How ironic is this? I wrote an article for the Ministers Association column about how people want to stop Christians from speaking the truth in this politically correct
society.
The article I sent is reproduced here in blue but the part in red was edited out when the newspaper went to print. I guess the editor thought it was getting dangerously close to hate writing. But, of course, it wasn't. A doctor has to give you the bad news before prescribing treatment. And our society needs to hear some home truths if people are ever going to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus Christ.
What do you think?
Shut up! Stop talking! We don’t want to hear what you’re saying!
About 700 years before Christ, there was a prophet in Israel named Amos. This former sheep breeder and sycamore tender powerfully called the people to repentance. But his message was so unpopular that a prominent priest actually told the king that Amos’ words would destroy the nation if he wasn’t silenced. The priest told Amos to go back to his own country and never again to prophesy at Bethel. But Amos chose to obey God rather than this corrupt priest.
A similar thing happened to another prophet, Jeremiah. People didn’t want to hear the warnings that he brought. They lowered him into a sewer pit, so that he sank in the mire and could barely stay alive. But, when a God-fearing servant of the king finally rescued Jeremiah, the message from God was just the same. Turn from the evil of your ways.
More than 600 years later, the apostles Peter and John were commanded not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But they said: “Judge for yourselves. Should we listen to you or to God?” They pointed to some of the people who had been miraculously healed in the name of Jesus, and said: “We can’t stop preaching and teaching about Jesus. This is Good News that the whole world needs to hear!”
There are lots of scary things happening around us these days. But nothing more scary than official attempts to silence those who would speak the truth of God. Christians are more and more being warned not to rock the boat. “Don’t tell us that Jesus is the only way to eternal life. Don’t tell us that sex outside of marriage is sinful. Don’t tell us that homosexuality is not normal. Don’t warn us about the dangers of Islam.”
The thing is, what if the Christian message is true? That God sent Jesus to pay for all our wrongdoings and bring us back to the relationship with God for which we were created. Wouldn’t that be the best news ever? What if the one message we least want to hear is the one that we most need to hear?
