Ezekiel: No Pastor Appreciation Month for Him

³⁰ "Son of man, your people talk about you in their houses and whisper about you at the doors. They say to each other, 'Come on, let's go hear the prophet tell us what the Lord is saying!'³¹ So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but they have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hearts seek only after money.³² You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don't act on it!³³ But when all these terrible things happen to them—as they certainly will—then they will know a prophet has been among them."

Ezek 33:30-33 (NLT)

No one who tells others about Christ—pastor, missionary, layperson—would ever want to hear the words of Ezekiel 33:32—You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays fine music on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don't act on it!

Here at Riverside, there is a certain amount of good natured teasing at the start and at the end of "Pastor Appreciation Month" (October). At the start, they "complain" they have to be nice to me for a while. At the end, they "warn" it's all back to normal. But it is all just the banter of friends. There is mutual appreciation and friendship. Its all good. In the end, they have my back, and vice versa.

Like Adam in the garden, Ezekiel was alone, and it was not good. That made his ministry so much the harder. Ezekiel was called to play it straight even when no one was going to listen. In fact, he was a diversion for the people, an entertainer. We are listening to his prophetic words 2500 years later, but his audience would not listen.

Even worse, that failure to follow sealed the deal on judgment. The terrible things outlined will certainly happen, God promises in 33:33. God does judge as faithfully as He saves. Are you ready for that?