It is in our nature to not want to upset others. Probably because we have learned over time it is better to be around someone who is happy with us than it is to be with someone who is upset with us. So we will often tell people what they want to hear instead of what we really believe. In everyday life such as a wife asking her husband if he likes her new dress, this isn’t a big deal. However, when it comes to our faith many dangers arise when we choose to only tell people what they want to hear. Leaving out the truth they so desperately need to hear.
No life better exemplifies the dangers of telling people what they want to hear than that of King Ahab. The king wanted to battle the Syrians and take back some of Israel’s land but before doing choose to consult his prophets. These prophets had learned that it was better to tell the king what he wanted to hear than deliver an opposing message from the Lord. As speaking against what the king wanted would often end up in imprisonments and torture. So they each fell in line and told him what he desired to hear.
1 Kings 22:6 (ESV)
6 Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”
1 Kings 22:10–12 (ESV)
10 Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. 11 And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’ ” 12 And all the prophets prophesied so and said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”
However, there was another prophet called by the king to prophecy who was not willing to fall in line and simply say what someone wanted to hear. Instead, Micaiah delivered the truth-filled message of God to the king. A message that warned him not to go to battle or else he would die there. This of course in raged the king because it was the exact opposite of what he hoped to be told. So Micaiah was taken to prison immediately.
1 Kings 22:13–14 (ESV)
13 And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” 14 But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak.”
1 Kings 22:17 (ESV)
17 And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the Lord said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’ ”
1 Kings 22:23 (ESV)
23 Now therefore behold, the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the Lord has declared disaster for you.”
1 Kings 22:26–27 (ESV)
26 And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah, and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son, 27 and say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, until I come in peace.” ’ ”
So the king accepted the advice of those who only spoke what he wanted to hear and prepared for battle. But just as Micaiah said he would the king died in battle.
1 Kings 22:34–35 (ESV)
34 But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate. Therefore he said to the driver of his chariot, “Turn around and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.” 35 And the battle continued that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Syrians, until at evening he died. And the blood of the wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot.
1 Kings 22:37–38 (ESV)
37 So the king died, and was brought to Samaria. And they buried the king in Samaria. 38 And they washed the chariot by the pool of Samaria, and the dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes washed themselves in it, according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken.
By telling the king what he wanted to hear the false prophets ultimately caused his death. They lead him blindly to destruction even though they could have saved his life had they only told him the truth of the Lord.
The truth is as God’s people we stand in a very similar place that those prophets did. We have the opportunity to share with the world the only truth that will save their life but it is often the truth they don’t want to hear. Because it speaks against the intense desires of their flesh. So many become like those false prophets and simply tell others what they want to hear.
Diluting the Gospel message in the hopes it will become more appealing to the world. But doing so removes the life-saving power of the Gospel. It is no longer God’s word but just words people want to hear. When we replace the truth with pleasing words we are only leading people further away from God and closer to destruction.
Instead, the church must focus on telling the lost what they need to hear in order to truly be saved. Which starts by telling them they are a sinner just like everyone else. That they need to repent for those sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus. Making sure they know that those who live a lifestyle of sin will not see heaven.
Romans 3:23 (ESV)
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Acts 2:37–38 (ESV)
37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:9–10 (ESV)
9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
That and so much more is the truth the lost need to hear in order to be saved. Honestly, it is not the message they want to hear but the one they do want to hear is not the one that will result in eternal life. Don’t try to keep from upsetting people when it comes to sharing God’s truth with them. Better to upset them into salvation than to blindly please them into hell.
We are living in a world of many false teachers simply telling everyone what they want to hear. Don’t fall in line with them and help to lead so many down the wrong path. Instead, choose to stand firmly on the truth of God no matter what it may cost you. Offering people a better life than they could ever imagine through the truth of scripture.
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