by Tim | Mar 17, 2010 | God, Our Culture, The Church World, The Gospel |
It is embarrassing that we would need to consider such a question. The accusation that sharing “good news” is somehow hateful or mean seems odd. Isn’t the message of Jesus we share all about love? Yet, I understand why we pose the question. After all, although there is great news, there is also “bad” news. Not all truth is pretty. But that’s just the reality of life. We Americans need a reality check. We think that loving others is doing/saying to others what we would vainly want them to do/say to us (a misrepresentation of the Golden Rule). In other words, we think this is “love”–making people feel good. Everyone has a hard time hearing truth about ourselves. And when the truth ain’t pretty, it is important to share it carefully, no doubt. I have encountered quite a few examples of people preaching to other people (in the pulpit or one-on-one) in manners that are less than cordial. This is unacceptable. Often, this occurs because someone is more concerned with spreading their cause in efforts to feel better about their own self rather than out of genuine concern for the people to whom they are sharing it. As frustrating as this can be to hear people blasting other people, the correct response to this is not to shun speaking the truth. Too often, we react by saying, “Let’s stop talking about hell, because we don’t want to be associated with those Hell-fire and Damnation preachers!” or, “Let’s stop talking about sin because of those legalistic hypocrites who preach about it all the time!” No–when the truth is being used...
