Speaking God’s Truth to Power
“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2).
When Israel demanded they be given a king, God anointed Saul to be their first king. His role was to govern and lead the armies of Israel. However, Saul did not have absolute power in the kingdom of Israel. Samuel, the priest/prophet that anointed him, was always there as God’s spokesman, telling Saul what God required of him.
The role of the prophet throughout the history of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah was always to speak God’s truth to the king and the nation, often at great peril to themselves. As the kingdoms were conquered, the role of the prophet continued to be the voice of God for the people of Israel, even in exile.
For as long as there have been governments, God has appointed His prophets, His people, to speak truth to power. Today, in a secular society with many and varied peoples, God still has His pulpits to speak His truth to America. We have a responsibility, then, to speak all of God’s truth at all times, not a selected part to fit the needs and expectations of a certain segment of society. The truth of the matter is that the ills of the nation are not limited to a specific set of sins, but to a wide variety that goes across all political lines. Therefore, the Church must speak out on all issues with equal conviction and certainty.
- The Church Needs to Recognize Our Unique Calling and Position
Speaking God’s truth to power gives the Church a special ministry, one that requires the Church to stand apart from all other institutions on earth. The Church is uniquely qualified to speak the words of God in a very real and powerful way. The ministry of the Church must reflect the ministry of its head, Jesus Christ. Paul refers to Jesus as the “head of the body, the church” (Colossians 1:18a), and then tells us that “God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:19-20).
Recognizing this truth allows the Church to speak God’s truth freely and confidently. Led by the Holy Spirit, we are reminded of all that Jesus said, and we are led into the Truth. Toward that end, the message of the Church must be biblically based and grounded in the sound doctrine of Christ as revealed through Scripture.
The Bible is filled with God’s expectations for people as individuals and as a society. As the body of Christ on earth, the Church has the privilege and responsibility to see that society hears the voice of God in a clear and understandable message. Our message should cover the gamut of all that God favors and opposes, not limited to the sins that do not tempt me or most of my members.
For instance, many messages have been preached against the sin of homosexuality, and more often than not, the reference text is Romans 1:18-32, with particular emphasis on vs. 26-28. Yes, these verses do speak out against the sin of homosexuality. But read the entire text and we discover that those who were given over were given over to a lot more than just lusting after people. If statistics are fairly accurate, approximately 10% of all Americans are gay. Assuming a congregation of 100 members, that means that approximately 10 of the members present have issues with homosexuality. Look further in the text and we discover that such people were also given over to gossip, slander, arrogance, parental disobedience. I’m guessing that more than ten members of any given church practice the art of gossip on a fairly regular basis. Yet we don’t hear messages on the evil and depraved nature of gossip. Why not? Shouldn’t the Church be speaking to all society instead of a small segment of society?
That’s not to deny the Bible is definitive that homosexuality is a sin. But the emphasis on homosexuality to the exclusion of all other sins causes the message of the Church to ring hollow.
We live in a highly materialistic society, yet when was the last time we heard the Church speak out against the love of money being the root of all kinds of evil (cf. 1 Timothy 6:10)? Or a message on James 1:27: “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
The Church has a unique and timely message for our society today, but that message must speak to all of society, not a select few.
- The Church Must Have a Transformative Influence on Our Society
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:1-2).
It has been my privilege to pastor smaller churches in smaller communities, all with populations with less than 1000 people. Most of the towns have been within easy driving distance of a larger town or city, but each of the places has been somewhat isolated as well. In every one of these towns, I heard the locals who were also members of my church defend gossip by saying, “This is a small town, and there’s not much else to do in a small town.” Having heard that enough, I began to ask: Is it the church’s duty to conform to society, or is the duty of the church to seek to transform society by its message and its ministry? Does society influence the church, or does the church influence society?
While it’s true that the Church does not exist in a vacuum and therefore must be influenced to some degree or another by the society in which we live, that does not mean that the Church must quietly accept and yield to social standards and pressures. Jesus calls us out from the world, to be in it but not of it. We are called to be “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).
In many ways, the Church has demonstrated the love of Christ for our world. It was the Church that began hospitals and colleges, to minister to the hurts and minds of society in general. It is the Church that often times seeks to render aid when it is needed. The Church is to be commended for the good we do in our world.
But doing good is not enough. The Church must be the beacon in the darkness, the city on the hill, the lamp on the lampstand, as a guide and as a refuge from society. Our message must be one of constant commitment to God and His ways, not afraid to speak out against the ills of the world, but also encouraging the lost, the weak and the weary to come to the Son (cf. Matthew 11:28-30).
We know what we believe; we must not stray from these beliefs. The Church’s message must always be clear. Our message must always be consistent with what Scripture teaches, and while there may be disagreement about the exact meaning of various verses, the overall message must be maintained. That message is that God is holy, without sin. Man is sinful, incapable of saving ourselves. God demonstrates His love in the sending of His Son as atonement for our sins. We gain the grace and mercy of God’s love when we accept His gift by faith. Our faith is expressed in our love for Him by seeking to do His will in all areas, and that we demonstrate our love for Him by loving others through actions as well as words. Such a message is powerful and can reach the masses. As we make disciples, then we see our world, our society, changing and being transformed in a way that is pleasing to God.
- The Church’s Task is Difficult, but We Must Not Falter
“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).
Though the message of the Bible is powerful, able to stand up against all challenges, nonetheless it is a message that society does not and will not want to listen to. Jesus knew this. That’s why He taught His disciples and us, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you” (John 15:18-20).
(By the way, the verses above are not permission to be hateful and spiteful. There are those who rejoice because they claim to be persecuted for Christ’s sake. Sometimes, that’s true. More often than not, though, many who claim to be doing things in Christ’s name are really acting on their own and acting like jerks. Being persecuted for being a jerk is not the same thing as being persecuted for Christ’s sake, even if you’re being a jerk in Jesus’ name. It’s important to know the difference.)
Paul reminds us, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
When Isaiah accepted the call to preach his message, a message that would not be received, Isaiah asked God how long he was to preach his message. “And He answered, ‘Until the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses are left deserted and the fields ruined and ravaged, until the Lord has sent everyone far away and the land is utterly forsaken’.” (Isaiah 6:11b-12).
The message of the Church—the call to live a holy life, the role of redemption from sin, of reconciliation with God and with one another—is a fantasy to many in our world, one of many religious beliefs to others in our world. Still, the message is a true message, and it is one that the Church must constantly and consistently bring to the world. We need to acknowledge that sin is sin, but we also need to emphasis that the message of salvation is based upon the love of God for a sinful world. Our message will be rejected, we may be mocked and defied, but our calling is not to save the world; merely to preach the Word faithfully and consistently.
(c) 2017 Glynn Beaty