“As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in king’s houses. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.’” Matthew 11:7-9
John the Baptist was not politically correct. He was not a groveling sycophant trying to please those in seats of power. He was a prophet and thus he spoke the truth about the conditions in society and the lives of those to whom he preached. He sought to bring his hearers closer to God and that meant a message of repentance.
I read a story about a team of researchers in Sweden who polled 162 voters near the end of Sweden’s 2010 election cycle, asking if they were planning to vote conservative or social democrat/green. They also polled them on 12 controversial issues, like tax rates and nuclear power. This story was titled “How To Trick People Into Changing Their Political Views”. And here’s where the trickery comes in. The pollster/researcher secretly filled out a ballot with the opposite of what the person filled in, then handed them back the altered sheet. The unwitting voters only recognized 22 percent of the answers, and 92 percent agreed that they had written the altered sheet. The researcher summarized “their” answers and asked again who they planned on voting for. Of the subjects, 10 percent changed who they first said they were voting for. About 19 percent went from firmly in one corner to undecided. Another 18 percent were undecided before the survey, then leaned in a direction. So almost half of survey respondents in some way changed their minds. Do we pay attention to things that pollsters say?
Sometimes we approach work in the kingdom with a mindset that is looking to see which way the reed is blowing in the wind. I have had people come by my house in recent years to ask me what I was looking for in a church. It seems they were testing the waters to see what people wanted so they could tailor their church to fit the wants and wishes of the neighborhood. That seems like a dangerous way to start a church to me. Wouldn’t we be wiser to look into God’s word to see what He says?
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John the Baptist told his audience, “Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones’” (Jn. 3:8-9). What we need today is a strong and clear message of repentance and not a reed shaken by the wind.
-Scott Gage
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