Giving a Piece of My Mind When Jesus Called the Pharisees Offensive Names
People keep telling me that I should be more like Jesus but which Jesus are they referring to? It's really annoying when people say that I should be more kind and caring. True I need to be kind and caring but at the same time, I also need to learn how to throw stones when need be. Here's what... Jesus called people names. By today's politically correct standards, it would be "un-Christlike" but they're only having another "Jesus" which is a false gospel.
Whenever I read through the four Gospel accounts according to Matthew, Mark, Luke and John I don't see a Jesus who backed off when it came to dangerous false teachers or the deception of Herod Antipas. Herod Antipas was called a sly fox. The Pharisees had every name that they deserved because they were the most dangerous enemies of the Jewish people's welfare. While the Romans can't be denied to be oppressors but the Pharisees were worse. They supposedly looked like men of God but they were really wolves in sheep's clothing. When he called them names it was to show the fact that they were not to be trusted.
Being "nice" by postmodern standards is not for me. The great Reformed Baptist preacher Charles H. Spurgeon said, "I could never believe in the Jesus Christ of some people, for the Christ in whom they believe is simply full of affectionateness and gentleness, whereas I believe there never was a more splendid specimen of manhood, even its sternness, than the Savior; and the very lips which declared taht He would not break a bruised reed uttered the most terrible anathema upon the Pharisees." Jesus was gentle but He also was harsh when He needed to be harsh. Even the most gentle of shepherds will attack the wolf with much ferocity to protect the flock.
Another quote by Spurgeon says, "God chooses not milksops destitute of backbone, to wear His glory upon their faces. We have plenty of men made of sugar, nowadays, that melt into the stream of popular opinion; but these shall never ascend into the Hill of the LORD nor stand in His holy place nor wear the tokens of His glory." Many people today just choose to be popular than faithful. Since you can't have both then they foolishly choose popularity which is fickle. While popularity indeed comes but when a popular person stands up against a popular error then that person can expect to be estranged from the world. False converts can also be revealed when they care more about popularity than faithfulness. You can't be saved and value popularity over Christ. You may value popularity and reputation for now but when you're saved, God will always find a way to make you do the opposite of what your flesh desires and what He desires. But the case of false converts, some of them even care too much about themselves than the Gospel that they have to defend.
When Jesus called those names, I wouldn't even want to think it wasn't done out of love and concern for those people. Remember, there's always the call to repentance. A sinner must be called a sinner no matter how offensive it is. Political correctness is a barrier to the Gospel. It does nothing but confuse people with more stupidity. It's time to call sin as sin no matter how the world will react. Jesus never compromised and neither should Christians. There's no room for compromise when it comes to warning the lost about their being lost even if it means giving up one's life just to give the Gospel to somebody who needs Jesus.