Hard Messages

Since I have been going to church, I have seen many things take place.  Some things were good and others not so good, but one of the things that bothers me is how there seems to be a lack of balance.  We seem to go from one extreme to the other, for instance, we hear about God’s love, mercy and grace but very little about God as a consuming fire, a wrathful God, a just God and a jealous God that hates sin and holds people accountable for it.

Most of the sermons we hear are centered on the things that make us feel good.  They are messages to inspire us, make us laugh and in many ways to entertain us.  I heard of a pastor that didn’t believe the messages he preached any more so he became like an actor on a stage, I guess he just went through the motions.  That pastor needs to be dismissed from that congregation.  I think we never need to be entertained during a sermon, but I do think we need to hear messages that inspire us and build us up to be the best that we can be in Jesus.  

What about the hard messages, don’t we need to hear them also?  I am speaking about myself now; if all I hear about is God’s love, grace, mercy and forgiveness all the time I may take advantage of God, thinking that He will forgive me.  Have you ever taken advantage of your mom and dad, your spouse, a family member or a very close friend?  You know that these people love you and you know that you will be forgiven if you get caught and you say that you are sorry!  What is the old saying, “You always hurt the ones you love.”  It usually happens because we know that we can get away with things more with the person we love, and who loves us, then someone that is just an acquaintance.  

What if we knew that the person who loved us would hold us accountable for our actions, we wouldn’t be so quick to act foolishly towards them.  Holding people accountable is part of love, but many of us in the church let people slide all the time, even when they offend us and sin against us, we do it so often that we are desensitized to it and we accept it as the norm.  

The Word says in Isaiah 55:8, “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord.”  God does not tolerate sin, He hates it and He keeps people accountable for their sins.  God chastises, or corrects, those He loves because He doesn’t want any spoiled children.  Remember God is so holy He can’t even look at sin and we need to hear messages to that effect so that the Holy Spirit can convict us of our sins when we need it so that we will hopefully repent and turn from our sins.  

We can be so desensitized by the messages on God’s love, mercy, grace and forgiveness that we start looking at God as a sugar daddy in the sky.  I know we live in the day of grace, which I am very thankful for, but we still have a sin nature and can yield to sin.  If we get so desensitized that we lose the fear of the Lord we are in big trouble.  Today in church many people are being lulled to sleep in the pews because of the lack of conviction that is taking place, because of passive preaching and teaching.  The church needs to wake up and get ahold of what is called the beginning of wisdom which is the fear of God, check it out in Psalms 111:10 which says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever.”

As for me, give me the messages that will stir me to action and cause the Holy Spirit’s conviction to take place in my life, for without it I will never truly repent of my sins and be careful not to do them again; I may have a tendency to take advantage of God.  I would rather have a healthy fear of the Lord that will help me to know better than to try to take advantage of him.  Let me be like the Psalmist said in Psalms 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”

I hope you feel the same way, think about it and have a great day and may the Lord bless you and yours!!