Embracing Wisdom Beyond the Messenger
Luke 7:35 But wisdom is justified of all her children.
Christ, having drawn a striking contrast between John the Baptist’s ministry (which was more of a rigid approach) and His own (which was more of a warming approach), concluded in essence that the men of His generation weren’t happy with either! Having made this clear, Christ found no fault with either approach, but rather with those who rejected both.
By saying, “But wisdom is justified of all her children.”, Christ is informing us that all of wisdom’s children (all ministers of the truth) are the ones who are justified, regardless of their approach, and NOT the ones who find fault with their approach in order that they might reject their messages. Before we ask, “Do I like their approach?”, we need to ask, “Is their message applicable?”. In fact, I’ve personally heard many a sermon over the years, the likes of which disagreed with my ‘approach preference’, but which exclaimed my need for the application of the raw, uncut, rigid truth presented, harsh as it may have been.
We need to be careful not to forsake the message, simply because we don’t like the messenger! And yes, I do understand that sometimes the message is rejected because the messenger is unacceptable (due to lack of character or integrity), but it is more likely that people reject the messenger because of the message! When truth comes, it comes with many different methods of delivery, and we need not forsake the message, EVEN IF the messenger is neither preferred nor trusted, if the message itself is in fact truth!
The big question is, are you hearing the truth? NOT, are you listening to a perfect delivery, or seeing a perfect messenger! So to preachers I say, BE YOURSELF, and never sacrifice truth at the altar of approach. I assure you that as awesome as both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ were, if the same crowd found reason to reject both of them, then you will be wasting your time trying to develop your approach to appease a crown.
We might as well develop the MESSAGE, because when we do that, the same message we deliver will also develop the messenger in the process. Deliver the message, and the messenger will take care of itself. We spend WAY too much time scrutinizing the wrong thing; JUST PREACH TRUTH! You’re never going to make everybody happy, and some wouldn’t be happy if it were John the Baptist or Jesus Christ preaching. The problem isn’t with the messenger; the problem they have is with the message. And that’s not something YOU can fix. You can only deliver truth, and let it be!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
Christ, having drawn a striking contrast between John the Baptist’s ministry (which was more of a rigid approach) and His own (which was more of a warming approach), concluded in essence that the men of His generation weren’t happy with either! Having made this clear, Christ found no fault with either approach, but rather with those who rejected both.
By saying, “But wisdom is justified of all her children.”, Christ is informing us that all of wisdom’s children (all ministers of the truth) are the ones who are justified, regardless of their approach, and NOT the ones who find fault with their approach in order that they might reject their messages. Before we ask, “Do I like their approach?”, we need to ask, “Is their message applicable?”. In fact, I’ve personally heard many a sermon over the years, the likes of which disagreed with my ‘approach preference’, but which exclaimed my need for the application of the raw, uncut, rigid truth presented, harsh as it may have been.
We need to be careful not to forsake the message, simply because we don’t like the messenger! And yes, I do understand that sometimes the message is rejected because the messenger is unacceptable (due to lack of character or integrity), but it is more likely that people reject the messenger because of the message! When truth comes, it comes with many different methods of delivery, and we need not forsake the message, EVEN IF the messenger is neither preferred nor trusted, if the message itself is in fact truth!
The big question is, are you hearing the truth? NOT, are you listening to a perfect delivery, or seeing a perfect messenger! So to preachers I say, BE YOURSELF, and never sacrifice truth at the altar of approach. I assure you that as awesome as both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ were, if the same crowd found reason to reject both of them, then you will be wasting your time trying to develop your approach to appease a crown.
We might as well develop the MESSAGE, because when we do that, the same message we deliver will also develop the messenger in the process. Deliver the message, and the messenger will take care of itself. We spend WAY too much time scrutinizing the wrong thing; JUST PREACH TRUTH! You’re never going to make everybody happy, and some wouldn’t be happy if it were John the Baptist or Jesus Christ preaching. The problem isn’t with the messenger; the problem they have is with the message. And that’s not something YOU can fix. You can only deliver truth, and let it be!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill