No preacher in his right mind wants to have a reputation for being negative. It is possible to point to preachers who increased their congregations by advertising controversial subjects in which, to be sure, either a leader or a system would receive a blasting.

Systematic preaching is one way to try to keep to the balance contained in Scripture. In that way it will soon be seen that it is impossible not to be negative. You can state the Ten Commandments positively. but that is inadequate, just as it is insufficient to put a sign beside a dangerous precipice, “to keep to this path is to be safe and happy.” That would be tantamount to murder. It is essential to erect a barrier and to put up a sign, “anyone falling over the precipice will die.”

Hence our Lord warned, “Except you repent you will perish” (Luke 13:3). He was scathingly negative about the Pharisees and Scribes (Matthew 23). His purpose in that was positive. He wished that the people be liberated from that cruel system.

Paul was alarmingly negative about the Judaizers. Let them be accursed! (Gal. 1:8). Why was he so unkind? Answer: he indicated by his terseness that salvation itself is forfeited once God’s way of salvation is forsaken. This explains why religious controversy has sometimes raged fiercely. It is necessary to warn against any errors which undermine or supplant the Gospel or the Scriptures which support that Gospel. That is why Luther and Calvin were so hostile toward the traditions which had corrupted the Church. The Reformers were negative too about the Anabaptist Charismatics of their day. With our heritage, and the advantage of hindsight, we can see how misguided were both Protestants and Roman Catholics in physical persecution . We believe in freedom of conscience but not in silence which can be damning to souls. If those entrusted to our care veer in directions which could unhinge their faith, then we must not hesitate to be as negative as the Scriptures are in places like Jude and 2 Peter 2. Just as it is essential to be negative with our children in warning them against the perils of poison, of fire, or of busy highways, so sometimes it is essential to warn against liberalism, sacramentalism, materialism or the new apostolicism.

Reprint of an editorial comment in Nov.–Dec. 1984 Reformation Today. The editor is Erroll Hulse.