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That Which Cannot Be Mentioned "So the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "[There is] still one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may inquire of the LORD; but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil." And Jehoshaphat said, "Let not the king say such things!" 1 Kings 22.8 King Ahab had a serious problem with the prophet Micaiah. Telling folks the truth tells a lot about the speaker and the audience. In Ahab's case, he was not really concerned about God but himself. He wanted Micaiah to be like all the other false prophets and tell the king what he wanted to hear. But Micaiah was made of better stuff than that, as he would reveal the truth. A few weeks ago I wrote an article, "Sitting At The Feet of Jesus" and asked how we would respond to Jesus' preaching. This got me to thinking about how people respond to Bible preaching when it is not what they want to hear. I was told of a debate that was held many years ago. The preacher for a local congregation wanted to debate a denominational preacher on the subject of baptism. More precisely the debate was going to be on the role of baptism in salvation. The denominational preacher wanted to make one stipulation. The preacher for the church of Christ could not mention the word "baptism" in the debate. My logic would have been to say, "no way." I cannot debate you about baptism without mentioning the word "baptism." But the preacher, much to the surprise of everyone, agreed to the terms suggested. The debate started with the denominational preacher making his case. Everyone was interested in hear the church of Christ preacher debate on the subject of baptism without mentioning the word "baptism." He started out by reading Acts 2. When he got down to verse 38 he said, "Repent, and let every one of you 'do that which I cannot mention in this building' in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." He then went to Mark 16.16, "He who believes and 'does that which I cannot mention in this debate' will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” He then pointed out that Paul was told to arise and 'do that which I cannot mention’ and wash away his sins, Acts 22.16. By pointing out that he could not mention what was in the Bible, he made his point. That group of folks was not interested in the Bible; they were interested in defending their doctrine. The conditions of the debate said a lot about that preacher and his denomination. Let me make a point of application. I have never been told to not preach on a subject. The good folks I have been associated with have always wanted me to preach the truth. However, such is not the case in every congregation in the Lord's church today. Could you imagine a congregation saying, "We do not want to hear brother because we hate him." Why would they say that? Not because he is teaching error but because they do not want to hear the truth! Any congregation that gets into that situation needs to do some repenting. We need more men like Micaiah and to a certain degree King Jehoshaphat. I say to a certain degree because Jehoshaphat heard what the prophet said and then did what he wanted anyway. But we need to always encourage men to speak the truth and stand up for what is right. If we then disregard him, it speaks volumes about us and our character than it does the teacher. One final point. I said earlier that I have never been told to not preach a particular subject but I have had people be angry with me. I have had people walk out of the lesson and slam the door, some quietly shut their Bible and quit listening, a few have even yelled at me. Such is never pleasant but if it is from the Bible then it was the truth. -- Dennis Tucker |