Raw Nerves
When you’re preaching
open-air, don’t let angry reactions from the crowd
concern you. A dentist knows where to work on a patient
when he touches a raw nerve. When you touch a raw nerve
in the heart of the sinner, it means that you are in
business. Anger is a thousand times better than apathy.
Anger is a sign of conviction. If I have an argument
with my wife and suddenly realize that I am in the wrong,
I can come to her in a repentant attitude and apologize,
or I can save face by lashing out in anger.
Read Acts 19 and see how Paul was a dentist with an
eye for decay. He probed raw nerves wherever he went.
At one point, he had to be carried shoulder height by
soldiers because of the “violence of the people”
(Acts 21:36). Now there’s a successful preacher!
He didn’t seek the praise of men. John Wesley
told his evangelist trainees that when they preached,
people should either get angry or get converted. No
doubt, he wasn’t speaking about the “Jesus
loves you” gospel, but about sin, Law, righteousness,
judgment, and hell. See Matthew 28:19,20 comment.
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