Articles
Don't Preach To Me
”DON’T PREACH TO ME!”
In regard to religious and moral matters, a major portion of today's society doesn't want to be preached to. For preachers or anyone to insist upon an agenda where the commands and principles of God's word are to be applied in folk's lives, many have the attitude, "Don't preach to me!". Yet, these same individuals allow other "preachers" to preach to them and they delight in what they hear and are eager to conform their thinking and their lives to the message of these preachers. To what other "preachers" am I referring?
PREACHERS OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. The rock, rap, heavy metal, and country music singers are preachers. When you consider the definition of "preacher" and what it involves, Webster defines it as "to declare in public", "to proclaim", "to deliver a sermon". "Sermon" is defined as "a serious talk on behavior or responsibility." Are not all these ingredients in the songs that singers sing? Are they not advocating and proclaiming their agenda for a certain type of behavior upon their listeners? What about the message of violence, hate, fornication, lying, and lose morals that far too many of these preachers advocate? Let's get our heads out of the sand and realize that preachers aren't just in pulpits but they are on CD's, VH-1, MTV, and CMT preaching their message with the lyrics of the songs they sing. There is more to this than just pure entertainment. A message is being sent.
PREACHERS OF THE TALK SHOWS. Television and radio are filled throughout any twenty-four hour period with talk shows. They all have their agenda which is generally to bring about a point of view intended to affect the way we think on a variety of social, political, and moral matters. Talk show hosts fit every aspect of the definition for preachers but, in far too many instances, their message is anti-Christian and anti-moral. Public opinion is easily swayed by these smooth talking sympathizers of a new morality. A message is being sent and we are the receivers of it.
PREACHERS OF TV AND THE MOVIES. We refer to them as "actors" but in reality they are preachers. With the TV sitcoms and movies in which they act, they "proclaim to the public" a message that can and will affect our attitude toward the family, homosexuality, sexual behavior in general, honesty, vulgarity, and will give new definitions for decency in far too many cases. They are making us to laugh at things that ought to be to our shame (Philippians 3:19). They are preaching an agenda and we are buying into it under the disguise of comedy and entertainment.
So, let us not be so naive as to think that preachers are only the ones dressed in suits and mount a pulpit with a Bible under their arms. No doubt they proclaim a message and have an agenda but they are not the only ones. In reality, we are being preached to every time we turn on our radios and listen to a singer declaring his message to us. What message is he trying to convey? In what way is he wanting to change our attitude and mold our thinking? Let us realize that whatever our attitudes and thoughts are will determine what we do. ”For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” (Mark 7:21-23). We are being preached to every time we turn on a television or sit down to watch a movie. What message is the actor acting out before us?
We need to be careful of the preachers that are preaching to us and always examine their message for it will influence and affect us far more than we are willing to admit.
—E.R. Hall, Jr.
