At first, you may call me offensive. That’s okay. But let me explain.
We all want to be liked…yet, at what expense? Pastors across the country are subtly cashing in their calling for a paycheck. Even though they know the right thing to do in most instances, they cower from the truth in order to keep their lifestyle.
A prostitute is someone who gets paid to perform. You give them money and they give you what you want.
However, a prophet speaks the truth.
Here’s what this looks like…
Prostitutes
Give you what you WANT
Get paid to PERFORM
Their audience is the CROWD
Work for MONEY
EARTHLY focused
Are walking AMEBAS (no spine)
Prophets
Give you what you NEED
Work for the LORD
Their audience is the KING
Serve for MINISTRY
HEAVENLY focused
Are VERTEBRATES (spine)
Sadly, many “progressive” pastors and preachers, authors and speakers have fallen into the trap of telling their respective crowds (followers) what they want to hear in order for them to keep their paychecks. I’ve seen pastors compromise their biblical stance or convictions because “if they didn’t, they would lose the denominational support and their insurance” and “my family is counting on this job”.
Really?
In my time as a pastor, I have had to make several tough calls that had to go against the grain of popular opinion. They were tough calls, bathed in prayer and wise counsel, but at the end of the day, the decision had to be made to either follow God’s Word or follow the crowd.
As we face the crossroads of decisions (big and small), it is high time that we grow a backbone, stand on our convictions, trust God and leave the result to Him.
Scripture is replete with examples of men and women who stood for their convictions:
Daniel 3:12 “There are certain Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego; these men, O king, have not paid due regard to you. They do not serve your gods or worship the gold image which you have set up.”
1 Kings 22:14 “And Micaiah said, ‘As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.’”
Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank…”
Jeremiah 20:9
“Then I said, ‘I will not make mention of Him,
Nor speak anymore in His name.’
But His word was in my heart like a burning fire
Shut up in my bones;
I was weary of holding it back,
And I could not.”
Galatians 1:10
“Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Matthew 12:34
“Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.”
These are just a few of the hundreds of examples we see in Scripture about men who took a stand, grew a backbone, pleased God rather than serve a paycheck and made a difference for the Kingdom in their generation.
You don’t have to be a pastor to apply these truths.
In your workplace, are you compromising your convictions in order to get ahead? Prostitute.
At home, are you lying and deceiving in order to get what you want? Prostitute.
In church, are you telling people what they WANT to hear instead of what they NEED to hear? Prostitute.
God is bringing forth a new generation of world changers who are willing to take a stand on biblical truth and become modern-day prophets, whose sole mission is to follow the precedent found in 1 Kings 22:14 “As the Lord lives, whatever the Lord says to me, that I will speak.”
Question: What are some other biblical and modern day examples of both prostituting and being a prophet?
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