How to Proclaim the Gospel with the Right Tone

I am forever fascinated by good harmony. God has put unseen and rarely spoken about laws in place so that music will be music to our ears. But when these laws are violated, the so-called music becomes nothing but an irritation. When someone can’t sing in tune, they are often considered to be “tone deaf.” The Bible speaks of “skilled” musicians (1 Chronicles 25:7). And those who aren’t skilled musically should sing on a hill far away. They shouldn’t be singing publicly. I consider myself to be in that category.

Not only do I find it difficult to hold a tune, but if someone next to me breaks into harmony, I can’t help but follow them—like a lost and confused sheep. It embarrasses me to admit it, but I can hardly clap in time. The fact that I can’t sing doesn’t really matter. I simply tone down publicly. The only one who ever hears me sing is my wife. I’m not embarrassed for her to hear me, because I know that she loves me, and love covers a multitude of sings.

“The key to having the right tone as we speak to dying sinners about these life and death issues is to manifest the love of Jesus: “For the love of Christ controls and compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14, AMP). It’s not something we conjure up. The mouth merely speaks the abundance of a loving heart.”

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However, when it comes to proclaiming the gospel, we must never tone it down—not even if the whole world is offended. If our talk of sin irritates people, we must continue to lift up our voice like a trumpet and show them their transgression (Isaiah 58:1).

If we can achieve the right tone, though, there is a way to speak about the difficult issues without undue offense. And that’s what we want. While it may be easy to speak about the love of God with a loving tone, it’s not so easy to speak about sin and its frightening consequences. I’m talking about talking about Hell. And that’s our dilemma.

People of the world are asleep in their sins. They’re not conscious of their moral condition. But they’re not merely asleep. They’re asleep, and their house is on fire! Our responsibility (with the help of God) is to awaken them and hopefully alarm them. We want them to be concerned to a point where they will run out of the house. So, what tone should we use to make this happen? It should be one of love mingled with fear:

And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. (Jude 22-23)

They will never be awakened if our tone isn’t shaped by love and directed by a sense of urgency. See how an angel of the Lord awakened sleeping Peter:

And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” (Acts 12:6-7)

Notice that it wasn’t the light that awakened him. He wasn’t even aware of it until the angel struck him. Like sleeping Peter, the world doesn’t see the light of the gospel. They’re not even aware of its glorious truth. The gospel doesn’t awaken them, because that’s not its function. Good news doesn’t “alarm.” Rather, the Law needs to strike the sleeping world because its function is to awaken. Paul said, “I would not have known sin except through the law” (Romans 7:7). He wasn’t conscious of his state before God (and the consequential danger) until the Law did its work and awakened him.

The key to having the right tone as we speak to dying sinners about these life and death issues is to manifest the love of Jesus: “For the love of Christ controls and compels us” (2 Corinthians 5:14, AMP). It’s not something we conjure up. The mouth merely speaks the abundance of a loving heart.