In the 30th Chapter of Isaiah, there is an interesting comment to the religious people of that day.  The prophet is describing the attitude of the people toward their religious leaders, and it sounds quite contemporary.  Eugene Peterson translated this passage as follows: “”Tell us what makes us feel better.  Don’t bore us with obsolete religion.  That stuff means nothing to us.  Quit hounding us with the Holy of Israel.” 

         Many people have the impression that counseling is about “making people feel better.”  In my work training psychologists, new therapists often had the goal of helping their clients feel less depressed or anxious.  Although that is a good short-term goal, it is not really the point of therapy.  The point of therapy is to see the truth about one’s self and one’s situation, and to come to grips with that truth. The point is to become truthful with self and others, and to establish relationships built on truth and not illusion.  

        Our faith walk is like that.  We are forever trying to escape the holiness of God in our lives.  We want to tame God down and make Him more comfortable to live with.  But the “Holy of Israel” will not be domesticated for our comfort.  We are like those ancient people of Israel who want to hear what makes us feel better, but that is not what we need to hear. 

        The temptation to make a client feel better is very great for therapists.  Pay them some compliments, point out their strengths, and assure them that it is their spouse (or anyone else) who is to blame for their pain, and you will be regarded as a great therapist.  Unfortunately, the client will remain stuck, and is unlikely to do the work necessary to become stronger.  Our church members are similar, in that the pastor can make them feel better.  He can preach about how great the church is, and how much is accomplished, and how much love there is in the church.  Everyone can go away soothed and smoothed, but the truth is avoided.  In a sermon by M.R. De Haan, the following story was recounted.

         “A certain man who had listened to a sermon, described it as very ‘moving, soothing, and satisfying.’  It was moving …because half the congregation left. It was soothing because most of the rest went to sleep, and it was satisfying, because no one wanted to hear it again.”  Too many of our preachers have neglected to bring the “Holy of Israel” into their sermons. 

         My father was well known as a preacher who did not pay any attention to whether his sermon was going to make the audience feel better.  What he paid attention to was whether he had prepared the sermon the Lord had given him to preach.  He would sometimes spend hours in prayer and preparation, just trying to be sure that the sermon was the right one.  Was it what the Lord wanted preached?  Once he was satisfied that it was, nothing would stop him from preaching it.   One such sermon was called the “Wages of Sin is Death.”  That is not a feel-good sermon.  Dad was preaching that sermon over radio station WJJD in Chicago, and listening was a man named Leon Cragg who was in his apartment thinking about committing suicide.  In that sermon my father stopped and said, “Stop, put down that gun.  You are lost, and if you die without knowing Jesus Christ, you are on your way to hell.”  As a result Mr. Cragg was saved and went on to became a preacher. Many lives in Chicago were touched by his ministry.   His life was really changed by an encounter with the Lord.

         We need to create encounters with the truth in our pulpits.  People need to hear the truth.  If the preachers settle for making people feel good, many are going to be lost. We need to encounter the “Holy of Israel” who not only convicts and frightens and shakes us up, but who also heals and restores and blesses beyond imagination.  The job of the preacher is to bring us to that One and let Him do the work.

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