we must speak out

over the past few months i have seen an overwhelming "theme" in Christian artists of speaking out and speaking up about our faith. BarlowGirl has a song called "Keep Quiet" that talks about the world never seeing we're different if we just keep out mouths shut about our Savior; the tag before the first chorus is "i'll keep quiet, let's hope they see i'm different", and the tag before the second chorus is "if i keep quiet, they'll never see i'm different". Brooke Barrettsmith has a song called "Quiet Streets". My favorite line from the song is "if you're waiting for the perfect moment, if there ever was a time it's now....go on now take it to the quiet streets, the truth is screaming to be free". Jeremy Camp's new album called "Speaking Louder than Before" hits stores tomorrow. Why is it that all these artists feel the need to 'promote' speaking up about our faith, if speaking about our faith is what we're called to do? Last night in our youth group, our pastor came down and spoke to us about this very thing: it is about more than just living the "good life", it's about going and telling people who Jesus is and what He can do for them. like Lauren Barlow said on their dvd for How Can We Be Silent (their 3rd album), "One of the things that has become a popular trend is the thing of 'what if we don't talk about God, but what if we just live a good life and kind of live out....just kind of being a good person, then people will see that we're very positive and hopefully they will come and ask us a question and we can talk to them about Jesus'", then Alyssa chimes in and says, "yeah the main thing is 'don't say Jesus' name cause it might offend someone'". "You know, at first, it sounds right and it sounds good, and at first you're kinda like 'yeah, i get it' but then you're like 'wait a minute, this man, God, gave His life for me!'"-Lauren. "And we've realized there is power in His name. So what is the first thing the enemy tries to get us to do, it's stop speaking His name"-Alyssa.
The bottom line is, we must go out and literaly touch and reach people for our Christ. like the songs says, if we keep quiet, they'll never see we're different. one thing that hit me really hard last night in our discussion was when our pastor was talking about the Great White Throne Judgement. he gave an illustration about how all those people that i come in to contact with and don't seize the opportunity to share Christ with them, will be looking at me when God brings His judgement saying "Kayla, you knew the Truth and you never told me about it!". That was so convicting on my heart, because i am responsible for their souls. if i have the one thing that can save someone's life, why would i not want to lead them to it?