One of the more significant challenges when wanting to follow the Lord and obey His word is being misunderstood. One of the best examples of Jesus being misunderstood is in his death! He was Messiah, Israel knew this yet had him killed. One of the reasons for him being set up for death was John Chapter 8. Here we find Jesus absolutely ripping into the Pharisees and leaving no margin of 'whatever could Jesus mean by that?' Jesus was responding to the accusations with basic facts which when understood could lead to their salvation. So Jesus used hard truths in love.
Today there are hard truths around just like in Jesus' day. If a believer delivers hard truths to other believers there are boxes available to be placed in. 'Cynical' and 'critical' are two of the boxes that people get put into. It is true, however, that there are critical and cynical people around and their 'truths' can be easily measured against the word of God and debunked. Also truth can be delivered in the wrong way to appear that there is an agenda. To speak hard truth today is tricky because of the many boxes there are and believers ready to assign if they don't like what is being said. The other side to this coin is that ideas that are offered as truth but are un-biblical are assigned to the 'acceptable' box and the body of Christ wanders down any old cul de sac.
Recently I was talking to a believer about mega churches not seeming to have discipleship as a priority. This person said I was critical but I asked what Jesus meant when he said 'you compass the land and sea of the earth to win a convert then make him into twice the son of hell that you are.' The believer asked if Jesus really said that! It was a hard truth in Jesus time and a hard truth today... some churches are focused on looking good... filling seats. Yet the aim of all of this, 'making disciples' is signed off with church attendance and service. Discipleship is facilitating a believer to source themselves in their risen Lord and draw upon Him.
That said, it is also easy to become cynical and critical as we see the unbiblical practices of the church. If you love the idea of God's people coming together to grow and encourage one another, when others make a mockery of this and clearly make it into a means of gain, it's hard to contain the frustration. The answer is to figure out biblically why this is not sitting right in your heart. Ive met so many people who are for 'this' and against 'that,' yet cannot tell you why biblically. It's just their opinion based, again, on their own criteria for serving self.
It appears to me that Jesus was unconcerned about gaining a fan club so he said it as it is. It is a precarious position to sit between a scriptural stance and the affections of Mankind. So many don't want the hardship of standing for Gods word that will inevitably lead to being isolated, alone and misunderstood. Does that life sound familiar? Jesus would identify with it and so would the Apostles and Prophets. As the aspirations to build mega church increase, there is one who is building His church with the remnant who will not bow the knee to status, profile and personality cult.
The way ahead is to be constantly calibrating self to God's word. That's what the Lord is doing as we offer our lives as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God (Rom 12:1-2). As we join in His program for us we will find ourselves understanding that all of the corruption we see around us has all happened before in Israel. As Paul tells the Corinthians a ballpark, ' learn from the journey of Israel' because all of that occurred for our observation. Yet millions of believers continue to repeat the mistakes made by the leaders, even in Jesus' time, raising up a platform for self and using the ministry for personal gain. The way to stand firm and resist error is to steadfastly avoid these ministries and make sure as they reap their rewards now, we are nothing to do with it.
Gary Ward
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