Watchman

Watchman

Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to a wicked man 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself. Ezekiel 3:17-19 NIV

I read about a minister that gave instructions to other pastors on how to grow their church membership. One of his main points was to "never talk about sin". If your only purpose is to grow membership in a club, then I guess this makes sense. But if you are preparing God’s people for works of godly service then this is truly a disturbing idea. And let me offer what might be an equally disturbing idea; Sin is necessary. Without a revelation of sin (that we get from God’s Word), we would not be able to see that we are living in opposition to God. Or let me put it a different way; When we are made aware of our sin by the standard set in God's Word, that sets us on a path. We either take the path toward salvation in Christ or we trod the way of rejection and spiritual death. It may be a bit of a stretch, but I will ask the question; Without an understanding of sin, is faith in Christ even possible?

Silence on sin is the equivalent to telling a person to "Go to Hell." I mean that literally. Think of it this way, if you really love them, if you give a care as to where a person will spend his or her eternity, then ask God to help you minister to them in love, integrity, godly wisdom and with the scripture. We who have God's word and salvation inside of us have a great position in life, but we also hold the responsibility to share God’s gift of salvation with a world in need.

I remember one time where I felt God tugging at my heart about witnessing to a man in the hospital. At first I thought to myself, "What happens to him is between him and God." But I don’t think like that anymore. After thinking of Ezekiel’s call to service, after considering that I could be partially responsible by remaining silent, I have decided that what happens between a person and God isn't only between them and God, it also includes the person that knows God and remains silent.