Pastor Tim's Weekly Articles
Our Barbaric Yawp
One of my favorite movie scenes is from “Dead Poet’s Society.” In that film, a passionate poetry professor, played by Robin Williams, stirs his students to express themselves. He assigns them the task of writing an original poem.
The class flounders somewhat as the students recite their poems one at a time. Finally the professor calls on a particularly shy student who reveals that he has not written a poem at all. The professor responds by writing on the blackboard the words, “I sound my barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world” and invites the student to stand in front of the class and give his best barbaric yawp. The result is a “coming out” of this student’s expressive talent.
Similarly, we, sons of God, are coming out for the world to see. It is our destiny, but like this shy student, we can choose to embrace it or not. Romans 8 declares that “creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.”
How did Jesus “come out” as a Son of God and gain the kind of respect that made his words authoritative? How did he get to the point that He was listened to? How did He “come of age”? He tells us. In John 12 He tells His disciples that He did among the people what no one else had done.
Jesus’ model is now our model. If we are to gain a voice, if we are come of age, if we are to be revealed as sons of God, people must see us saying and doing things that they have not seen before. We must become a living demonstration. There’s no time to be shy, inhibited, hesitant or apathetic. Creation is waiting to hear our yawp.
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