by: Dr. Allen Domelle
Jeremiah 26:9
“Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate without an inhabitant? And all the people were gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.”
Because of my speaking schedule, I often use the airlines to travel to my meetings. There are times, and many have gone through them, when my flight is delayed and eventually cancelled due to reasons the airline will not disclose. This can be very frustrating.
The one I always feel bad for in these situations is the gate agent who makes the announcement that the flight has been cancelled. Instantly, you can hear the groans in the gate area as the travelers deal with the bad news of their cancelled flight. It probably doesn’t even take a minute for the groans to turn to anger as the despondent travelers quickly get in line to try and get the next flight to their destination. I have watched many travelers direct their anger towards the gate agent who was only the messenger. The gate agent didn’t make the decision to cancel the flight, but they became the face of that invisible person who canceled the flight. Sadly that gate agent has to put up with the ire and foul language of angry and frustrated travelers.
Jeremiah faced the same situation. He was simply the messenger of God who told Judah that God was going to destroy them and send them into captivity because of their sin. Jeremiah became the face of the bad news when in reality he was only the messenger of God who delivered the message. These people wanted to take their anger out on Jeremiah, who was the messenger, instead of taking their dispute up with God. These people wanted the messenger punished when the messenger was just simply the messenger.
Christian, you must be careful about getting upset with the messenger who is simply delivering the message. Just because the preacher preaches against your sin doesn’t make him the bad guy. He is simply the messenger who is delivering the message. Just because a preacher reveals your wrong direction doesn’t make him the bad guy. He is simply the messenger who is delivering the message. You can take your anger out on the messenger, but that doesn’t change the truth of the message. When Saul had Stephen killed, he may have silenced the messenger, but the message was still true that he was part of the crowd who crucified Jesus. Friend, you can try to silence the messenger through criticisms, verbal attacks or physical abuse, but that won’t change the message that the messenger delivered.
Instead of going after the messenger, why not heed to what the message said? Repentance of sin should be your response instead of anger and attacks. Always understand that the messenger is simply being a messenger. They didn’t compose the message; they simply delivered the message. The messenger is simply being obedient to God. Don’t make the messenger the bad guy just because you don’t like the message.
Messenger, let me encourage you not to take the attacks personally. It is easy to do this, but you must realize that the people to whom you are delivering the message have been broken by sin. Ask God to give you the grace to put up with their responses. Whatever you do, keep delivering the message; the message is the only hope to save those people from sin’s destructive hand.