God is Love, God is Angry?

One of the most famous sermons ever delivered was delivered by Jonathan Edwards. It was called "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God." In today's world, and in toady's culture would this sermon be effective? Maybe we should preach a loving god one who will accept us as we are. What does our culture need?

Being sensitive to our culture and ministering to it is vitally important for effective ministry. There are some things that are relevant to human nature no matter what the cultural context. The gospel is one of those things. The problem is simple, some times people don't know what they need. Some pastors and preachers believe the god we present must be a god of love and acceptance; a god we already find in our culture the difference of course being that the God is named Yahweh instead of something else.

Honestly that is a bunch of crap (can I say that? I wanted to say something else, but I think my wife would let me have it and I would become a sinner in the hands of an angry wife..........thinking.......... yep, I am slightly more fearful of an angry God). If the message being given by secular humanism in the form of pop psychology is one of love and acceptance then how is the Christian message any different? If we preach a god that "accepts you as you are" then why change? What is the point of a god that is all love, gentleness and kindness? Some of you sensitive types are already thinking about the tongue lashing you are going to give me in the comments (go ahead, they make great blogging and I will publish them). I am not saying anything meaningful here because I want it to simmer a little bit.

If we preach that kind of a wussy god we would find a bunch of wussy people who aren't capable of looking in the mirror and seeing themselves for what they are, sinners who need to be rescued. If we preach kindness, love, and acceptance without righteousness, justice, and judgement then we are preaching a worthless message. Talk about a license to sin!!

I am sick of wimpy pastors who are scared to offend the people in their congregation because they might leave the church. I am all for being seeker sensitive, we should put Kleenex boxes under every chair and give hugs after we preach truth. We should smile when we tell people they are going to go to hell if they do not repent and turn to Christ (smile to make it easier for them to take, not to rub it in). We should use movie clips, do interpretive dancing, and have cool tear jerking art in our churches to make people feel comfortable in their nice cushioned chairs before we preach a little fire and brimstone driving them to their knees. Of course we could give them knee pads to comfort their knees, but I prefer to bandage their knees up after the service. There is nothing like a little scar to remind them of what happened.

Do we serve a loving God? Yes! He has saved us from sin and satisfied His own righteous rage through His son Jesus Christ, but there is still judgement for those who do not repent and believe. Is He willing to accept us as we are? No! We must become righteous through the person of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. Should we scratch where people Itch when it comes to what sermons we preach? Maybe, it depends on where people Itch. There are just some places we should never scratch and some that should be scratched regularly. Don't we want people to feel good about themselves? Hmmmm, sometimes and in some ways. We should feel privileged to have a God who loved us so much He was willing to make the sacrifice He made. If people who are not Christians feel too good about themselves, what do they need God for? People who comfortable in their sin need to be shown the consequences that will be placed on them by an angry God so they will become uncomfortable and repent.

Christians shouldn't be wimpy pansies who live in fear of the unbeliever being offended. Jesus wasn't. He offended everyone He could find whether they were following Him or not. We certainly shouldn't be afraid of believers being offended, they should know the drill.

Preach truth and let the chips fall where they may.