Little Boy Blue, Come Blow Your Horn . . .
By Rob ChambersMost of us have heard of the nursery rhyme, Little Boy Blue, and you may have even had it read to you at some time or another. It reads:
Little Boy Blue, Come blow your horn, The sheep’s in the meadow, The cow’s in the corn; Where is that boy, Who looks after the sheep? Under the haystack, Fast asleep. Will you wake him? Oh no, not I, For if I do, He will surely cry.
It’s obvious that Little Boy Blue has a responsibility – to serve as a watchman over the sheep and cattle. If cause for alarm arose, then it was Little Boy Blue’s responsibility to sound the horn, alert the people, and rally them toward action.
So, the sheep’s out of the fold, and the cow’s in the corn patch – a cause for alarm, but where is he? He’s asleep.
If the Boy were awakened and called to step-up and fulfill his responsibility, then he would resist and rebel against his duty as the rhyme alludes.
Many Christians, pastors, and churches are like Little Boy Blue.
All three have a responsibility to take watch, to sound the alarm, and to take the necessary action to full God’s commands – to share the Gospel, to make disciples, to love justice, to care for widows and orphans, to be salt and light, etc.
But many believers act and react in much the same way as Little Boy Blue. They prefer to be either ignorant of their responsibility or at least turn a blind eye to it. If someone calls attention to their responsibility, they cry and say, “I can’t do anything about it! So, why bother me? It’s not my problem. Let somebody else deal with it. Let me sleep!”
Many believers remain asleep and avoid addressing problems that are a cause for alarm. Communities are rife with people given to the sin of drugs, drunkenness, sexual immorality, domestic violence, abortion, etc. They prefer to stay ‘asleep,’ but the Bible says, wake up O sleeper and expose the fruitless deeds of darkness (Ephesians 5:8-14).
Not only do they refuse to speak against the darkness of sin, but they also refuse to evangelize people bound to such sin and/or those affected by these sins. They conclude that since it’s not happening to them, their family, or their town, then don’t ask them to take responsibility.
But when a believer exposes such fruitless deeds of darkness, they often get maligned by those fast asleep in the church. They temporarily awaken from their slumber in time to cry out, “Who are you to speak out against what is wrong? That’s between them and God. The church doesn’t need to get ‘involved’ in that.”
Jeremiah faced this type of opposition as he called Judah to repent from her idolatrous ways, but the Lord told Jeremiah, “Now behold, I have made you today as a fortified city, and as a pillar of iron and as wall of bronze against the whole land, to the kings of Judah, to its princes, to its priests and to the people of the land. And they will fight against you, but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you” (Jeremiah 1:18, 19).
In a culture that increasingly calls evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20), Christians will be ridiculed for taking a stand for what is morally right, but Jesus said, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me” (Matthew 5:10, 11).
When we stand for Christ, even when we do so with gentleness and reverence, as we should, Peter tells us “do not fear their intimidation, and do not be troubled” because “those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed” (1 Peter 3:14-16).
With the power of the Holy Spirit let us be instruments of God to preserve and redeem a dead, dying, and decaying society – regardless of the cost.
As Richard Land has said, through Him may it be said that your home, your church, your workplace, your school, and your town be a place where “it is easier to do and say and think the right thing, and where it is more difficult to do and say and think the wrong thing.”