Speaking Truth to People Who Won’t Listen – The Jeremiah Generation

The Jeremiah Generation.

Is that us?

We’ve been entrusted to speak truth in our times.

We are to speak of God’s boundless, reckless, lavish love.

Love that brought Jesus from heaven to the cross. Love that cries out to those who deny its very existence and that waits with open arms, scanning the road for all who will come. Love we receive through Christ alone.

We are also to tell the truth that God will not allow creation to be held hostage forever—judgement will come.

There is a time, known only to God, when Jesus will return to enact final judgement. He will end evil, sin, and death. They will no longer be allowed to wreak havoc on humanity and God’s breathtaking creation. In love, Jesus will end the conflict. Those who haven’t chosen to access love and forgiveness through Him will be separated from God forever.

These truths may appear to be in conflict. Sometimes, even to those who know Jesus. That’s because love displays itself in different forms.

We may always know love to look one way from a loving father. He may, for our entire lives, appear kind, calm, patient, peaceful, wise, and reasonable.

 

Until one day, an intruder appears intent on destroying our family. Then, we see our father defend us with appearance, words, and actions that don’t look like love but that are, indeed, fueled by love. This is the Jesus who returns.

He will come.

And so, we speak this truth—that God is love and that God, in love, will judge and end all suffering. We pray that our generation will listen, walk into the waiting arms of Jesus, and be saved. That is our call.

It is our call when they listen.

It is our call when they refuse to hear.

It is our call when they scoff, mock, or laugh at us for saying such things.

It is our call when they rage at us, reject us, and hate us for saying such things.

And the closer we get to the end, the more like Jeremiah we will be.

The less they will listen.

The more they will refuse to hear.

The more they will scoff, mock, laugh, rage, reject, and hate.

But we must still speak.

This is what God told Jeremiah. ““So you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you. You shall call to them, but they will not answer you. And you shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God, and did not accept discipline; truth has perished; it is cut off from their lips.’” Jeremiah 7:27-28 ESV

The call on Jeremiah’s life was nearly unbearable. To be the lone voice of godly reason in a lost generation, knowing you won’t be spared the earthly consequences of your neighbor’s choices is an incomprehensible weight.

But this earth isn’t forever. There will be a new earth.

So, there are two truths, seemingly in conflict, that our generation must embrace.

First, that we must speak truth about Jesus’ relentless, lavish, sacrificial love and about the coming judgement to our generation. We must do it gently, humbly, and tirelessly—powered by the Holy Spirit.

Second, many will not listen. Worse, they will try to silence us.

What does that mean played out?

It means the citizens of our country may cry out for freedoms, laws, and rights that conflict with God’s laws.

As citizens, we have a right to make our case and as Christians, we have a moral obligation to speak truth without compromise.

There is a way the world works. Biblical truth is as true as the laws of gravity. There are consequences for ignoring the way the world works. We must continue to warn others about this. In gentleness, in humility, with persistence and power.

When the laws of the land conflict with God’s laws, we live in conflict with the land. But we continue to live with gentleness and humility so that as we share His truth from person to person to person, they may be moved by our delivery and come to willingly obey these higher laws.

The Jeremiah generation grows. Some nations are already there. Some believers already know this truth too well. America is late to this spiritual hardening.

It will never be easier to share the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ than it is today. Doesn’t matter what day you read this. The coming times will be increasingly harder.

And so, we must embed with God. We must bury our hearts with Christ on the cross and rise with the resurrection power that brought Jesus back from the dead so that He now lives.

We must trust He is on His throne. We must put no barrier in our lives to the power and the flow of the Holy Spirit in us and through us.

They may not listen, but we must still speak. With humble certainty, with gentle confidence, with loving passion, with sacrificial lives.

Whining will just make life harder and decrease our effectiveness.

Complaining about those who won’t listen will just dilute our message and diminish our internal resources.

Delivering the message with harsh arrogance will not reflect the heart of God.

Yielding to despair denies the truth of eternity.

We need Holy Spirit power to keep going. We need one another. We need Jesus every moment of every day and lives fueled by prayer and a regular infusion of biblical truth.

In Jesus, we have everything we need for life and godliness—even as the culture hardens. Even as hearts become stone to the gospel. Even as the truths that lie at the core of our lives are outlawed.

We are not alone. Even as more and more, we become the Jeremiah generation.

Jesus knows. John 1:11 ESV “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”

His strength abides in us as we abide in Him. Keep speaking truth. It will never be easier than it is today.

**Experiencing a hard time or a discouraging setback? Here are 7 steps to overcome a setback as a gift to you for reading!

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Are we the Jeremiah generation? https://t.co/9CW3UnRq03 Speaking truth when others won't listen. #Jesus #gospel

— Lori Roeleveld (@lorisroeleveld) July 12, 2022