I want to challenge your faith!
Section Two: "Kill the Preacher!"
"Kill the Preacher!" A Historical Parallel
Jeremiah 37-38
For some of you, the last section may have been too much. The challenges to your life-long conclusions may have been too great. Did Heaven’s heremeneutics contradict some of the conclusions you have always held dear? Did the simplicity of God’s interpretive rules fail to support some of the restrictions you have placed on yourself and on others? Are you angered to the point of calling the author a liberal? Do you now think of him as a change agent with wild ideas that could lead God’s people down a slippery path toward destruction?
If any of the above descriptions reflect your reaction to the previous section, then you’re not alone. Most of Jeremiah’s listeners felt the same way. “Kill the preacher!”
For the “Jeremiah Generation” to be truly effective, one very important resolution must be made. You must place a higher value on the message of God than you do on yourself. If anything in the last section was untrue or without biblical support, by all means reject it and never look back. If, however, you are rejecting the challenges of the last section because they make you feel uncomfortable or because they do not support your previous positions, then you have a very important decision to make. Will you, like Jeremiah, conform to the difficult message of change and repentance or will you, like Jeremiah’s listeners, refuse the words of God and attack the messenger for presenting them?
Support for the message of God is only half the challenge. Not only must you be willing to conform to God’s message, you must also be ready to face rejection from God’s people when you do.
To be the "Jeremiah Generation", you must expect persecution from without and even from within. Many of God's people are not interested in a message of change, cleansing and repentance. Just as Jeremiah was persecuted for presenting the message of God, you too can expect some of God's people to abuse you. Consider the three following parallels between the reaction Jeremiah received to his warnings and the reaction often encountered by preachers today.
1. Expect Character Assassination
Jeremiah 37:11-15
“After the Babylonian army had withdrawn from Jerusalem because of Pharaoh's army, Jeremiah started to leave the city to go to the territory of Benjamin to get his share of the property among the people there. But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, ‘You are deserting to the Babylonians!’ ‘That's not true!’ Jeremiah said. ‘I am not deserting to the Babylonians.’ But Irijah would not listen to him; instead, he arrested Jeremiah and brought him to the officials. They were angry with Jeremiah and had him beaten and imprisoned in the house of Jonathan the secretary, which they had made into a prison.”
In the passage above, Jeremiah is beaten and accused of being a traitor. He is not unlike many preachers in the church today. The message of truth almost always brings one of two reactions. People either humbly apply the message and then change to meet its challenge or, more often than not, they attack the messenger to draw attention away from their guilt. Jeremiah was not a traitor and neither are many of the preachers today who are calling for a cleansing of God's people. Over the last several generations, the Lord's church has suffered greatly under the leaders of legalism and liberalism. Look around you. How many congregations do you know that are busting at the seams because of growth due to baptisms not transfer of membership? How many do you know that have retreated into their fox holes casting stones at every one around them. The church is desperately in need of cleansing!
But change, transition, repentance and acknowledgment of sin is not a popular message today. Liberals want their ears tickled and legalists want their pet issues debated. For you to be an effective part of the "Jeremiah Generation", you must be willing to stand up and speak out. But when you do, expect resistance. When they can no longer argue with the truth, they will attack your character. Always remember to speak "the truth in love" and continue to "grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ." (Ephesians 4:15-16, KJV) Jeremiah was hurt for the truth and you will be also. But don't let the sin of selfish Christians surprise or distract you. Be like Jeremiah.
2. Expect Extreme Reactions
Jeremiah 38:1,4
“Shephatiah..., Gedaliah ..., Jehucal ..., and Pashhur ... heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people...
Then the officials said to the king, ‘This man should be put to death.’”
In the passage above, we see the extreme reaction Jeremiah's message drew from the officials. "This man should be put to death." Unfortunately, this reaction is still very common in the church today.
Today's messengers of cleansing and change may not be killed physically, but they are often counted worthy of death spiritually. I once had a man call me a false teacher, condemn me to Hell and lead a campaign to remove support from my ministry. Tragically, this man never had enough love for my soul to come to me and point out the "error of my ways". He found it easier to kill the preacher than to confront his message. And so, instead of coming to me with his concerns, he took to the internet, phone lines and postal service to promote his view that I was "worthy of death" (Jeremiah 38:4) spiritually speaking.
I once saw a bumper sticker that read, "Lord, protect me from your children." As I drove along, I thought about that sobering prayer and recalled the many times that I too have been the violent child of God. May He forgive me.
To be an effective member of the "Jeremiah Generation", you must understand that sometimes you will receive extreme reactions even from within the church. But always remember to love God, serve His children and, if you do, He will protect you from the overreactions of other family members.
3. Expect Visionless Impotence
Jeremiah 38:1,4
“Shephatiah..., Gedaliah ..., Jehucal ..., and Pashhur ... heard what Jeremiah was telling all the people...
Then the officials said to the king, "This man should be put to death. He is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, as well as all the people, by the things he is saying to them. This man is not seeking the good of these people but their ruin."
Not only was Jeremiah counted worthy of death, the visionless impotence of his accusers also led them to conclude that he was "not seeking the good" of the people of God.
When truth is too hard to swallow, many strike out at the messenger. I once had a meeting on the West coast cancelled because an elder felt that my messages were too hard on the church. Even though the messages of cleansing led to much conviction and a full auditorium during the previous year, he and others concluded that I was not "seeking the good of these people" and cancelled the meeting for the following year.
I say the proof is in the results. Change is not always a bad thing. In fact, when you look around and see attendance dwindling for lack of interest and church doors closing for lack of members, I suggest that change could be a very good thing. Change the values of God? NEVER! Change the hearts of people of God? OFTEN!
But before you volunteer to lead the charge for this cleansing, be sure you count the cost. I once read that, on average, most of our preachers only stay about 4 years at a congregation before moving on. Why do they move on so quickly? The answer is simple but not often accepted. The church is uncomfortable with change. It is often easier to move the messenger than it is to change the church. It seems we have a great fear of spiritual growth and the necessary transition it brings. Instead of viewing the Christian walk as a living, growing, ever-developing experience, we often plant ourselves in one place, claiming that it is safer to stand still than it is to move forward. I remind you of the words of 2 Peter 3:18. "But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." I also remind you of the words of 1 John 1:7-8."But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us." The Christian life cannot be lived effectively by planting ourselves in one place. It is a "walk" and it requires us to "grow".
When growth and progress is promoted, many will resist. Liberals will resist because they can't see past their own desires and legalists will resist because growth causes them to be confronted with their sin of destroying the law of liberty. (James 2:12) When this happens, visionless impotence will always be the result.
As the world self-destructs all around us, the importance of the "Jeremiah Generation" cannot be over emphasized. Just as in the days of God's prophet, the threats are equally viscious today. You will face character assassination. You will be confronted with extreme reactions. You will face visionless impotence. You will suffer for the message of God. But remember, the Lord gave His life to give us the church. Surely we can give ours to keep it pure. Be the "Jeremiah Generation"!
Copyright 2006 by Childs Family Publications