On another occasion, I was reading a newspaper as I flew to Canada for a seminar. The headline of the news article said, "Canada's Warning System Far From Alert." Accompanying the story was a large photograph of an unusual-looking air-raid siren mounted on the top of a telephone pole. The article claimed that these sirens were essentially out of order because of a number of peculiar reasons. Swarms of bees had made honey in some of them, plugging the mechanisms and rendering them useless. In other sirens, squirrels had found an excellent dry place for storing their nuts—thereby obstructing the siren. Also, hunters frequently used the sirens for target practice, adding to the damage already imposed by nature. Evidence even showed that some of the sirens had failed because mice had eaten through the insulation and electrical wiring systems. The article pointed out that the sirens were so weak that their sound would not even penetrate most modem flats. It concluded by calling for a new and powerful system that would reach the population in all areas. I found the story informative, interesting and humorous because of its oddity.
I was greeted at the airport by my host who drove me directly to the church where the seminar was to be held. As we approached the facility I saw, to my amazement, one of the very air-raid sirens I had just read about, mounted on a post near the comer of the church! The Holy Spirit then impressed in me that the newspaper article I had read was a "parable" of the church's condition in Canada. With that in mind I read the article again and received significant insight from the Lord.
The "siren" represents the church's voice to an endangered world. But "if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle?" (I Cor. 14:8).
The malfunction of the siren was caused by four things: bees, squirrels, hunters and mice.
The bees represent Christians who want to keep the "honey" for themselves and will sting any outsider who reaches into the hive. The squirrels represent those who have turned the church into a "nut house." The hunters are those who drive past the church and fire critical words at it. ("Did you hear what the pastor did with his secretary?" or "Did you hear what the bishop did with all the money?") And, finally, the mice who cut off the power represent the creeping things of the demonic realm that find access into our midst through unconfessed sin. All these things have robbed the church of her voice for this generation. In this predicament we no longer can penetrate into the hearts of men. We must, then, even as the news article stated, bring forth a "new and effective means of reaching the population in all areas!"
