For those who are unfamiliar with the prosperity gospel, it is essentially a watered down message avoiding any discussion surrounding sin and its consequences. By keeping the conversation light and positive many find the message uplifting and never convicting. But in so doing, those hearing the message never feel the need to repent. But this is not the message of the Bible, it is not the message of the prophets, and it was not the message of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Many of us need to pause and reflect on our own personal message. Do we keep it positive and uplifting, you know a little encouraging Psalm here, a little verse of hope there, and avoid the larger portions of Scripture which accurately depict what will happen to those who fail to accept the only message with the power to save? The message doesn't change, but the faithfulness on the part of the messenger does. God does not take lightly the altering or softening of His message to make it more palatable, we are commanded to speak forth the truth of Scripture. Notice how the Book of Revelation concludes in 22:18-19, "For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of this book of prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."

Did Jeremiah present a positive message? We read in Jeremiah 16:3-4, "For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning their mothers who bore them and their fathers who begot them in this land: "They shall die gruesome deaths; they shall not be lamented nor shall they be buried, but they shall be like refuse on the face of the earth. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine, and their corpses shall be meat for the birds of heaven and for the beasts of the earth." We can't miss the fact that these were not simply written quietly in a book with the hope that no one would notice or take personal offense. These are written with quotation marks. These exact words were delivered to his family, friends, acquaintances, etc. We read that this message would indeed be delivered and that the people would dialogue with Jeremiah, as we read in 16:10-13, "...Why has the Lord pronounced all this great disaster against us?...then you shall say to them, 'Because your fathers have forsaken Me,' says the Lord; 'they have walked after other gods and have served them and worshiped them, and have forsaken Me and not kept My law. And you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, each one follows the dictates of his own evil heart, so that no one listens to Me. Therefore I will cast you out of this land into a land that you do not know, neither you nor your fathers;...". The Lord clearly stated through Jeremiah in 17:5,7, "Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the Lord...Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, And whose hope is the Lord."

Most of us will not experience the hardship and ostracizing that Jeremiah experienced. Not because the message has changed from 2600 years ago, but because we fail to deliver it. The message wasn't popular then and it is not popular now. Most don't know God. But unfortunately, most who do know God choose to remain silent. Of those who choose not to remain silent, the overwhelming majority, wanting to remain liked and viewed favorably, water down the gospel truth, no different than the prosperity gospel. We must ask ourselves what we care more about: our own popularity or the eternal destination of our friends and families. Sorry, but one of the biggest cop-out responses that I hear is that, "though I don't actually tell others the gospel truth, because I'm not allowed to at work, or they would never listen to me anyway, that they will see my positive Christian character and become interested". There are many non-Christians who walk around with more pleasant attitudes than our fellow Christians. We have been entrusted with a message of truth which is meant not to be kept safely within us, but is to be boldly proclaimed to a world which is literally perishing before our very eyes.