3. Ear-tickling preachers are loved by the world. In 2 Timothy 3, Paul recounted the persecutions and suffering he endured for the gospel—they were frequent and intense—and then said, "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived" (2 Tim. 3:12-13). [Being “famous, popular and a figure in the community”, doing what makes you trendy, “in with the in-crowd” and “liked” by everyone and the number of “friends” and “followers” is taking a priority over making and being “followers of Christ in many churches, though they would claim otherwise. Egotistic pride, envy and fame can be a huge factor, but filling the pews to fund the ministry, pay salaries, pay the bills and keep the doors open by generous donors are the high priorities or the ambitions of growing to Megachurch in status.]
Dr. Brown points out that Jesus said that the world would treat us the way it treated Him (John 15:18; Mat. 10:24-25) and that His disciples, like the prophets of old, would be persecuted for righteousness sake (Matthew 5:10-12). "If you were of the world," He said, "the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you" (John 15:19). But the world doesn't hate ear-tickling preachers because they are "of the world" in their approach to the gospel.
In John 14:23-24, the Lord Jesus tells us, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.”
[The God-rejecting world that hates to hear God’s Commandments, sovereign laws, Divine decrees and royal statues from the Kingdom of Heaven does not want to hear any of it.] It is one thing to have a good reputation for integrity and purity and to live out what we preach. It is another thing when our message does not offend sinners. Some people need to be offended and have the hell scared out of them. As Jesus warned, "Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets" (Luke 6:26).
4. Ear-tickling preachers tell the flesh what it wants to hear. The Old Testament prophets had to deal with this all the time. As Isaiah wrote long ago, "For they are a rebellious people, lying children, children unwilling to hear the instruction of the LORD; who say to the seers, 'Do not see,' and to the prophets, 'Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions, leave the way, turn aside from the path, let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel'" (Isaiah 30:9-11).
In other words, "Don't make us uncomfortable, preacher! Don't make us squirm! Stop confronting us with the standards of a holy God!" Dr. Brown tells that a friend recently shared with me that he learned that the owner of a local strip club was attending the same church that he and his family attended. His sister-in-law approached the pastor and asked him about it, and the pastor said, "At least he's coming to church. That's better than not coming at all." That would be true, except that the pastor never said a word about sin and never said anything that would make the man uncomfortable about his exploitation of young women (and others). And so rather than this man getting convicted of his sins and discovering the life-changing love of God, he went home deceived. Ultimately, my friend and his family had to leave.
[I had a Christian friend that confronted his stepson about the sin of sexual immorality when he discovered addiction to pornography in his life. The teenager argued that pornography was not a sin because his pastor never preached that it was. Another member of that church stated that since Christ died for our sins, the church teaches that Christians could continue to sin all they want. This is people in the church not hearing the full truth about sin from their preachers or the sinfulness of it!]
5. Ear-tickling preachers get away from the Word and give way to myths. They may use a verse or two in their preaching, but their sermons are driven by their own worldly ideology—especially if it sells—rather than by the content of the Word. Some even get into the realm of complete fantasy, preaching alleged heavenly or angelic revelations that titillate the ears of the pseudo-spiritual that may make you feel better about yourself but do not exalt Jesus, do not turn people away from sin, and do not produce lasting spiritual fruit.
Dr. Brown personally believes there are preachers today who genuinely know the Lord but have bought into a lie about the nature of the gospel [and a true injustice to the kingdom of God], and while they think they are helping people, they are really hurting them in the long run, [giving a false assurance and keeping them from finding saving faith and salvation at the foot of the cross. We need to give the "right" gospel message.]
May God grant these men and women repentance—especially those who actually are charlatans and deceivers—and may God give us discernment, repentance, and a love for the truth, regardless of cost or consequence.
Michael Brown
No comments:
Post a Comment