Not Ashamed of the Gospel

I have been told that I have been harsh when I preach. Someone says that I say things that offend some people. Personally, I think I temper quite a bit of my stuff and I believe I present in a manner that, while it is straight-forward, is a little softer than I would intend for it to be. I’m the kind of guy who does not like to pull too many, if any, punches. I say it like it is and don’t think I should apologize for saying it. Let me illustrate this idea.

Imagine if the prophet Nathan had decided not to be harsh with David when he was confronting him about his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba. I imagine if he had refused to speak any bit of the oracle God gave him to speak, God would have struck him dead.

Or suppose John the Baptist have veered in proclaiming to the Pharisees, “Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath.” I doubt anyone would have repented of their past life if John did not preach the coming of the kingdom in the manner he did.

And remember the great apostle Peter when on the day of Pentecost he refused to be slandered by the crowds of mockers and stood to address the crowd. His message was not pleasant; in fact it was a scathing commentary on the actions of the people around him who crucified the Son of God. Not the nicest message, yet he refused to tone it down.

Of course this list of great proclaimers of tough messages could not be complete if our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was not on it. Remember when he stood on a hill and addressed the cities of Korazin and Bethsaida with a scathing rebuke about their rejection of the prophets.

These men did not and (dare I say) refused to allow their message to be robbed of the sharp nature that they knew would cut directly to their listeners hearts and produce the fruits of repentance.

Why would they do this? Why would they allow their harsh message to be rung throughout history to the listening ears of non-believers? I believe Paul summed it best when he penned these words when writing to the Romans: “I’m not ashamed of the gospel…” To be unashamed of the gospel would necessitate that they confront their listeners with the harsh reality of sin, death and judgment. But why have the harshness? Why not preach the gospel in glittering generalities? I believe Paul answers this question with the next words of the same verse: “…for it is the power of God unto salvation; first for the Jew and then to the Greek.” To preach a gospel is without the message of sin, death and judgment would not only NOT be the gospel, but would rob God of his power to blast even the most stubborn and callous heart into submission to his will.

Thus, I refuse to not be harsh, for I am unashamed of the gospel and to preach a message without the things that we don’t like to speak of would be robbing God of his power to convert the unconverted.

What does God want?

Suppose a wife comes to her husband at Christmas. And she tells him that she wants a specific gift for Christmas. She tells her husband that the gift she wants can be found all over the world; from China to Africa to Europe and even down the street at any market store. They come in different sizes, shapes and colors, and this is all she wants for Christmas.

Now as a result of his wife telling him this, like a good husband he goes to the store in search of her gift. When he gets there, he tells the clerk what she wants and they proceed to get the gift. After all, this is what she wants.

Now along the way the husband sees something else, something that he is sure his wife would like, and in addition it is much more expensive than the gift she wanted. He is absolutly sure this is the gift for her and so instead of getting the gift she wanted, he gets her this other gift.

So Christmas time rolls around and the anticipation has built as the gifts have sat under the tree; anticipation from her because she believes that she is going to get what she asked for and anticipation on his part because he knows she will just love the gift he got her.

She picks her gift up and begins unwrapping it and to her disappointment she sees what it is: it is not what she asked for and she lets out a disappointed "Oh."There is hurt in the "Oh" because it isn't what she wanted.

Seeing his wife's disappointment, the husband will try to explain how he was at the store on his way to buy her the gift she asked for when he saw this and knew she would love it and furthermore it is much more expensive...

But the wife just sits there, staring at her gift, disappiontment on her face.

Suppose we were to sit down with God and ask him "God, what is it you want?" What would he say? I suggest to you that he would answer with "Well, there is this one thing i want. Now you can get these anywhere in the world; from China to Africa to Europe, even down the street from your house. They come in many different sizes, shapes and colors and it is this one thing i want more than anything else: mankind."

Notice what happens though; the church, the chosen, the known before creation vessel for the propogation of the saving message of grace, in its attempt to get the gospel to every living creature has become focused on things God did not ask for: bigger buildings and gymnasiums and the like. Now don't misunderstand this: these are all good things and they can be useful. But when a congregation fails to divert their attention on seeking and saving the lost and using those resources to do that, then God kind of says "Oh. Yes, the new church building is nice but couldn't that money have been used toward several missionaries with a machete in the jungle working to share the gospel with people who stand condemned in their sins.

My challenge is that everyone of us would take a step back and try to see what the motives behind every action are and weigh them on the scale with God's standard to see whether we have stepped over the line into comfortablity and lethargy, or if we are truly striving to please him in all that we do. Is this what God wants, or will his face and heart be clouded with disappointment as he says "Oh."