Sunday, during first service, my voice started to leave me. If you were here or watching online, you heard me comment about it. Fortunately, my wife gave me some hot tea before second service and things were fine. The problem I have is that in my mind I don’t think you can hear me and so I talk louder. If I just talked and allowed the sound guys to amplify my voice I could probably avoid the whole problem.
When I do my morning dive I use a microphone I plug into the computer. I do that so my voice comes through the internet more clearly for those who are listening. Amplification is necessary in order to have your message heard more clearly and sometimes more loudly. I was helping at a football game a few weeks ago and the other team’s coach was yelling the plays so loudly that they were amplified across the field and up to the press box where I was sitting.
What does it look like to amplify your testimony about who you are in Christ Jesus? Our words and behaviors speak volumes to people who are listening and watching. In Romans 12:1, Paul calls us to let our lives be a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God. In 2 Corinthians, Paul tells the church in Corinth that they are a “letter of recommendation” for all to read.
If used incorrectly or in a way that shows a lack of trust in God, the true amplifier, we can lose our voice or worse yet, amplify an incorrect or poor message. When people observe your life or hear the words coming out of your mouth, can they see and hear clearly Jesus working in you? Are you amplifying the message of the Gospel?
In 1 Samuel 4, the two sons of Eli the priest were misbehaving and the consequences for their sin was not just their death but the deaths of 30,000 others in a war that God used to bring punishment. Tens of thousands were destroyed when David counted his fighting men in 2 Samuel 24.
But, Peter preached the Gospel, and 3,000 lives were saved. Paul preached the Gospel and churches were planted and lives were saved. What message is amplified by your life?