Why Do Tom & Dave Always Bring Bad News?

CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH

In this regular feature, Dave and Tom respond to questions from listeners and readers of The Berean Call, here’s this week’s question: Dear Dave and Tom, I find more than a bit of irony in the fact that you profess to be all about the good news of Jesus, yet you deliver mostly bad news. Don’t you know you can catch more flies with honey than you can with vinegar?

Tom:

Well, Dave, this would be good advice if we’re in the fly catching business but the last time I checked it wasn’t what we were about.

Dave:

It’s a bad analogy, we’re in the business of warning people to flee from the wrath to come, to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Well, the gospel is about how to get saved, how to avoid hell. Yeah, but if you're ’not even headed for hell, if there’s no reason why anyone should go there, if God just embraces everyone, there are no rules in His universe, just do whatever you want, do your own thing, and then when you come to die God will pat you on the head and say, Nice boy, nice girl, that was very good, I know that you tried your best. Well then, what’s the point? everyone is going to try their best. You know, it’s like in Hinduism, Karma, it doesn’t really matter to a Hindu, you can believe anything you want because finally the Karma will catch up with you. It will get you in the right place, but there’s only one place to go, that’s what they say--all taking different roads to get to the same place. Well, yeah, but Jesus said there’s two destinations, and you’re not going to be forced to go to either one.

Tom:

And Dave, also, what have we been called to do? As you said, we’ve been called to inform people, and this is what we are trying to do, point to the Scriptures, point to the Word of God. And I think anyone objectively, looking at the New Testament will find so much correction. Paul, speaking to the Ephesian elders, and then the Book of Acts, remember? He said there are going to be savage wolves that would come among you, and he was grieved by this, even for three years, night and day with tears. Now Dave, I don’t think we’re there yet, we certainly address a lot of issues, but I wouldn’t put myself in the same category with Paul in terms of his heart’s concern for those who have come to Christ.

Dave:

Yes, to accuse us of only passing out bad news! Well, doctors have to do it every day. I just got some what you could call bad news, and you did too, from doctors, but they also had good news. You couldn’t have the good news if you didn’t know what the bad news was. If you don’t have an accurate diagnosis of the problem, then you can’t have the good news. But to say it’s bad news, no it’s the simple truth. Bad news is like something that just happens. No, we human beings are stuck with this, we are sinners and there is only one remedy, and if we don’t tell people that, we are just letting them go to hell.

Tom:

And Dave, it’s not like we are in control of the airways for this, or play a major part in this. If you look at what’s going on in the church, who is the most influential pastor in America today? Mr. so called, "good news himself" Joel Osteen, He won’t say a negative thing, it’s not what he believes he’s been called to do. You know, coming out of the prosperity movement, the health and wealth and all of that, that’s his basis and his background, and there are many like it. In other words, positivism, which you know you’ve said many times, the Bible doesn’t say anything about positive/negativism, does it?

Dave:

Well, Tom, again I’ll just use the example of the doctor. You come to me and you ask me to examine you and give you a diagnosis, and I say to my assistant, Well, this really bad stuff, I mean, the guy is going to die in a month, something could be done about it but we might offend him if we tell him the truth, so let’s give him good news. Well, the good side is, I mean, you’re not going to die today or tomorrow, and if you have a little pain I’ll give you something stronger than an aspirin, and then we’ll give you some Valium or something to make you feel good about it all. Now Tom, this is what the false pastors are doing, offering this sort of thing, and Joel Osteen, what does he have, thirty thousand people sitting in the audience, and he just tells them how to be happy and how to feel good about themselves. I don’t recall anything like that from Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Amos, you name them, or Jesus himself, much less Paul.

Tom:

Well, Dave, the gospel--it means the good news.

Dave:

That’s right.

Tom:

But as I look at the gospel there are many corrective things in it. In other words, the full counsel of God isn’t just talking about pie in the sky, I mean, it doesn’t talk about this, it talks about truth and reality and eternal life, and so on, but basically, it is good news. So, you know, this person is off base here in their concerns.

Dave:

Good news, in relation to what? Well, good news in relation to the problem that I have for which I need a remedy. The best news that you could have is for eternity. Tom, the Bible is very clear, Jesus taught more about hell than anybody, very clear that there is such a place. And it’s not that God is turning you on a spit over some flames, God doesn’t send people to hell, they send themselves by rebelling against him. Now you think we can--Well, God, could we make a deal, you know, we don’t want to be thrown in hell, we like to be in the universe, you know, your creation and we’d like to enjoy it but just some things we can’t swallow. I mean we don’t think that you should really be in charge of this. How about we will negotiate about this, we’ll dialogue about it and so forth. Tom, that is utter stupidity! And yet this is what is being offered to people who are on the brink of eternity, and they are going to go one place or another, and where they go will depend upon themselves. God will not send anyone to hell, they send themselves!