Post by Admin on Jul 26, 2023 0:18:01 GMT -5
Geoff Thomas
A prophet of God is not a nice person telling other nice people how to be even nicer. Zechariah wasn’t stoned to death for saying, “I’m OK, you’re OK.” Jeremiah wasn’t thrown into a deep cistern up to his waist in slime for saying, “Something good is going to happen to you.” John the Baptist didn’t get his head cut off for saying, “Smile, God loves you.” Jesus wasn’t crucified for saying, “What you folks really need is more self-esteem.”
but what we want in our own pulpit is a person who is nice, sociable, easy to get along with. We won’t come out and say it, but what many of us really want is a wimp. We want a tame religion, not the fierce, challenging reality of the living God. We want Rev. Pussy Cat, not Dr. Lion from the Tribe of Judah.
Don’t make the same mistake. Don’t expect a true spokesman from God to be just a nice person telling other nice people how to be even nicer. The gospel tells you that you are wicked, that your heart is full of corruption and mixed motives, that you need to be forgiven and transformed. If you think you’re basically a good person and merit God’s approval, woe to you! You’re still outside the kingdom of heaven, and you’re probably also shutting the kingdom in the faces of others. No matter how good you look, no matter what others may see, your heart is corrupt.
A prophet of God is not a nice person telling other nice people how to be even nicer. Zechariah wasn’t stoned to death for saying, “I’m OK, you’re OK.” Jeremiah wasn’t thrown into a deep cistern up to his waist in slime for saying, “Something good is going to happen to you.” John the Baptist didn’t get his head cut off for saying, “Smile, God loves you.” Jesus wasn’t crucified for saying, “What you folks really need is more self-esteem.”
but what we want in our own pulpit is a person who is nice, sociable, easy to get along with. We won’t come out and say it, but what many of us really want is a wimp. We want a tame religion, not the fierce, challenging reality of the living God. We want Rev. Pussy Cat, not Dr. Lion from the Tribe of Judah.
Don’t make the same mistake. Don’t expect a true spokesman from God to be just a nice person telling other nice people how to be even nicer. The gospel tells you that you are wicked, that your heart is full of corruption and mixed motives, that you need to be forgiven and transformed. If you think you’re basically a good person and merit God’s approval, woe to you! You’re still outside the kingdom of heaven, and you’re probably also shutting the kingdom in the faces of others. No matter how good you look, no matter what others may see, your heart is corrupt.