Have you ever seen kids stick their fingers in their ears and chant, “I can’t hear you. La la la la la”? Imagine how ridiculous adults would look if that was the way we chose to deal with difficult truths in life. And although I don’t know anyone who actually does that, the effect is the same when we refuse to hear God’s truth from Him directly or from those He has sent to reveal truth to us.
I am convinced more and more that some people simply do not want to hear the truth if it is painful, inconvenient or unpleasant, even if they know that pushing through the hard part will ultimately bring freedom and higher quality relationships. They are in denial, averse to confrontation, or just plain scared. It’s human nature, to some degree, to seek comfort in our lives and to avoid pain. However, because humans have the capacity to reason instead of just react, we can choose what seem to be difficult actions in order to reap a greater reward. No pain, no gain. Case in point, the prophet Amos.
As a southerner preaching bad news in the north, his message was not received well. This shepherd-turned-prophet was called by God to tell the nation of Israel that her time of freedom as a nation was coming to an end due to stubborn rebellion. Instead of turning to God in repentance, one of the nation’s priests threatens Amos and twists his words to protect the people and the king from hearing the cold, hard truth that God’s patience had come to an end.
10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:
“ ‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,
and Israel will surely go into exile,
away from their native land.’ ”
12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king's sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”
14 Amos answered Amaziah, “I was neither a prophet nor a prophet’s son, but I was a shepherd, and I also took care of sycamore-fig trees. 15 But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ 16 Now then, hear the word of the LORD…” (Amos 7:10-16)
Amos was minding his own business taking care of sheep and sycamore-fig trees when God specifically commissioned him with the task of bringing a message of coming wrath to Israel. He didn’t want to go preach the message any more than the people wanted to hear it. But that didn’t matter nearly as much as God’s desire and sovereign timing to bring His plan to fruition. So whether we find ourselves in the role of truth telling or truth hearing, there are some lessons here on what to do and what not to do in order to allow God’s truth to have its effect in our lives and in the lives of people around us.
Amaziah was a priest in Bethel, where after the ten northern tribes broke away from Judah and Benjamin under the reign of Solomon’s son Rehoboam, a new temple was set up to keep people from having to travel all the way to Jerusalem to worship. Forget the fact that this was contrary to God’s plan from the beginning. Things went from bad to worse once anyone could become a priest, and the worship of Yahweh became adulterated by being mixed with other religions from surrounding areas. Since the temple in Bethel was set up by the rebel kings and run by priests of their choice, Amaziah and King Jeroboam II must have felt they had some control over the messages that were spoken there. Even so, Amaziah made a couple of mistakes:
1) He twisted Amos’ words. Amos never plotted against King Jeroboam and he never said that he would die by the sword. It’s true that God’s message included exile for the nation of Israel, but Amaziah’s reluctance to hear something negative compelled him to turn God’s message into a false one of treason. This is a great example of what not to do when someone is trying to tell us what we may not want to hear. We need to be sure we are hearing the actual message and not making up parts as we go along. This penchant for mixing truth with fiction is not only what makes the slumber party game of “Telephone” so amusing; it’s also one of Satan’s best tricks to whip us into an emotional frenzy and paralyze us from any sort of useful action. Practically speaking, repeating back to someone what you think you heard is very helpful in the communication process so anger and defensive attitudes don’t overrule what God is trying to do in our lives through a message of truth.
2) He sent away the truth. Amaziah told Amos to go back home and stop speaking hard words to the people. He was ostensibly trying to protect the people and the king, but in reality was declaring a “no conflict zone” in what he called “the king’s sanctuary” (Amos 7:13). Instead of bringing the nation’s leader in on the issue, Amaziah blurred the lines of church and state to such a degree that the temple of God and the temple of the kingdom were synonymous! God will not allow any political leader to dictate His message. Instead of dealing with the dilemma head on, Amaziah effectively closed his ears (and his heart) to what God was trying to tell him through Amos. And Amaziah was supposed to be working for God! Proverbs 27:6 says that “wounds from a friend can be trusted”. When someone we know and trust comes to us with hard things to hear, there is value in pushing through the discomfort to hear what God has for us. We do ourselves no favors and sell ourselves short by sending away those in our lives who would tell us the truth.
What about Amos? As a reluctant and untrained prophet, Amos had to depend fully on God to supply the message and to do damage control when the audience was less than pleased with the delivery. From this short book bearing his name we can gather the following information about Amos:
1) His message was from God. Amos was minding his own business with the sheep when God gave him visions of locusts, fire, fruit, destruction, desolation, and ultimate justice. He tells Amaziah this when he is threatened. Look at verse 15: “But the LORD took me from tending the flock and said to me, ‘Go, prophesy to my people Israel.’ ” The message, its timing, its recipients, and the prophet were all orchestrated by God Himself. He alone took the initiative and there was nothing to gain for Amos in delivering the message. This is one way to test our motivation in telling others a hard truth. What are we hoping for? If our goal in speaking what is true is to humiliate, dominate or hurt another person, chances are the message is not one God wants us to speak. If, on the other hand, after praying about the issue and asking God to open up channels of communication, we sense Him prompting us to speak and we are hoping for reconciliation or understanding in the relationship, it is easier to trust that God is in it.
2) He was bold and courageous. Although one doesn’t necessarily think of shepherds as being brave as warriors, there are complementary skill sets. David told King Saul that he had battled lions and bears to protect his flock of sheep, so the giant Goliath didn’t scare him. (1 Sam. 17:36) Amos must have had confidence in his skills to come into a foreign nation to preach bad news, but more importantly, he must have had confidence in the God who sent him. He had so much confidence, in fact, that he was being led and strengthened by God, that his response to Amaziah’s threat was to deliver a personal message from God concerning his own future: “Your wife will become a prostitute…and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword…and you yourself will die in a pagan country.” (Amos 7:17) When God has called us to speak truth and our confidence is firmly rooted in Him, we can speak and act with boldness, knowing that He who called us is faithful and that His strength and grace are sufficient for us in our weakness.
If we are wise we will engage the truth when it appears in our lives and we will commit to speaking and living it with passion. Anything less is choosing a shallow relationship with God and with others. There is immeasurable value in allowing hard words of truth to penetrate our defenses. Jesus comforted the disciples by telling them that the Holy Spirit would come after His departure and that He would guide them (and us) into all truth. (John 16:13) We can trust that God’s Spirit will reveal truth to us with the purpose of revealing Himself and transforming us into His image. And He who calls us is faithful.
• When have you had to speak hard truth to a friend or family member? What emotions were you experiencing? Fear? Trepidation? Were you afraid that the message you were going to deliver might not be from God? How did you proceed?
• What is normally your reaction to hearing something difficult about yourself? Does it matter who delivers the message? How do you determine what is true and what’s not?
• What is your reaction to Jesus’ words in John 8:31-32, when he says, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free”? What are the implications of that truth in your life?
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