I just read the report in Charisma News of Sean Feucht confronting Matthew Blake because of Blake’s sexualizing of young children. Blake is a former worship leader who now performs as a drag queen but still claims to be a Christian.
Blake responded by accusing Feucht of being a “hater.” In other words, Feucht was not “nice” to him. But is it possible that Feucht’s words were spoken in love?
In my just-released book, “Discovering the Real Jesus,” I confront several modern distortions of Jesus including the New Age Jesus of Oprah Winfrey and the Nice Jesus of popular culture. Concerning the latter, I recall listening to a discussion on Fox News about LGBTQ issues. The person being interviewed brought Jesus into the conversation and insisted that He would never judge or condemn anyone.
Her mantra that she repeated over and over was, “He was all about love.”
I immediately realized that she had not encountered the Jesus of the four Gospels, for the Jesus of Scripture can be very confrontational and offensive. The renowned New Testament scholar, the late Dr. F. F. Bruce said, “The Jesus we meet in the Gospels, far from being an inoffensive person, gave offence right and left. Even his loyal followers found him, at times, thoroughly disconcerting” (Hyatt, Discovering the Real Jesus, 36).
Unlike the real Jesus of Scripture, the “nice” Jesus of popular culture is a milquetoast sort of person who affirms everyone and offends no one. This “nice” Jesus of popular culture is not the real Jesus. Just ask the temple money changers and merchants whom Jesus expelled from the temple.
Jesus walked into their midst with a whip in His hand, a somber and fierce look on His face, and began turning over their tables and scattering their wares. He shouted that they had turned His Father’s house into a “den of thieves,” as He drove them from the temple area (Matt. 21:12-13).
Neither would the religious leaders in Israel describe Jesus as “nice,” for He was continually rebuking them for their pride and misuse of Scripture and people. His language sounded particularly harsh when He called them “hypocrites” and compared them to whitewashed tombs that appear beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead people’s bones. He rebuked them, calling them “snakes,” and saying, “Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the damnation of hell?” (Matt. 23:33).
Jesus showed great compassion toward the humble, the poor and the distressed. We must not, however, confuse compassion with “niceness.” A “nice” person may speak sweet and kind words but never warn you of the attitudes and behaviors that are destroying you. The real Jesus loves us too much to leave us as we are. His compassion will, therefore, be accompanied by rebukes and directions for change.
For example, He had compassion on a crippled man at the pool of Bethesda and healed him of his longstanding infirmity. Afterward, Jesus warned him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you,” (John 5:14). It was a similar situation with the woman whom He rescued from the Pharisees who wanted to stone her.
Jesus showed great compassion toward this woman whom the Pharisees claimed had been caught in the act of adultery (I wonder where the man was?). Jesus, with divine wisdom, delivered her from their hands. He did not condemn her, but neither did He condone her sin. His final words were, “Go, and sin no more,” (John 8:11). What He did was give her a new beginning free from the guilt and pain of her past.
Jesus is full of mercy and He loves everyone in the sense that His intentions toward everyone are for good. He does not, however, fawn over everyone with sugary, sweet accolades and affirmations. Because He desires the best for us, He is willing to point out the attitudes and sins that would destroy us. This is clear in His message to the members of the lukewarm church in Laodicea, to whom He said, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent,” (Rev. 3:19).
Yes, Sean Feucht was right to confront Matthew Blake. And if we ask, WWJD, we must conclude that Sean was following His example. I, therefore, pray that God will raise up more Christian leaders with the boldness to speak the truth in love at this very critical moment in which we live (Acts 4:29; Eph. 4:15).
Mario Murillo asks in his book, It’s Our Turn Now, “How can we ever hope for the world to get better if we keep limiting what God can do?” {eoa}
Join Charisma Magazine Online to follow everything the Holy Spirit is doing around the world!
This article was derived from Dr. Eddie Hyatt’s latest book, Discovering the Real Jesus, available from Amazon and from his website at eddiehyatt.com. For the original article, visit biblicalawakeningblogspot.com.
See an error in this article?
To contact us or to submit an article
