The Problem with Thin-Skinned Friendly Preachers

Looking at this quote by Pastor John F. Macarthur, I always thought of how the truth offends, then let it offend.  After all, people have been offending God with their sin so why should they not be offended with the truth?  While I have stopped my previous method in my old blogs that the best way to reach the Gospel is to be as cheesy and offensive as possible, however being too soft and thin-skinned friendly is not the way either.

It just made me think of how witnessing has never been easy and the Gospel is offensive to sinful man.  What truly upsets sinful people is the message against sin and self-righteousness.  If a man who loves sin is offended by the message of repentance of sin, the idea of salvation by grace through faith is offensive to the work salvationist's ears.  Either sinful people want to keep reveling in sin or they just want to keep up with their self-righteousness.  Reading Jeremiah and the Book of Acts, the Gospel offends.  Jeremiah was alone and broken during his entire lifetime as a prophet for God.  In the Book of Acts, Paul was a battered Apostle because he preached the truth.  However, James 1:2 says to count all trials in life as joy because faith produces patience.

I still remembered this phrase from the Shocking Youth Message by Pastor Paul David Washer:
In America, we have become so thin-skinned that no one can rebuke us.  No one can tell us we are wrong.  And ministers and leaders alike have bought into this lie.  We do not want to offend.  We want to be seeker friendly.  What you need to realize is there is only one seeker and His name is God, and if you want to be friendly to someone in your church, you need to be friendly to God.  And you need to be more concerned for the glory of God than you are for the attitudes of men.  But another thing you need to realize is the person who loves you the most will tell you the most truth.

Unfortunately, Americans today are said to be very thin-skinned that they fail to see the reality of the situation.  It's quite amazing to see how many Americans have no shame or as Jeremiah 5:3 says that people's faces are harder than a rock yet you can observe how easily offended they are.  If anything, Americans today can be stereotyped for their arrogant "I am always right" behavior.  To tell them they are wrong means you might be inviting a fight along the way especially if you tell them that they are sinners and that they are on their way to Hell.

The Bible was never meant to please sinners but to rebuke them for their sins - so they may be called to salvation through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  In other words, the Word of God was meant to offend sinful fan, break down the facade of self-righteousness and for sinful man, the worst news they might want to hear is, "You aren't good enough for God."

It's a shame to really preach from the Bible but to ignore all the trouble that happened just so we can have a Bible in our hands today.  When I read about the history of the Bible from "Foxe's Book of Martyrs" or "Did the Catholic Church Give Us the Bible" by David W. Daniels, I always felt the guilt of the reality that the Bible always had a bloody trail just so people can read it whenever I complain about people who ridicule me for my faith.  Even before the Reformation, the Baptists and other non-Protestant Christians knew the risk of sharing the Bible to people, they did it anyway even if it meant being called home to be forever with the Lord.  During the start of the Reformation, Martin Luther took the risk that could have killed him but for some reason, God graciously spared him from martyrdom but never from a life of persecution.  William Tyndale knew he could die by horrible means and he chose the fire instead of deliverance.  Many Bible scholars took the risk of being murdered by the Jesuits and Dominicans just so people can read the Bible today.

Unfortunately too many preachers claim to be Christians but are thin-skinned friendly and they don't want to offend lost sinners.  Jeremiah 5:31 says that people just love to have prophets that people love to have it so and Isaiah 30:9-10 speak of people who only want to hear nice things.  2 Timothy 4:3-4 warns of crooked ministers who will only speak according to the lusts of the people.  That's what can be seen today are several people who just go by the flow of the world rather than follow the work of Christ.  The Gospel of Jesus Christ has never been about, "You'll feel love, you'll feel joy, you'll feel peace." and the more I read my Bible, the more I know that I should expect hardship and persecution before the crown.

But today, many preachers just want a feel good Madison Avenue Jesus which is another Jesus, not the Lord Jesus Christ.  Whenever I feel like complaining about my current situation, I take comfort in the fact that Jesus never said that there won't be persecution and people who persecute those who are His, who won't think they are doing God a favor.  I know people who hate my guts who think that they are doing it for the greater glory of God.  What happens in the process of preaching a Madison Avenue Jesus is a fallout rate.  While true converts may momentarily backslide but you cannot see them completely fall away.  However those who were given a bogus gospel are destined to fall away like those who put on the flight jacket for an "improved flight" are sure to be disappointed when trials come.