly anxious watchman standing guard over a military camp during the night hours. At every rustle in the bushes below them, they lift their trumpet in warning, waking their fellow soldiers from much-needed rest. A wise military leader would never place such a nervous person in such a position. No! He would place a fearless soldier to stand guard over his troops. A wise leader only entrusts sleeping troops to a soldier who remains calm and diligent in his duty.
Have you lost your credibility due to a lack of fact-checking on your part?
Are you an alarmist, or are you who the Lord trusts to sound the alarm only when there is a clear and present danger? Have you sounded the alarm so often that those around you have become desensitized to your warnings? Have you been guilty of blowing the trumpet upon hearing the faintest whisper of a rumour? Are you guilty of passing on information without checking the source first? If so, there is still redemption for you.
Isaiah 26:3 -“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.”
Isaiah 30:15 – “For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”
The next time you are tempted to forward a dire Facebook status, tweet or email, fact check. Surf a few news outlets from various streams of political thought before passing on that warning. When the time does come that you need to sound the alarm, you might find a more receptive audience.
Until next week,