You’re My Man, Aren’t You?

You’re My Man, Aren’t You?
A Call to Courageous Preaching of the Cross

You’re My Man, Aren’t You?
A Call to Courageous Preaching of the Cross

I still remember my pastor friend telling me about a Sunday morning shortly after we had established a new church outreach in Lancaster County. As he prepared the sermon, he struggled before God with the strong word the Lord was placing on his heart. He kept thinking about how the people would respond. As he weighed whether he would speak what he believed was God’s heart, he felt the Lord ask him a simple yet intense question:

“You’re My man, aren’t you?”

That settled it. He purposed in his heart that he would not disappoint God.

If God would ask you the same question—“You’re My man, aren’t you?”—how does that affect you?

It brings a deep sense of honor. The Almighty, the Lord of heaven and earth, turns His gaze upon you and entrusts you with a specific work that others are not willing to do. He could have chosen anyone, yet He looks to you. That is no small thing. It is a great honor—an honor that humbles the heart and lifts the head at the same time.

And with that honor comes a great sense of responsibility. You realize you are no longer free to speak what is popular or easy. You are commissioned by God and under a specific assignment. A messenger does not create the message; he delivers a message given by another. The words are not yours to soften or withhold. The outcome is not yours to control. You simply must be faithful. The weight of it settles deep in the soul: If I refuse, who will speak? If I draw back, what will become of those who need to hear?

Consider a parable.

A great King once stood before His servants with a heavy heart. The city He loved was in deep rebellion. Darkness covered it. Souls were perishing. The need was urgent and great. With longing in His voice He asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?”

Most of the servants looked away. The message would be hard. It would cut deep. Many would hate the one who carried it. One by one they declined.

Then the King turned to a single servant and said, “I have a message that must be delivered. The words will not be easy. Will you go? Will you be My man?”

The servant felt the weight of the request. To be chosen by the King for a task others refused was an honor beyond measure. Yet the responsibility was equally heavy—he must speak exactly what the King commanded, without softening a single word. The longing in the King’s voice revealed the greatness of the need.

That is the place every true preacher stands when God asks, “You’re My man, aren’t you?”

Jeremiah felt the same weight. When the word of the Lord came to him, he answered, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.” Yet God replied, “Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee.” Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched Jeremiah’s mouth, saying, “Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.”

That same call still comes. God still looks for men who will stand with Him and speak what He puts in their mouths, no matter the cost.

In the first years after the Lord brought me to Himself, He put something in my heart with such weight that I wrote it on the inside front cover of my Bible. I wanted it before my eyes every time I opened the Book.

What our times really need isn’t a smooth, comforting message that makes people feel warm and cozy inside. We need a message that deeply unsettles them. We’ve been far too afraid of upsetting people. But the Holy Spirit will have nothing to do with any message—or any preacher—who is scared to disturb. You might as well expect a real surgeon to step aside for a fake doctor who claims he can fix everything with some sweet-tasting medicine, as expect the Holy Spirit to agree that soft, easy words can deal with the tragic condition of human souls today. The cross at Calvary was anything but pleasant to look at—blood-soaked wooden beams and a bruised, bleeding body. Not a pretty sight. But Jesus wasn’t dealing with something nice; He was dealing with the sin of the world. And that’s exactly what we’re called to deal with today. Soft words and sugar-coating will never meet the need.—

Rev. Robert Barr, in Duncan Campbell’s The Price and Power of Revival

As the years went on, God kept bringing the same clarity again and again. Preaching is not a performance meant to impress people. It is better to have God’s approval than the world’s applause. Preaching is a divine gift given for His glory alone—to advance His kingdom and make His Name great.

In preaching you cannot produce at the same time both the impression that you are clever and that Christ is wonderful.
—Author unknown

Perhaps God would ask every preacher: Do you want to impress these people or do you want to help them?

Don’t strive to preach “good impressive messages”. Rather strive to minister life and truth to the people.

If we are going to see the fullness of revival and a reformation, this generation desperately needs men who will stand courageously with God. The Lord still asks the question found in the Psalms: “Who will stand with Me against the workers of iniquity?”

The question remains the same today—will you be the man?

Look at Jesus. We often speak of being Christlike and think only of meek and lowly. Yet He spoke with such authority that many of His own disciples turned back and walked no more with Him. Twice He entered the temple in holy anger and overturned the whole place. The religious leaders sought to lay hold on Him, because they knew that He had spoken the parable against them.

True preaching will often provoke the same reaction Jesus faced.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said:
“I would say without any hesitation that the most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching.”

Howard Spring wrote:
“When a preacher is called from God, his sermon will be like a baptism of truth.”

Samuel Chadwick put it simply:
“Destitute of the Fire of God, nothing else counts; possessing Fire, nothing else matters.”

John Wesley wrote in his journal:
“I fear the Preachers have been more studious to please than to awaken, or there would have been a deeper work.”

This generation does not need smoother words or more impressive delivery. It needs true, prophetic preaching—the preaching of the Cross—after the pattern of Jesus Himself, who spoke with authority and never softened the truth to keep a crowd. Preaching given solely for the glory of God, baptized in truth, and marked by the Fire of God. Only then can the Spirit do His deeper work.

—Aaron Jay Beiler