Stop Preaching About That!

-

Scripture
Mic. 2:6    “Do not preach”—thus they preach—
“one should not preach of such things;
disgrace will not overtake us.”

Observation

God’s people were living in disobedience and the prophets were struggling with their message. When they preached God’s truth the people rebelled. They didn’t want to hear those words. The official religious leaders didn’t want to stir up the people and so they preached to the prophets, telling them to be quiet because their words were troubling the people. Then, they went on to preach the things that would tickle the ears of the people. 

Application

Preaching God’s truth may sometimes trouble the hearts and souls of listeners. The purpose of preaching is not to entertain or to make the people in the pew happy. One of the early General Superintendents of the Church of the Nazarene passionately preached on holiness and the crowd threw dead mice at him! 

When preaching begins to make us angry and uncomfortable, it may just be touching a nerve it needs to touch! Instead of becoming angry at the preacher and telling them to “stop preaching about that,” we need to examine our own hearts. God’s people didn’t want to hear that there would be consequences for their behavior. They were determined to believe that “disgrace will not overtake us.” But they were wrong. 

There are consequences that we must face for the ways in which we live our lives. There is fallout from taking drugs that will affect your own body and your ability to provide for yourself and your family. Children will be hurt by divorce, no matter how amicable you believe the situation may be. Your spouse will be wounded by your addiction to porn. The world will suffer when Christians insulate themselves and refuse to become a voice for those on the margins. Premarital sex will have a lasting impact on your marriage. And the list goes on and on…but the voices in the pew say, “stop preaching about that!” We want to hear about a God who loves unconditionally and will accept us no matter what. That is true, but this is a holy Father who sent his son as a living sacrifice so that we wouldn’t have to live trapped in the darkness of sin. The good news is that God does love us unconditionally and accepts us no matter what, so that we can be transformed into sons and daughters who do not have to live in sin. God can heal us from the consequences of sin, but we must stop making excuses. 

We should never try to silence the prophetic voice, but be willing to be molded by God’s correction. 

Prayer

Lord, this day many will stand in your pulpit and preach. May our preachers not be inhibited to speak the truth you have laid on their hearts. Amen.


Comments

  1. Dr John StaufferJuly 9, 2017 at 7:21 AM

    As I prepare to make breakfast for my sweetheart while she still is at rest I read my email, looked at FB and found this post. I look forward to future posts and reading at least some of the archives shown here. But, today's post is spot on even in our church and often we put our hands over our ears and do the Na,na, na noise to drown out the truth. Thank You!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carla SunbergJuly 9, 2017 at 12:06 PM

      Thank you for reading -- and may the Lord bless you!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take Off Your Ornaments

-
Scripture: Ex. 33:4 ¶ When the people heard these harsh words, they mourned, and no one put on ornaments. Ex. 33:5 For the LORD had said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘You are a stiff-necked people; if for a single moment I should go up among you, I would consume you. So now take off your ornaments, and I will decide what to do to you.’” Ex. 33:6 Therefore the Israelites stripped themselves of their ornaments, from Mount Horeb onward. Observation: The people had sinned before God by making and worshiping the golden calf!  They had taken their golden jewelry — the earrings and other items they had gotten from the Egyptians and used them to create an idol.  Now, in an act of humility and repentance they were to take off all of their jewelry and ornaments.  It was a time of mourning over their sin and it included intentional action on the part of the Israelites.  Application: We don’t do all that well with humility and repentance!  It seems that we live in a ti...
Read more

Does God Value Boys More than Girls?

-
Scripture: Lev. 12:1 ¶ The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Lev. 12:2 Speak to the people of Israel, saying: ¶ If a woman conceives and bears a male child, she shall be ceremonially unclean seven days; as at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. Lev. 12:3 On the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Lev. 12:4 Her time of blood purification shall be thirty-three days; she shall not touch any holy thing, or come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification are completed. Lev. 12:5 If she bears a female child, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; her time of blood purification shall be sixty-six days. Lev. 12:6 ¶ When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. Lev. 12:7 He shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement on her ...
Read more

On Grief and A Flute Player

-
Scripture: Matt. 9:23 When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, Matt. 9:24 he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. Matt. 9:25 But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. Matt. 9:26 And the report of this spread throughout that district. Observation: This is a simple story which we have heard or read numerous times. Jesus heals the little girl and the people rejoice. But at the moment in which he arrives at the home he encounters the professional mourners. These are the flute players, the ones who have come to make a great noise about the child’s death. It is the flute player that testifies to the fact that she is truly dead. Also, flutes were generally employed when it came to the death of a child. The whole community would therefore understand that it is a child who has died in this home. The flute player is doing the job they have ...
Read more