When Silence Is Not Neutral: Be a Watchman

not a priest, but a prophet. And and the main job of a prophet is to become a watchman. A watchman is like a security guard. He stands on a wall, he scans the horizon every minute or so, and he looks for danger. He looks for an invading army to come. And if he sees one, his only job is to sound the alarm. That's a watchman. Not analyze it, not soften it, not ignore it, but warn the people. So he tells Ezekiel, if you see it and you say nothing, you will be responsible. That's your job now as a watchman. In other words, silence is not neutral. [00:46:31] (39 seconds)  #BeAWatchman

Now hang on a minute. We're not just talking about someone who snubbed you and did not shake your hand. No. That's not we're not talking about that. Or someone did not smile back at you. It's we're not talking about that sin. Or someone put too much perfume. No. We're we're talking about serious sins in the bible. Adultery, murder, you know, thief thievery, all those, you know, in the 10 commandments. If your brother or sister sins and are persistent in their sin, go and point out their fault just between the two of you. The one who saw is the one responsible to correct the brother or the sister. [01:00:15] (41 seconds)  #CorrectWithCare

Now here is what makes this sobering. Even before the launch, the engineers already knew there's a problem. And they went to the management, they raised their concerns. In fact, they say we should not pursue because there's the o ring, and if it's exposed to the cold temperatures, it could break. But the management said we have to pursue. We have to continue. Seventy three seconds is all it takes to realize that mistake. A tragedy was not that was not the explosion. The tragedy was that the danger was known but nobody listened. [00:44:55] (40 seconds)  #KnownDangerIgnored

I think the mistake of the church was both extremes. On one hand, there are churches who would treat the outsiders as enemies. And so from the outside, they look at the church as bigots. They don't love us. The church, they hate us. That's an extreme reaction. On the other hand, we became passive. We stayed silent, tolerant. We accommodated them. And sometimes even inside the church, we just look the other way around because we did not want to be accused of being a racist. But the question is is at what cost? Ezekiel was called to be a watchman, a truth teller. If you see something, say something. [01:05:15] (45 seconds)  #SpeakTruthBoldly

The sin of the Amorites has not yet reached the full measure. In other words, God was patient enough to wait for centuries, centuries until the inhabitants of the land has reached its full wickedness, the full measure. Now we have doctors here. If you have a wound in your foot and you are diabetic, there would be a time when the wound does not heal. It will instead fester. So a doctor will recommend amputation in order to save you. That's the last stage. The idea is that the wickedness of the Amorites has reached a point of no return. [00:57:35] (46 seconds)  #WickednessAtItsEnd

Alright. Simply put, you do not inherit the punishments of sin. Children are not punished for their father's sin. So what exactly does that mean, the third and fourth generation, if not inheriting sin? Let's put this in context. If the first generation, the parent, rejected God, chooses to reject God, the the second generation, the children, would follow the same path because that that that's the thing that will they will teach children. So the second generation follows the same path, both haters of God. By the third generation, it's now normalized. [00:54:17] (40 seconds)  #RejectNormalizedSin

Church, we cannot afford to be passive. We cannot say, I know people are going to hell, but I cannot do anything about that. Sorry. I beg to disagree. The church is called to be truth tellers because the danger is real. The spiritual danger is that people are going to hell if they do not acknowledge God. What will happen to a local church that stays passively silent? What will happen to a local church that shuts its door to the world? What will happen to a local church that does not function like a church? What will happen? [01:06:00] (39 seconds)  #ChurchMustAct

It is when God says enough is enough. It doesn't mean God ran out of patience. In fact, it means God waited long enough. He's patient. But patience is not the same as permission because eventually, judgment becomes necessary. See, a lot of people just think that God is loving, merciful, compassionate. That's it. That's just the side of God. But they forgot that there's another side of God that's just. If God is just, then he must punish the wicked. I mean, does it ever occur to you that when injustice is done to you, you're like asking God to give you justice? [00:58:25] (39 seconds)  #GodIsJustToo