Speaking to His Jewish audience, Jesus said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!” (Luke 13:34 NASB; cf. 1 Thess 2:14-16). Throughout God’s dealings with His people in the Old Testament, they repeatedly chose to attack His messenger and disavow His message.

In the time that Jesus walked the earth, King Herod chose to imprison and kill John the Baptist so as to be done with his message. Ultimately, the Lord Jesus Himself was crucified despite being the Messiah. After being sent out to declare the gospel, His Apostles were eventually martyred (except John perhaps). Since then, many of God’s people have been martyred as the Christian faith expanded.

In modern times (here in America), it would seem that there has been a relative lull in the persecution of God’s messengers. Certainly, very few have had to pay with their lives in recent times. Under the surface and even right before our eyes, God’s messengers are still being attacked for carrying God’s truth to people. While these messengers include pastors, deacons, and other church ministers, any lay person who carries God’s truth from His Word to a lost person or even a fellow believer is doing the work of a messenger of God.

How, then, are God’s messengers regularly assaulted? They are attacked when people respond to their exposition of God’s Word with charges related to their lack of sensitivity to other’s feelings, their poor choice of words, their harshness, their lack of love, their lack of grace, their judgmentalism, and their bluntness. While all of these charges may be true given the fallenness of God’s imperfect messengers, those who level such responses are in danger of committing a terrible error.

By charging the messenger of God, they are choosing to focus on the messenger’s person and failing to carefully consider the message and whether or not it is in sync with Scripture and being accurately applied to their present situation (e.g., sinful disposition). Not only are they failing to manifest humility by refusing to carefully examine themselves in case the word is indeed from a true messenger of God, they are exalting themselves above the message by making their hurt feelings and other perceived slights to be of more importance.