Over the last several years I have noticed a very interesting trend, and I wonder if you have noticed it as well? If you are visiting with someone, particularly about a spiritual topic, and they believe something is OK that you believe is wrong, what label pops into your mind? Anymore, most people would, consciously or unconsciously, label the person as liberal. By the same token, if the person’s beliefs pretty well align with your own then you consider them to have a pretty good grasp of Biblical teachings. However, if the person you are visiting with believes that something is wrong that you approve of, what then? Let’s take it home a little bit more, what happens when the preacher’s lesson opposes something that you or your loved ones participate in? Unfortunately, in this situation, the minister (or whoever delivered the teaching) is considered close-minded and judgmental.
I want to be very specific here, I am not talking about a preacher teaching false doctrine, I am specifically referring to a teaching, backed with Scripture, that “steps on your toes.” Over the last several years, as political correctness has taken a solid hold on society, it has also crept into the church. The media screams at us every day that we have no right to judge people, and no one can tell us that we are wrong. This has resulted in a tremendous increase in brethren leaving congregations, perhaps that they have even attended for years, because the preacher offended them. Even more alarming for me, as a minister’s wife, is the ever-increasing trend of preachers being fired for offending members with their lessons. Once again, not for teaching false doctrine, but simply for teaching that which is unpopular and calls for change in people’s lives.
Until very recently this trend caused me considerable distress, to the extent that at times (I am ashamed to admit) I even felt hopeless about it. I am blessed to be married to an amazing, loving, Godly man, who also happens to be a minister of the Gospel. Just this past week my husband delivered one of “those” lessons (frequently referred to as “moving sermons” by those in the ministry). During his lesson he made a comment that forever changed the way I view the “political correctness” in the brotherhood, and it was this, “I know that there is a good chance I have stepped on many toes today, and I consider that a good thing. Why? Well let me ask you, what is the difference in an artificial leg and a real one? If you poke the real leg, you feel it.” Wow! What insight! When I am offended at a lesson, it’s not a sign of a hard heart, but rather it is a sign that God’s word can still affect my heart if I will let it!
The hard truth is that as a result of our being fallible human beings we will inevitably be offended by our brethren at some point or another. Galatians 6:1 and Matthew 18:15 clearly teach that our brethren are to come to us when there is a concern about our Christian lives, and since none of us are perfect if our brethren truly love us they will come to us with a concern at some point. A biblical preacher will, at some point, preach on an issue that we fall short in if he is following the example Paul left for us in Acts 20:27 because the “whole counsel of God” includes those teachings which are popular and easy as well as those that are unpopular and difficult. And, as fallible human beings when this happens, it will hurt and probably even make us angry. However, how we handle that hurt and anger is up to us.
As fallible human beings, when we hear things that we don’t like, or that are hard for us, our automatic tendency is to want to “shoot the messenger”. At times this is easy for us because the message is not delivered in love. When our brethren come to us one on one, or even at times when a message is delivered from the pulpit, it is not done with the right motivation or in the right way. This makes it easy for us to just get mad at the “audacity of that person to speak to us in such a way,” rather than to actually consider what they are saying and if, just maybe, it made us so angry because there is truth in it.
Let me suggest to you that these individuals will be held accountable for their actions, but they are accountable to God Almighty not to us. When Jonah preached to the Ninevites it is pretty safe to infer that he did not do it in a loving way. First of all, he hated the Ninevites so much he didn’t even want to go and attempted to run away from God (Jonah 1:3, 4:2-3). Secondly, when he did actually go, his message was one of condemnation with no hope at all (Jonah 3:4). Thirdly, Jonah got angry when God forgave the Ninevites (Jonah 3:10-4:1). Due to his hard heart, Jonah suffered some pretty extreme punishments from God.
Yet even though the message had been delivered in a very hateful manner, how did the Ninevites respond? Jonah 3:5-9 tells us that they repented in sackcloth and ashes from the least to the greatest. The manner in which the message was delivered did not free them from their obligation to hear and repent, and God expects the same of us.
In Scripture we have many instances of people being taught difficult truths. In Matthew 14:1-12 we have the account of John the Baptist confronting Herod about his unscriptural marriage (a topic that is certainly unpopular in the church today). Herod and Herodias were so angry that that they had John beheaded. Acts 7 tells of Steven preaching the Gospel to the Jews who were so enraged that they drug him out of the city and had him stoned. Acts 13:50 tells of Paul and Barnabas being driven out of town, Acts 21:30 tells of the people desiring to kill Paul because of his message to them, 2 Corinthians 11:23-27 tells of the many beatings, imprisonments, and persecutions Paul suffered as a result of teaching the truth to those who did not want to hear.
Then we turn to Acts 2, and many other passages just like it. There are literally thousands of people in the New Testament who, “received the word of God, which you heard from us {the apostles}, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers,” (I Thessalonians 2:13). And those who, “received the word with all eagerness” (Acts 17:11). What is the difference in these situations? It’s the same message being delivered in the same manner by the same men, the only difference is the openness of the heart receiving it.
The truth is this: the majority of the time when we are confronted with a Scriptural message that makes us angry, the person delivering the message, whether it be from the pulpit or one-on-one, is doing so because they truly love us, care about our souls, and want us to be in Heaven with God Almighty eternally. Having been there, I can guarantee you that the majority of the time delivering a hard teaching is a very difficult thing to do. No one likes to hurt or anger people, no one likes to tell people that they must make difficult life changes, no one likes to “be the bad guy”. But, those who love us will do it anyway in an effort to save our souls eternally (Galatians 6:1).
Galatians chapter 4:16 is a passage that breaks my heart, and one I believe we must keep in mind when we hear something that makes us angry, “Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth?” The apostle Paul wrote this, not to those of the world, but to his brethren in the churches of Galatia. Brethren who were angry at him for trying to “save their souls from death” (James 5:20) because his teachings, those of Scripture, were hard.
Scripture tells us plainly that there will be times that obedience is hard, “When many of his (Jesus) disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it” (John 6:60). Yet, Scripture plainly teaches that anyone who does not believe and obey the teachings of Scripture (all of them, there is no big or small commandment) will be condemned (John 3:36).
So I beg you, the next time you visit with your brethren, hear a sermon, or read a facebook post that makes you angry, please prayerfully pause for a moment and consider why you are angry. If it is because the teaching is unscriptural, then it needs to be addressed in a loving way. If, however, the teaching is based on Scripture and it has pricked us, it is proof that our hearts are still alive and well and open to the word of God. The question then becomes, will we receive it and allow it to change our lives, or will we try to justify ourselves before men (Luke 16:15)?
by Lacy Crowell
Lacy and her husband Jonathan are both graduates of the Bear Valley Bible Institute. They currently live in Holdenville, Oklahoma, where Jonathan serves as an evangelist for the East Main church of Christ. Lacy enjoys writing and speaking for ladies’ days. She spends her days at home caring for her husband and her three daughters and son.
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Welcome! We are so glad you stopped by. Come Fill Your Cup is a group of Christian ladies dedicated to equipping women for study and service. We know you are busy and that life’s hectic pace pulls you in so many directions, but you can’t truly be the woman God desires unless you take time to fill your own cup…not with spa days (though we love a good spa!) or the latest novel…but with God’s Holy Word. We want to help you with that! Our goal is to reach you in the midst of your busy day and give you encouragement, education, and fellowship as you strive to live the life God has laid before you. Our prayer is that we can help fill your cup so that you, in turn, can overflow to all those around you. So, as we like to say…come fill your cup, and let it overflow!