Ep 70: I Hate That Guy!

Speaker 1: Hey, good morning and welcome to the show. I'm Daniel Daub and this is for your Sunday Morning Drive, the short podcast with the goal of providing some motivation, drive and encouragement on your way to worship and helping you recenter your mind on spiritual things. On hectic Sunday mornings, we are brought to you by the Ministry League Network of Podcasts. Ministry League offers some great resources for the church, all free of charge and all available through Ministry league.com as well as their app. I know we've gained quite a few new listeners lately, and if that's you, thank you for joining us for our Sunday morning drive. And if you've been here for some time, thank you for sticking around. Let's go ahead and get the show on the road this morning. This is episode 70. I hate that guy. Let's go to church.

Speaker 2: Are we there yet?

Speaker 1: Have you ever been the odd man out? Have you ever had to be the voice of reason at odds with your peers? Have you ever had a moment in your life where you wholeheartedly disagreed with the direction that someone, or even a group of someones was going, and you had to give voice to your stance, even when it could be disastrous to you? Well, if so, I'd like to ask if you've ever heard of Micaiah. If not, let me introduce him to you. Micaiah was a prophet of God in Israel during the reign of wicked King Ahab, and there had been a peace with Syria for about three years. Then Ahab wanted to go and recapture the city of Ramoth Gilead. So he asks King Jehoshaphat of Judah to join him. Well, Jehoshaphat says, I'm in, but beseech God for his counsel first. This is what happens in First Kings 22, verse six through eight. The Bible says, Then the King of Israel gathered all the prophets together, about 400 men, and said to them, shall I go against Ramoth Gilead to battle, or shall I refrain? And they said, go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king. But Jehoshaphat said, is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of him? And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, there is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil he is.

Speaker 1: Micaiah, son of Imlah. Did you hear what he said? I hate him! Why? Well, the wicked king Ahab hated Micaiah because he never had good things to say about him. Classic Ahab. And did you notice the 400 false prophets that he had gathered together? All of them told him, yes, go to battle. You'll be successful. Well, Micaiah, when he's eventually called, there's some back and forth that happens, but eventually Micaiah says in First Kings 22, 17, and 18, I saw all of Israel scattered on the mountains like sheep which have no shepherd. And the Lord said, these have no master. Let each of them return to his house in peace. Then the King of Israel said to to Jehoshaphat? Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil? And as usual, Ahab throws a tantrum. He even has Micaiah thrown in prison and fed meager rations, all because he spoke God's truth when no one else would. And the king thought he was too big to hear it. Do we ever find ourselves in similar situations? Oh sure, we can come up with the normal examples. Standing up for morality in the midst of a shady business deal.

Speaker 1: Maybe some moral grandstanding on social media about whatever taboo topic has captivated the world, so on and so forth. But what about when it's hard, really hard? Are we willing to be the thorn in the side of the king in order to be a man of God when it has real consequences? Are we willing to be the unpopular friend and hold people accountable? Are we willing to speak God's truth when it could cause us to lose our employment? Are we willing to maybe even be hated by brethren that have bought into false teaching in order to correct the course of a congregation? Are we willing to vocally shed the opinionated trappings of nationalism and politics in favor of going all in on Jesus, even when many are doing just the opposite. Are we willing to be the hated one? You see, Micaiah was. Micaiah was willing to stand against the will of a king and 400 false echoing prophets. It could have meant his downfall. Jesus was. And he told us that we would be hated too. If we are like him. Don't be afraid to be like Jesus. Don't be afraid to be hated for speaking out against tickled ears. Paul says in second Timothy four three and four, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myth.

Speaker 1: Christian, at the end of the day, I can really think of no greater badge of honor than to be hated by the world for the cause of Christ. Being like Micaiah doesn't mean being argumentative or harsh, but it means being faithful to God's truth, even when it's inconvenient, even when it's unpopular, and even when it could be costly. Let me encourage you to be a Micaiah, because I hope that we can all be the kind of Christians that when the devil hears our names, he emphatically says, man, I hate that guy. Well, those are my thoughts for your Sunday morning drive. Now it's time to hear yours. And don't forget, you can always share your answers to our discussion questions each week, right on our website at. For your Sunday morning drive.com. Our discussion questions today are. Are we willing to be unpopular, even hated for the cause of Christ? What are some times when you've had to be a. Micaiah? What are some times when you've failed to be. And what can you do to strengthen your resolve to stand for truth in the future?

Speaker 3: We're here.