For two weeks I had been preaching my message Jeopardy: Losing Your Rewards. That second Sunday was Part Two: 6 Things For Which We Will Be Judged, one being judged our words (Matthew 12:35-37). noted how individual human voices are unique and their recordings can be used for identification. As a sidebar, I related how I have a good ear and can identify voices, whether the speakers are black or white. Later, my husband Benny remarked that he thought that it didn’t sound good, and some might have been offended by it. I thought he had a point, and I prayed about it.
It upset me enough that I messaged three black women in our congregation, whose wisdom I respect, and asked what they thought. All three responded that they were not offended by it. One said that she saw it as my opinion. Another, that it didn’t bother her; although she didn’t know about visitors, but she said that there was no need for me to apologize. The third said that it did not offend her, and none of the ladies with whom she had dinner after church brought it up. They all went on about how good the message was, but it didn’t mean that they were okay with it. She said that sometimes you let things like that go for the sake of unity in the body of Christ.
I replied that I had told the Lord I was prepared to apologize in the pulpit the following Sunday if it is what He wanted me to do. She responded that she would be praying for me, and she thanked me for confiding in her.
My Dilemma
My dilemma: If I apologized in the pulpit, perhaps it would make it worse. Those who forgot what was said, or weren’t there to hear it in the first place, might start asking about it, and this could just stir things up that didn’t need to be. All week I pondered what to do.
Well, the big snowstorm of 2016 happened, and church was cancelled the whole weekend. The following Sunday I preached a very upbeat sermon on hope, and I felt that since two weeks had gone by, there was no point in bringing up the former issue. After service, a black brother came to me and said that he had something to tell me that had occurred the week after my previous message before the snowstorm.
He was lying down when he heard a voice say to him: “Tell Sister Sharon never to apologize for anything she says in the pulpit, because she has the spirit of truth in her.”
The voice kept repeating again and again: “Tell her! Tell her! Tell her!”
Finally, he stood up with his arms raised to heaven and said, “Okay! I’ll tell her!” Then the voice stopped.
I was floored! How I had struggled with wanting to apologize to the people, because I did not want to offend them. But I also thought it would make me feel better about making a mistake in the pulpit. If I had it to do over, I would not have brought the subject up, and we deleted it from the CD. But God knows my heart—that I meant no offense, and it thrills me to know that He has given me such a wonderful gift as “the spirit of truth”!
We live in such a politically-correct, don’t judge me, you offend me climate, that we are often intimidated when it comes to speaking sincere truth. Ministers of the Gospel are being muzzled by false accusers and those who hate sound biblical teaching. Sometimes we feel like we are tip-toeing through doctrinal minefields just quoting Scripture. Paul, writing a stiff letter to the errant Galatians who were preaching another Gospel, implored: “Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” (4:16).
James said that those who lie against the truth and boast of it, have “bitter envying and strife” in their hearts. These refer to jealous rivalry and contentious spirits. He explained that this wisdom does not come from above, but is “earthly, sensual, devilish” (3:14-16). This describes a descension from the natural to the fleshly to the demonic. When pride and jealousy are at work, the devil will always get in the mix. And he is the Master Liar. Jesus said, “He is the father of lies, and there is no truth in Him” (John 8:44).
Truth is A Liability
Speaking truth has become a liability in many circumstances. Truth is ridiculed as hatred when it’s at cross purposes with a liberal, godless agenda. Even in the Church, there is dancing around the truth so as not to upset the membership apple cart. When a church is busting at the seams because the leadership neglects preaching with the scalpel of truth, the numbers seem to justify the message. But as we saw with Paul, that is not the case. And it was the same with Jesus.
The multitudes followed Him as He multiplied the fishes and loaves, but when He began teaching about the cost of dwelling in Him and He in them, many murmured, Jesus responded, “Does this offend you?” I try to imagine myself saying this to my congregation in the middle of a message. And, well, it makes me squirm a little. But that’s what is missing in much preaching today.
“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him” (John 6:66). Then Jesus turned to His twelve disciples and said: “Will you also go?” The impetuous Peter was on his A-game for once: “To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (vv.67-69). Spoken by a man, who although often verbally clumsy, had a heart of truth.
And standing in the midst was Judas, one of the chosen twelve. He had personal access to Jesus, witnessed His spotless life and anointed ministry, heard His sermons countless times, but he did not have a spirit of truth. His dishonest heart led him to betray the Friend of all friends.
This is what every true preacher of the Gospel should be prepared to face: Preaching hard truth offends some, and can cause many to leave. And by virtue of his/her ministry, Satan paints a target of lies and betrayal on their backs. So-called friends who do not possess a spirit of truth can be manipulated by Satan to attack with character assassination and treachery.
But those preachers are in the best company. Like our Lord, we press onward in the mission of the Gospel. We speak the truth, and we speak it in love (Eph.4:15).
“I’m Sorry That I Was Sorry”—
These were essentially Paul’s words in 2Cor.7:8. In his first letter to them, he had rebuked them sharply for allowing a member to live in open fornication, and that with his own stepmother, and they were boasting about it! He commanded them to put the wicked man out of the church (1Cor.5:1-13). He wrote that he did so with anguish of heart and many tears. Later, he felt sorry about it, thinking he had been too hard.
Then Titus returned from Corinth, testifying how the church mourned for their wrong with godly sorrow in repentance, and exhibited a strong zeal for Paul. Then Paul changed his mind about being sorry for writing the first letter, saying in effect: “Though I was sorry, now I’m not sorry, because my letter made you sorry in a godly manner, and godly sorrow works repentance…. I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you” (2Cor7:6-16).
Ministers & Saints: Stand up for the truth. Take your stand on the immutable, unchangeable Word of God, even when people will not endure sound doctrine, heaping to themselves teachers who will scratch their itching ears, and turn away from the truth unto fables (2Tim.4:3-4). Don’t sugar-coat it to appease people and gain popularity. Speak the truth in love.
And don’t apologize for the truth!
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