Another Opinion from the South
by Dewitt Sheffield

How Do You Preach to

Good Guys?

Three of the gospel stories in the New Testament tell of an occasion when Jesus Christ went into the temple of Jerusalem, two of which I call to our attention (Mark 11:15-17, MATT. 21:12-13). There he found good and dedicated people doing things unholy and what he thought unpleasing to God. They were selling and buying "in the temple." He overturned the tables and seats of the money changers, and according to Matthew, drove some of the leaders out of the temple. Jesus said to them, "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of robbers." Whoa! He called his own people robbers and the temple in which they were seated a den of thieves. Whoa! Now that's preaching to the good guys.

Of course, Mark tells us what happened then. "And the chief priest and the scribes heard it and sought a way to destroy him; for they feared him, because all the multitude was astonished at his teaching..." (Mark 21:12-13). When you are preaching to the good guys and gals, you can get into deep trouble quickly, be called un-Christian or even un-American. Some may even begin to shout, "crucify him, crucify him."

Again, when it comes to preaching to the good guys and gals, things seem not to have changed very much. Question our country's foreign policies, the acts of the president, and common social and religious beliefs, and watch the good guys and gals squirm.

Who are the good guys and gals? They are those who do not call our president a liar, even when he lies. Good guys and gals salute the flagin all circumstances. Many never object to going to war when the president calls. A lot of good guys and gals seem at home in all white or all black churches. They never criticize or question America or its role in the world. "America right or wrong we say."

Thanks to the Lord. The world is full of good guys and gals, but how do you preach to them? How do you call good guys to repentance? God bless America! Our country has so many good guys and gals, but how do you shake them out of a complacency toward hating their neighbors, avoiding evil wars, and diverting the cost of those wars toward solving world hunger, etc.? When and how does the prophetic voice pronounce God's condemnation upon a country with so many good guys and gals who cannot or will not see or hear of their sins?

After many years of building a large church, with great ministries to the poor, elderly and the young, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has finally captured the attention of many other good guys and gals. And, as we have seen, prophetic voices have always been rejected, and often are silenced by the outcry of the good guys and gals, who make of them martyrs. Could such be the case with the Rev. Wright?

Only time will tell. But I hope that he can keep preaching to us good guys and gals until we too can hear the gospel, often framed in "astonishing" ways.