The Voice of Charmers
I love the way the King James translates Psalm 58:5, “the voice of charmers charming.” It couches the seductiveness of evil in soft, harmless sounding terms, and gives a lyrical picture of Satan’s seductive style. His voice is not satanic. His is “the voice of charmers charming.”
Satan hates life and loves death. He spends much of his time charming the virtues of the latter and charmingly devaluing the former. He deceives many into being “the voice of charmers charming.” He charms these unwitting accomplices into thinking they actually benefit life by peddling death.
The voice of Planned Parenthood is “the voice of charmers charming.” They are summa cum laude students, nearly as masterful as the master. They charm the young into early sexual activity. When self-esteem is shattered and things are not as “safe” as advertised, they charm them into abortion. Just read the headlines. They hide statutory rape. They aid sex traffickers. They build massive, fortress-like slaughter houses. When states cut funding, they cut other services but not death. These charmed charmers feel good about their evil, unaware of whose voice they really are.
The voice of the Hemlock Society (Compassion and Choices) is “the voice of charmers charming.” They charm the frail into thinking they have a duty to die and get out of the way. They advertise killing as a means of caring and tirelessly lobby for assisted-suicide laws. They speak of death as the compassionate relief of suffering and label this enemy of God “friend.” These charmed charmers feel good about their evil, unaware of whose voice they really are.
Christ’s people hear these kind of charming voices day after day. Satan uses them to charm us away from trusting in the Lord of Life and point us to death to rescue us from our problems. So charming are his words that what he offers never seems like an idolatry, but it is. Satan would have us believe death is our god.
The Voice of the Church
The charming voice of Satan needs to be countered by the voice of the Church. That is part of LFL’s mission, “Equipping Lutherans to be Gospel motivated VOICES FOR LIFE.” We can learn some things about that voice from John the Baptist. Scripture refers to him as “the voice” preparing the way for Jesus (Isaiah 40:3). This camelhair-clad, bug-eating voice was not always charming. “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7). He pointed people to their sin and called them to repentance.
But John’s voice also pointed elsewhere. “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). He pointed people to their Savior—the only one who could change hearts, forgive sins, and transform lives.
The Church emulates John in many arenas calling wrong things wrong, calling people to repentance, and pointing them to Jesus. The notable exception is the life arena. Fear drives this silence—fear of controversy, of offending, of becoming political. Charmer Satan loves this silence. It gives him another charmingly persuasive line, “You never hear anything about it in church do you?”
A woman with an abortion in her past wrote to us at the Life Center. “My heart’s cry is to be a flashing neon sign to those who will listen, tell them of how the devil would like to steal from them. I want to give the devil a bad day! We must find a way to care for other hurting women who have been abused in this manner. Do what you can. Do all you can. The people must hear.”
Yes, the people must hear the voice of the Church. We have the most powerful and positive life-affirming message in the universe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our voice speaks of the fundamental value our Triune God gives to life. The Father creates human life intimately forming us with His hands. The Son redeemed human life, paying the price for our sins through His death on the cross. The Holy Spirit desires to call every human life into an eternal relationship with Him through holy Baptism.
From this foundation the Church’s voice calls wrong things wrong. That which devalues and destroys human life is more than a social or moral problem. It assaults the Author, Redeemer, and Sanctifier of life. The voice of the Church does not uphold the value of human life because we live in a society that doesn’t, but because we serve a God who does. We call wrong things wrong because they run contrary to the will of God for His people. We call wrong things wrong so people will recognize the charms of Satan and turn to the Lord of Life, not the god of death.
From our Trinitarian foundation, the Church’s voice tells what God, in Jesus Christ, has done about wrong things. Failing to connect this Good News to the life issues can be spiritually harmful, for sitting next to that person in the pew who needs to hear that abortion is wrong, may be someone who was charmed into thinking it was right but now knows in her burdened heart just how wrong it was. She needs to hear the voice of the objective, unconditional, and complete forgiveness given in Jesus. Those who have sinned against life in particular need to hear it spoken directly to their sin. Otherwise the charmer’s voice sneaks in. “Forgiveness for what you have done? You never hear anything about it in church do you?”
Yes, the Church needs to be a voice in the life arena—unyielding but loving, condemning sins against life and consoling those who have sinned against life, calling to repentance and pointing to Jesus. Our pastors have what it takes to be this voice, our theology which articulates the Gospel so well. LFL seeks to equip pastors to be that voice and make the connection between the truth and grace of Jesus and the life issues.
Being the Voice
But those who hear this voice also need to BE this voice. The voice of the Gospel moves us into Gospel-motivated action. You can be a voice of prayer praying for our Church, our country, hurting people. You can be a voice of service reaching out to those who need an encouraging word, a helping hand, a comforting presence. You can be a voice of education helping others understand how God’s Word of truth and grace connects to the life issues. You can be a voice of witness pointing people to the true source of rescue. You can be an activist voice participating in Life Chains, Marches for Life, and prayer vigils. You can be a political voice practicing Christian citizenship and bringing your influence to bear through the political process.
To counter the “voice of charmers charming,” LFL will continue to “equip Lutherans to be Gospel-motivated voices For Life.” The more Lutheran pastors, educators, congregations, and schools proclaim that voice and put that voice into action, the closer we will come to LFL’s vision, “Every Lutheran congregation upholding the God-given sanctity of human life and influencing society to do the same.”