Stepping On Toes by Dylan Stewart

"So then many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This statement is very unpleasant; who can listen to it?‘" (John 6:60, NASB).

Whenever my grandad preached on a subject he thought might hit "close to home" with the audience, he would occasionally say something to the effect of, “Now I may be stepping on some toes here and if I do, that’s alright.” When a Bible teacher steps on people’s toes, that means he is aware the audience will likely not receive his message very warmly or positively. Yet, delivering the truth – and the whole truth – of God’s message is more important than the potential risk of raising the audience’s ire, so preachers and Bible teachers should be willing to step on people’s toes if the occasion calls for it.

Now, most people do not like when someone teaches something they disagree with or do not want to hear. Unfortunately, many Bible teachers, when they know their message will not be received well, will choose to teach something different that they know will generate a more positive response. For example, many gospel preachers will stick to preaching against false doctrines such as “once saved always saved” and “total depravity” because they know the audience will typically be in unanimous agreement with their stance on these subjects. They will preach on these subjects time and time again, all the while rarely (if ever) preaching on the more “controversial” topics, such as women’s absolute silence in the church assembly (1 Corinthians 14:34-35), self-defense being unauthorized (John 18:36; Matthew 5:43-44), the head covering (1 Corinthians 11:2-16), women being keepers of the home (Titus 2:3-5), or divorce and remarriage (Matthew 19:9). By skimping on these subjects and similar not-so-positively received topics, Bible teachers wind up feeding into exactly what Paul condemns in 2 Timothy 4:3-5: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” If our audience has the right attitude toward God’s Word, then they should always love and appreciate when the truth is taught. However, if all we hear from our audience is how much they love what we preach, then that likely means they have already heaped us up as their teacher, and woe to us!! "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets" (Luke 6:26).

We need more people willing to speak the truth who do not neglect to declare the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), regardless of how the audience might respond. As an example, I know a brother who is to be commended for having this very attitude and approach to teaching God’s Word. Several years ago, this particular brother was invited to preach one night for a congregation during its week-long gospel meeting. When he arrived at the building that evening and saw how large the congregation was and how few women were wearing head coverings (only a couple women out of a few hundred members), he scrapped his original sermon and instead preached on 1 Corinthians 11:2-16. Instead of speaking “smooth things” that would be received well (Isaiah 30:10), this brother chose to preach what was needed rather than what was wanted. I personally commend this brother, but I know many brethren who would think it absurd for him to preach what he did, especially considering he knew the audience would likely not respond well. If you share this mentality, I point you again to 2 Timothy 4:3-5, this time noting the latter portion of that passage: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” This brother serves as a great example of one who was being “watchful in all things,” and by doing so he performed the "work of an evangelist."

To be clear, we certainly should never go about trying to make enemies with people by simply preaching the truth. The truth should always be spoken "in love" and from a desire to bring others to God (Ephesians 4:15; 2 Corinthians 5:11). That being said, God’s Word tells us that we may very well make enemies with people by standing for the truth. Remember Paul’s question to the Galatians – “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16). It is a very real possibility that we may lose friends, offend family, and cause others to think negatively of us by taking the proper stand for the truth (Luke 12:51-53), but we all should be willing to accept whatever repercussions may come our way. In fact, we have many approved examples in the New Testament showing how we ought to preach the truth – and the whole truth of God – regardless of the consequences.

John the Baptist

Do you remember why the John the Baptist died? He died for speaking the truth even though he likely knew that truth would not be positively received. John could have preached all manner of subjects to Herod, but he instead chose to preach against Herod’s unlawful marriage by saying, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife" (Mark 6:18). How many people would be willing to tell their governmental leader he is in an unscriptural marriage that God requires him to terminate? John did that very thing and the result, of course, was his beheading.

