We Are Not Going to Listen!

What do you do when people just will not listen? I am not talking about the times when those to whom you speak are distracted by something else. We have all tried to carry on a conversation with someone engrossed in a TV program. It simply doesn’t work. I am not referring to that kind of experience at all. I am referring to those who clearly hear your words but reject them outright. That is certainly not a response that is easy to deal with but it happens. It particularly happens to preachers. I was reminded of this while recently reading through the book of Jeremiah.

Jeremiah was a prophet of God during a terribly dark time in the life of God’s Old Testament people. Many within Israel had turned away from the Lord and God’s judgment was coming quickly upon them. Jeremiah was commissioned to deliver this message of judgment. God would send the mighty Babylonians to conquer the land and to take the people captive. While there are certainly shining glimmers of hope expressed in Jeremiah’s preaching, much of it is devoted to announcing this judgment and calling the people to repent.

It is clear that none of this made Jeremiah a popular preacher. In fact, Jeremiah was beaten, imprisoned and almost killed because of his preaching. However, Jeremiah was not deterred in spite of the opposition. When Jeremiah warned Israel not to take refuge in Egypt they said, “As for the message that you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD, we are not going to listen to you!” (Jer. 44:16). Yet Jeremiah continued to deliver the word of the Lord to them.

Preaching is not for the faint hearted. It is not for those wishing to gain popularity and the approval of men. It is for those whom God calls and commissions to speak forthWord of God. We must speak it whatever the cost and whatever the response.