The Wrong Kind of Publicity

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March 1st, 2012

A pastor friend and I waited at the first tee on a local golf course. A mature golfer approached and asked to join us. We said we would be glad for him to play along. We shared our first names and quickly got under way.

Our companion stepped up to hit his first drive. When it failed to go as he hoped he fouled the air with a startling string of expletives. As the game progressed we found this was his regular practice.

At the third tee we had a short wait on the group ahead of us. “So, what do you boys do?” our companion asked. “We are both pastors here in town,” my friend quickly replied. “Really,” our companion said, not missing a beat, “I go to the (he named a local church and their prominent pastor).” When he left the tee I turned to my pastor friend and whispered, “I imagine his pastor would pay him to be quiet!”

Jesus would not allow the foul lips of demons to declare, “You are the Son of God.” It was not the time or place. The thrice holy Father had already declared that truth in words that shook the world like thunder (1:11).