In John chapter 1 verses 35 through 37, it talks about John – who had previously described himself as the voice of one crying in the wilderness – standing with two of his disciples. He saw Jesus and said to them, "Behold the Lamb of God!" And then it says his two disciples – John’s two disciples – followed Jesus. And just like that, the voice took a backseat to the Word. And from then on, the ministry of John the Baptist faded to the background, and the ministry of Jesus took the foreground. And that’s as it should be.

I travel frequently to a suburb of Taipei, Taiwan, called Danshui. And when I’m there, I’m reminded of the fact that it’s really the word that’s the important thing, not the voice. I don’t speak Mandarin Chinese. And so, my attempts to communicate with locals is not very elegant. I kind of point and grunt and use exaggerated gestures hoping they will understand what I’m trying to say. But in the end, it’s what I’m trying to say that’s the important thing not the way I say it. And that’s true for us as believers. But we kind of forget that sometimes.

We become very enamored with the voice. We record it, we video it, we film it, we publish it, we platform it with smoke and lights and guitars. And we market it, and distribute it, and promote it. And sometimes we forget that it’s not the voice that matters. It’s the Word that matters.

May we remember what’s important: Jesus, the Word of God. Let’s be careful as we seek to communicate Him that we don’t promote the voice over the Word.