EGGSHELLS
The great reformer and protestant preacher, Hugh Latimer (1485-1555), served briefly as the chaplain to the notorious tyrant, King Henry VIII (1491-1547). Latimer’s bold preaching style often offended the king, and one Sunday he was so irritated by the sermon that he ordered Latimer to preach it again more reverently the following Sunday and apologize for the offence he had given.
Latimer thought intensely upon this dilemma he had gotten himself into, knowing the nature of the king he had offended, and he thus began his sermon: "Hugh Latimer, dost thou know before whom thou are this day to speak? To the high and mighty monarch, the king's most excellent majesty, who can take away thy life, if thou offendest. Therefore, take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease.
But then consider well, Hugh, dost thou not know from whence thou comest--upon Whose message thou are sent? Even by the great and mighty God, Who is all-present and Who beholdeth all thy ways and Who is able to cast thy soul into hell! Therefore, take care that thou deliverest thy message faithfully."[i]
He then boldly preached the exact same sermon, even more audaciously than he had the previous week! The king was furious and Latimer’s unflinching zeal for God’s word would ultimately result in him being forced to resign his bishopric, become imprisoned in the Tower of London, and eventually martyred for his faith. Bold and brash to the end, he was burned at the stake in 1555, while exhorting his fellow martyrs saying, “We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England as I trust shall never be put out.”[ii]
In the face of this sort of intrepid action, I am increasingly convicted of the fact that, the Gospel message can change society in unbelievably positive ways, if only we are (I am) bold enough to preach it with power and authority, and stop hamstringing our preaching, just because the king and his kingdom get offended when we step on their toes! When Stephen dared to challenge the cultural and religious understanding of the ruling class in Jerusalem, boldly declaring to them the truth of the Gospel, “…they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; and they cast him out of the city and stoned him! (Acts 7:57-58)”[iii]
As described in the book of Acts, the Apostles, “…turned the world upside down… (Acts 17:6)”, and in a world that needs to be turned right side up, this is a positive outcome! It was said of Jesus that he, “…stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea… (Luke 23:5)” So, even when we think that there might be negative aspects to our attempts to preach the Gospel, we have to realize that it is not a popular message, but the more we water it down in order to make it more palatable for the masses, the less of an impact it will make.
However, my summation of the message taught by some in the modern church, is that we should be walking around on eggshells; careful not to offend; cognizant of the fact that our truth is only relevant to our own culture but not to theirs; and that we can learn much more from them than they can learn from our Gospel, if we just set aside our bigoted, xenophobic, egocentric, western paradigms long enough to listen, rather than just preaching the word like we’ve been instructed to do in Scripture.
By the way, John Bell, the priest who succeeded Hugh Latimer as bishop of Worcester, "...followed in the wake of Latimer's ambitious reform agenda, by doing what he could to restore order and balance while rebuilding the diocese; this has been fairly appraised and noted in that he 'laboured to reverse' Latimer's abrupt restructuring."[iv] Other than that, he is virtually unknown in Church history and merits barely a footnote, and that is exactly what will happen to our ministries if we cower to the culture.
The deeds of Hugh Latimer and his fellow reformers, on the other hand, did indeed, light a candle that still burns fervently today, nearly 600 years later! Why? Because they heeded the call of the Apostles and early church fathers to, "...obey God rather than men. (Act 5:29)" and as Peter boldly proclaimed, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. (Act 4:19-20)"
What are the negative outcomes? I guess from Satan’s perspective, there will be less people joining him in hell for eternity. Stop walking on eggshells, be bold, souls are at stake!
By Pastor Glen Mustian
Works Cited:
[i] Cocoris, M. Evangelism, A Biblical Approach, Moody, 1984, p. 126.
[ii] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hugh-Latimer
[iii] NKJV. Holy Bible.
[iv] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bell_(bishop_of_Worcester)
