The high price of silence.

In a few weeks, we’re having a party at my house. I think it’s a party although I guess you could also call it a night of “unconventional worship.” I’m going to read some unpublished essays, a friend is going to play music and it will all be filmed by a magazine out of Nevada.

I’m a little nervous about this, because what if nobody comes? What if I blog about it and I invite lots of folks and then it only ends up being 7 people at my house? Would that be a failure? I used to think so, but Ezekiel makes it hard to believe that now. Here is what 33:7-9 says about sharing the word of God:

7 "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. 8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you will surely die,' and you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 9 But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his sin, but you will have saved yourself.

Wow, that’s some heavy stuff. It’s not just that sharing the truth is important, it’s life or death. It’s not just someone else’s life at stake either, it’s mine as well. I will be held accountable for the blood spilled. If I have a treasure inside that I do not share, I will be called forward and held accountable. If I see the loud march of death, the black train on a track headed to the homes and hearts of the people in my life and I don’t do everything I can to scream out a warning, if I remain silent, I will be accountable.

The party might fail. It might be embarrassing how few people actually come, but that’s not what matters. I am a watchman. I have been given a task. I have been given a message that must be shared. And five people or 500, I must give warning to the people that come into my orbit.