Voice of the Voiceless
Do you feel like you have a voice in our culture? Does anything you or I say or do bring about real change? Although I am quite sure making a profit is the primary reason for their existence; another, perhaps even a byproduct of the existence of social media platforms is the false sense of having a voice in our culture. I would include all iterations of these platforms in the statement, whether speaking of standalone platforms like Facebook or simple comment sections powered by Discus, Redit, or any number of platforms. All these venues seemingly provide a space for us to let our voice be heard. But, is it?
Having our voices heard requires someone to be listening. Someone needs to be listening and thinking critically about what is being said. No one is listening! The vast majority of people engaging these platforms are there so their voice can be heard. Quite literally everyone is talking and very few, if any, are interested in listening, especially to an opinion that does not support their own. This reality is exploited either ignorantly or maliciously by the purveyors of these platforms and the result for the end-user is often frustration and disenfranchisement.
I’m not an excessive user of these platforms, however, I have experienced the frustration of feeling voiceless and powerless in our culture. Even one of the most fundamental expressions of our voice, our vote, has been experiencing a barrage of attacks for several years. We need a new platform! Or perhaps we need to remind each other of a better platform.
“I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!” Psalm 66:17-20
This Psalm is a beautiful reminder of the greatest platform that has and ever will exist: Prayer.
“I cried to Him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue.” – reminding us prayer is a real conversation with the creator of all things. We use our voice to speak, to cry out, bringing praise to the one that is worthy of our praise.
“If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened”– reminding us of the exclusive nature of this platform; God listens to those in a relationship with Him. This relationship includes all that have repented from their hearts of iniquity and trusted in God to give them clean hearts.
“he has attended to the voice of my prayer.” – reminding us God not only listened but He acted upon our prayer. God always engages in our conversations with Him. We may not always hear or like His response, but He does answer.
“Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!” – reminding us God has not rejected us because of our opinion. He has not rejected our prayer and more importantly, He has not stopped loving us no matter what we have asked or shared in prayer.
We do have a voice! Prayer is the greatest platform for change in existence. R.C. Sproul said, “Though our prayers do not change God's mind, He ordains prayer as a means to accomplish His will.” James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.” God indeed uses prayer to change things. Often, it is our perspective that changes through prayer and no App is required.
“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21
Prayerfully,
Pastor Kelly
A side note and a caution: More information about prayer as the greatest platform ever can be found in the greatest selling book of all time; “The Holy Bible.” Two interesting resources are available from people that were part of the start-up process and streamlining of many social media platforms “The Social Dilemma” on Netflix or the book “Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now” by Jaron Lanier. If you pursue the last two listed keep in mind they may contain offensive language and are not coming from a Christian perspective.
