There is no time to waste sugarcoating the Word of God. Give it to me raw, uncooked, without any garnish. The only seasoning I need to know about is the seasoning of the speech (Colossians 4:6) of the person delivering God’s Word. Forget the fancy wrapping paper with the little red curly ribbons and bows with the decorative tape. Give it to me unwrapped.

It is such a disappointment that people want to hear the sweet, pretty, “feel good”  things of scripture but would rather not hear the other things that may not feel so good. What’s even more disappointing is that many preachers and teachers try to “decorate” the Word of God while delivering it to the people. A fellow Christian blogger over at Christian By Association, part of my “iron sharpens iron” network, posted a quote by Matt Chandler on her Facebook page that partly inspired this post. Here’s Matt’s quote:

“This avoidance of the difficult things of Scripture — of sinfulness and hell and God’s notable severity — is idolatrous and cowardly. If a man or a woman who teaches the Scriptures is afraid to explain to you the severity of God, they have betrayed you, and they love their ego more than they love you.”

That’s as explicit as telling the truth gets.  I confess, this is the first time I’m hearing about this guy and I don’t know enough about him to endorse him. But I love what he said!

I Googled him and this is what I found. According to the website, “Matt Chandler is lead pastor of The Village Church in Highland Village, Texas. He describes his 7 year tenure at The Village as a re-planting effort where he was involved in changing the theological and philosophical culture of the congregation. The church has witnessed a tremendous response growing from 160 people to over 5000 including two satellite campuses (Denton and Northway).

Alongside his current role as lead pastor, Matt is involved in church planting efforts both locally and internationally through The Village and various strategic partnerships. Prior to accepting the pastorate at The Village, Matt had a vibrant itinerant ministry for over ten years where he spoke to hundreds of thousands of people in America and abroad about the glory of God and beauty of Jesus. His greatest joy outside of Jesus is being married to Lauren and being a dad to their three children, Audrey, Reid, and Norah.”

You can watch a sermon “The Gospel Uncut” by Matt Chandler by clicking the link below.

http://theresurgence.com/v/4v1g7zd9ki3r

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