THE COUNTRY PREACHER

            Who do I have in mind?  The title could represent a lot of preachers, maybe some we have known or know.  One fact about this preacher was that he went to preach in a couple of big cities in the North.  Another fact about him:  he was not a professional preacher, he made his living by farming.

          I wonder what friends and family might have said to him when he returned home.  “What were the big cities like?  Was it exciting to be in the busy city?  Were you impressed with their advanced lifestyle?  Were there better economic opportunities there?  What were their big church buildings like?”

          Though the preacher saw the prosperity and peace in the cities that allowed an easy lifestyle in comparison to the hard life of working on the farm, this preacher spoke up about other things he saw.  He spoke about poor people being trampled over by the rich.  He told of the high crime rate and the violent bloodshed in the streets.  He described businessmen who cheated their customers.  He told of corrupt judges who perverted justice.  He spoke of lazy, indifferent wives who lounged around drinking all day.    He talked about the well-attended religious services in beautiful buildings where people went through the motions of religion but left services unchanged in heart and life.  He cried when he spoke about the spiritual famine in the land.  He shared how lonely it felt to be one of the few preachers proclaiming God’s word, a word that fell on deaf ears.

          While this description could fit our situation, the preacher I am talking about was Amos who preached to the northern kingdom of Israel in 735BC.  The things written before were written for our learning. – Romans 15:4. God’s word is a mirror to help us see ourselves and repent! – James 1:22-25.  We need to hear and be admonished by the words of Amos.

          “But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream!” – Amos 5:24. “Seek good and not evil, that you may live; so the Lord God of hosts will be with you, as you have spoken.  Hate evil, love good; establish justice in the gate.  It may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.” – Amos 5:14-15. 

          Maybe we all need to listen to the country preacher.