And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:2-5 NASB)

A man invited his neighbor to attend church with him. On the way home, the neighbor said, “I noticed you have a new preacher.” “Yes,” said his friend, “We fired the old one. He was always telling us unless we repented, we were going to hell.” “But,” the neighbor replied, “your new preacher said the very same thing this morning.” “True,” was the reply, “but our old preacher acted like he was happy about the situation. When our new preacher says this, it seems to break his heart.” (Unknown)

    If you think it’s easy to be a preacher, it’s obvious you’ve never been one. Preachers have an interesting job. On the one hand, they have the privilege of telling people the greatest news anyone has ever heard — that God’s Son died to save them from their sins. On the other hand, the only people that message will ever mean anything to are people who first had to be told about sin. Try telling some people they are sinners and condemned and you’re likely to get punched in the nose!

    Preachers must continually remind people about the dangers of sin. Yes, I think we must continue to declare the love and mercy of God, his compassion, and forgiveness. But, we must also keep people ever aware of their responsibility to obey God’s Word, to challenge them to continual spiritual awareness, and motivate them to extend love and good works to the world around them. If all that was happening on its own, no preacher would ever have to say it. The very fact that preachers must say it, means that people are not doing it. Try bringing these failures to people and see if they like you for it.

    There is one thing that makes it bearable when preachers must stand and deliver correction or challenge. That one thing is something difficult to define. It is a quality or characteristic found in the preacher. It’s the kind of thing identified in the illustration. One preacher stands and warns people to repent else they are in danger of hell and the people want to fire him. Another stands and says exactly the same thing, but the people want to hire him. The real problem isn’t the message. It’s the preacher.

The real problem isn’t the message. It’s the preacher.

    When people heard Jesus, one thing that set him apart from others was not so much his message as it was something about himself. Jesus preached a message of repentance. So did John the Baptist and countless prophets before him. But, when Jesus taught, he did so with an “authority” that people could recognize as different from other religious leaders. That difference is evidenced when Jesus approached Jerusalem and wept over it. It is illustrated in the touch given to the leper. We hear it in his voice when from the cross he said, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Even at his harshest, we just do not hear from Jesus the hard, scolding anger of hatred and condemnation.

    Perhaps the reason is that Jesus was ever aware of his purpose in coming to this world.John 3:17 tell us that Jesus didn’t come to judge the world, but to save it. Hell-fire and brimstone may serve as a powerful and fearful motivator for some, but it’s really not the method Jesus chose to communicate to the people of his day. One thing we need to realize is that the message of Jesus was preeminently a message of love.

    Now back to the preacher in question. Why fire one and hire the other? When people know that you love them, and that their sins break your heart, and even that you speak as one of them, and struggle against Satan’s temptations, fighting to do God’s will, it’s much easier for them to hear about their own failings. But if the messenger sounds as if he’s just ranting and raving at them and treating them like he’s glad for whatever pain God might bring them, they won’t listen at all.

 

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Title: "The Fired and the Hired"
Author: Dr. Bill Denton
Publication Date: July 9, 2003