Stephen

Like John, Stephen could have preached all manner of subjects to the Cyrenians, Alexandrians, Cilicians, and high priest, but instead he rebuked them for their stubbornness by comparing them to their ancestors, calling them "stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears," resistors of the Holy Spirit, and betrayers and murderers of Christ (Acts 7:51-52). What was the result of Stephen choosing to preach this particular truth to an unreceptive audience? Those on the receiving end of that rebuke gnashed their teeth, covered their ears, yelled, cast Stephen out of the city, and stoned him to death (Acts 7:54-60). Yet, in spite of the persecution, Stephen was not dissuaded from preaching the part of the truth his audience needed to hear. Stephen was not just "faithful unto death" (Revelation 2:10), but he also faithfully taught the truth in its entirety unto death. Could the same be said of us if we were in Stephen’s shoes?

Peter

At one point, Peter and some of the other apostles were imprisoned and specifically warned to stop preaching the truth because their teaching caused people to feel guilty and uncomfortable (Acts 5:17-42). In spite of these warnings, Peter said, "We must obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29), then he and the apostles "left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus" (Acts 5:41-42). If secular history is reliable, we can assume that Christ’s prophecy concerning Peter’s death, per John 21:18-19, eventually came to fruition as result of his willingness to boldly stand for the truth, much in the same way that comparably painful deaths were the outcome for the majority of the apostles. Peter counted it worthy to suffer for the sake of teaching the truth of God in its entirety. Can the same be said about us?

Paul

In his farewell speech to the elders of the church at Ephesus, Paul said, “Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:26-27). Paul shared “the whole counsel of God” amidst great opposition – “I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents" (Acts 20:19). Yet, this opposition did not cause Paul to pause for one moment in teaching the whole truth of God’s word – "You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:20-21). The result of Paul’s “helpful” teaching would lead to numerous scourges and imprisonments over the course of his life (2 Corinthians 11:22-32), and ultimately his death. Just think, Paul could have avoided all that trouble if he would have just taught on less "controversial" subjects, been a little less "rigid" and "narrow" in his doctrine, and stopped being so "argumentative."

Jesus

When Jesus walked this earth, he lived as a man (John 1:1-14). In doing so, He suffered the same temptations all humans face, yet He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15, 2:18), thus never succumbing to the temptation of "watering down" the truth of God. Jesus is well-known for His "positive" preaching, and it is certainly true that His earthly ministry was filled with much of this type preaching. For instance, who can forget the Beatitudes found in Matthew 5:3-12? However, it is also an undeniable fact that the Messiah was simultaneously one of the most “negative” preachers in history. Remember Christ’s scathing rebuke of the Pharisees in Matthew 23? In that chapter, we can read of a series of "woes" Jesus pronounced on the religious leaders of His day. Using the logic of so many brethren today, Jesus should have just stopped being so "controversial" and "argumentative." After all, if Christ would have simply chose more "positive" sermons to preach, He surely would never have been crucified. Yet, Jesus came to this earth to do the will of the Father (John 6:38), and God’s will included – and still includes – both "positive" and "negative" teaching, the latter of which contributed to Christ’s persecution and death. All Christians are required to follow our Lord’s example (1 Peter 2:21; 1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 John 2:5-6). Are we following His example in how we teach, regardless of the consequences?

Conclusion

The apostles preached the truth of God regardless of the persecution or any other negative repercussions they knew they would face. Today, those who are courageous enough to preach the truth when they know people will disagree are often called argumentative, divisive, quarrelsome, sowers of discord, and a whole range of similar pejoratives. They are called troublemakers in the same way that Elijah was once called a troublemaker – “Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, ‘Is that you, O troubler of Israel?’ And he answered, ‘I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals’” (1 Kings 18:17-18). I am grateful to know a few such troublemakers who had and continue to have a profound impact on my life, but we need more even more troublemakers like Elijah. We need more people like John the Baptist, Stephen, Peter, Paul, and Christ Himself, all of whom were willing to fulfill their ministries by being watchful in all things and not just the parts in which we already agree. We must teach "anything that would be helpful" to our audiences (Acts 20:21), meaning we teach any and everything helpful for obtaining salvation and pleasing God, even if that means speaking some things that the listeners might not enjoy. Like my grandad used to say, “Now I may be stepping on some toes here and if I do, that’s alright.”

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