The Tyranny of Niceness

I have noticed how often someone is called a great minister/pastor/bishop/warden/christian because that person is so ‘nice’.  Such a person is warm, loveable and very well liked by all.

On the other side of the same coin, anyone who is not nice, but who talks too plainly about controversial issues, is not nice and shouldn’t be respected.

How far this is away from the Biblical view of those we ought to respect.  Jesus was not nice; he spoke in a way that was often divisive and very strong. He confronted people with real issues, he didn’t massage their egos, nor did he allow them to stay within their comfort zones.

Godly Christians and godly Christian ministers of the gospel won’t be nice.  No I’m not suggesting they should be rude, arrogant and insensitive.  But they do need to speak the truth unvarnished when it really counts, when it will mean some will take offence because of what they say. Recently I became aware of a godly man who challenged someone he knew well, who was sleeping with his girlfriend.  His mate is a professing Christian and so he needed this challenge.  But the godly man who challenged him was accused of not being nice.  He was told that he might put the sinning Christian off.  What?!!!

And not being nice means being prepared to deal with controversial issues, not avoid them.  Preachers who won’t preach on 1 Timothy 2 or Deuteronomy 7 , to take two examples, may well be nice, but they will also be profoundly unfaithful.

And let’s not consider the best leaders to be the nice ones.  I want leaders who stand up for the word of God, not leaders who try to keep everyone happy.

Away with niceness.  Niceness is a terrible thing!

Do We Censor the Bible?

When was the last time a passage like Exodus 22:20-30 or Deuteronomy 7 was read out at your church? We know that the public reading of scripture is important (1 Timothy 4:13) but what scriptures do we decide people ought to hear? 

For many churches, there is now only one Bible reading that the preacher will explain.  And because the Old Testament is preached on less often, many who come to church rarely hear the Old Testament. 

The public reading of Scripture in 1 Timothy 4 is the public reading of the Old Testament and, possibly, some of the New Testament letters or gospels once they were in circulation.  And yet now the public reading of the Old Testament is becoming novel, at least on a weekly basis.  We are censoring God’s word.

And when we do allow the Old Testament to be read, we feel the need to explain it first in detail.  After all, we are not under law but the gospel of Christ.  And that is true.  But isn’t God’s word clear?  And where there is a need to explain context, can’t that be done very briefly (one sentence) before the reading? 

Then there is the tragically common argument that passages like Exodus 22 and Deuteronomy might put unbelievers off because of the stress on judgment and death for those opposed to God’s people.  So do we also remove Revelation 18, 19:11-2120:7-15, and the like from our New Testaments?  And is the sermon Paul preaches in Acts 17 insensitive because it ‘might put people off’ with its emphasis on judgement? 

It is NOT OUR JOB to censor God’s word.  It is NOT FOR US to decide what parts of God’s word are more appropriate than other parts.  Nor are we the spin department for God to try to make his word more attractive to unbelievers. 

We should never be embarassed about any part of God’s word.  If the Old Testament judgments seem tough, then we’ll have a real problem with eternal judgment and the images of that in Revelation! 

Let’s keep the public reading of Scripture, all scripture, front and centre in our gatherings.  Or do we feel the need to censor the Bible?  Shame!