May Our Hearts Be Broken, Not Arrogant

I saw something so sad the other day. It was a video of two young girls basically mocking and laughing or rejoicing about people who are either dead in their sins or on their way to hell. These girls are part of a “church” (it’s mostly members of one family by birth or marriage) that spews hatred and calls it preaching the gospel. Their justification for this arrogant, hateful attitude is that they say it is God’s will that people who don’t believe just like them and follow their grandfather, who is the preacher and leader of this inbred group, go to hell, so they must love it. And, yes, they said to follow this man, they did not say to repent of sin and believe on the Lord Jesus. It turned my stomach, and I’m not going to link to the video or even dignify their “church” by naming it, but they’ve been in the news because of the type of picketing they do, and you’ve probably heard of them.

The very idea that anyone would rejoice over people going to hell is repulsive, to say the least. Loving God’s law does not necessitate rejoicing over the state of the lost. Ezekiel 33:11 says, “Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’” We are to grieve over the lost and share the truth with them so that some will come to faith in Christ. Spewing venomous slogans at them and triumphing over their demise is not biblical, and it is not sharing the gospel.

God’s prophet Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet because he was so grieved over the impending judgment of Israel. And he understood that the judgment was just and that it was God’s will. But it grieved him, nonetheless. Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Though their hearts were hardened against Him, He wept over their unbelief. He didn’t spew venom over them and gleefully joke about their going to hell. He went to the cross and spilled His blood to save sinners who would believe on Him. As He bled and died, He cried out, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

I believe that God is sovereign. I believe that Jesus died to cleanse us from sin. We are not the judge of anyone’s eternal soul. Only God has that right. We are called to testify to His amazing grace. We are called to bring the true gospel into all the world, making disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:18-20). No where do we see the apostles gleefully laughing over the fact that sinners die and go to hell. Nor did they pridefully mock, scorn or picket anyone who was caught up in sin. They preached the gospel. They preached it accurately, strongly and with power. Yes, the results of the preaching are in God's hands, but we are to passionately tell everyone about Jesus. The lost need to hear God’s Word. They need to hear the gospel preached in its entirety. How shall they hear without a preacher?

By no means should we downplay sin and the need for repentance, but we must also never leave off teaching the love and mercy and grace of God. To just spew hateful slogans and write off sinners who are still in bondage to their sin without giving them the hope that is found in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ is the height of hypocrisy. And, to go too far the other way, as many churches today do in the name of being seeker sensitive, and focus only on God’s love without warning of His wrath against sin and not warning that true repentance is necessary for those who would follow Christ is also to teach a false gospel. And repentance is not simply changing my mind, as I heard a pastor say recently. It is a 180 degree turn from a life of loving the world and being enslaved to my sin to a life of acknowledging my sin before God and living for Him in faith, trusting in Christ’s righteousness to reconcile me to God. It is a radical life change through the power of the Holy Spirit because of the blood of Christ and His righteousness imputed to me, an undeserving sinner. Both aspects of the gospel, sin and the need for repentance and the grace and mercy offered by Jesus’ death on the cross, are necessary for an accurate presentation. Those who have been forgiven much must remember from where we have come. We, too, were in bondage to sin before the Lord opened our eyes through the teaching of His Word. May we have a brokenhearted, passionate, urgent concern for the lost. I grieve for these girls who have been taught this hateful way from birth. They, too, need to hear the true gospel.

I am convicted as I think about these things that too often I keep my mouth shut when I need to be sensitive to share with people. If I really believe that hell is real, and I do, it is imperative that I be willing to share the faith boldly. And if we really believe the time is short until the Lord returns, we need to be sure to be telling people to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the only way to salvation. I sit here knowing that far too often I am too content to just write about these things and go about my business, and I'm too often such a hermit that I'm not out in the community enough to have a witness to anyone.

Lord, guard our hearts from arrogant pride. It is only by Your grace that we are saved. Help us, first of all, to love You so much that all other affections pale in comparison, and help us to love people enough to share the truth with them in love and in a way that demonstrates that we care about them. I know that the Cross is life to those who believe, but it is offensive to sinners who do not want to repent. But please let the offense come in the message, not because we are offensive in how we deliver it. Please grant us a concern and passion to share Your gospel truthfully and boldly with the world, and let us be sensitive to Your Spirit to speak a word in season to anyone who will listen so that the lost can hear the truth. Pierce my heart, Lord, to be brokenhearted over these things and to really care about my friends and neighbors.