I recently came across this story and found it to be too good not to share.

Many years ago, a friend of mine was invited to speak at a church. ⛪

He sat in the front row as an honored guest and joined in the praise and worship. But before he was introduced as the morning’s speaker, he watched in disbelief as the host pastor stood up and began criticizing the congregation.

“This morning’s worship was pathetic. Half of you didn’t show up to the prayer meeting, while the rest strolled in late with your lattes and scruffy jeans. It’s disgraceful. You’re lukewarm and God is sick of you. Some of you need to take a long, hard look at yourselves and ask, ‘Am I really a Christian?’”

Stung by these harsh words of criticism, some people hung their heads in shame. 😓 But not my friend. He leaped onto the stage, took the mike from the pastor, and began undoing the damage.

“Your heavenly Father is not sick of you. He loves you with a love that never quits. He does not care how loud you sing or what you wear. He rejoices over you with singing and he thinks you are wonderful.”

As my friend continued to proclaim the good news of God’s unconditional love, heads lifted and people began to smile. Gone was the shame and condemnation. The room began to fill with praise to the Lord.

When I first heard this story, I was amazed by my friend’s bravery. But on reflection, the part of the story that sticks out is that this was a church where people were brow-beaten by their pastor.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd but when this shepherd beat the sheep they responded as though this was normal. 🐏 They probably thought, “Yes, I am a miserable excuse for a Christian. I do nothing well, and I imagine God is disappointed with me.”

If I’m being totally honest, I have said things that brought guilt and shame to people. I didn’t yell and rant, but as a young pastor, I would sometimes preach at people in the pursuit of godliness. Which is nuts, when you think about it. Bullying people to make them holy is like trying to trying to teach an infant to walk by yelling at it.

I thank God for people like my friend who confront this kind of condemnation and speak up for those being abused. I also thank God for people like the Apostle Paul who refused to let the Judaizers burden the New Testament church with law. ⚔️

We did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. (Galatians 2:5)

It takes the courage of Jesus to speak against the lies that keep people from drawing near to God. And it takes the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to remember that our battle is not against flesh and blood.

The host pastor in that story was not the bad guy. He was just misguided and probably overworked. Like the people in his church, he needed to be set free.

Paul said he dedicated his life to preaching the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24). Is there any greater occupation?

You’re probably wondering what happened with my friend. Sadly, I don’t remember the rest of the story. It was a long time ago. But based on similar experiences I’ve heard, I imagine my friend did not get a return invitation.

Which is a shame, because what he was preaching was what the world most needs‼️