Has this ever happened? You are finally settled in for the evening… and the dog starts barking. When this happens it is either received as a blessed alarm of protection or it is an agitation, interrupting personal comfort.
Think with me on this for a moment. The way the barking of the dog is received has a lot to do with your expectations of that dog.
If you keep that dog around to love you, do funny tricks when your friends come around, obey you, sleep when you sleep, and play when you play; then a dog that barks just when you are ready to slumber may cause you great agitation. It’s like you only want a dog to make you feel good, a dog to cry with, or a dog to take selfies with.
It’s not like a dog can’t feel like a part of the family. I have cried every time one of my dogs died over the years. I enjoy them. I’m fond of them. But I want a dog that knows when to bark and what to bark at.
That is what the prophet Isaiah means in the fifty-sixth chapter when he illustrates the nature of a worthless preacher with that of a dog that doesn’t bark or sound the alarm when something is moving in the dark.
It is not natural to have a dog that doesn’t bark, but it is tragic when that’s the kind of dog the owner wants. This is what marks many preachers and churches today. Isaiah says preachers that don’t bark are of the worthless kind. It is a national shame when that is the kind of preacher the church wants.
Let’s understand this from Isaiah’s vantage point. Dogs in his day were essentially garbage eaters and like a modern-day alarm system. They were useful, helpful, working dogs, that’s why they earned the title of “man’s best friend”. It doesn’t mean they were not loved and enjoyed but everyone knew of their primary benefit. Most today want a tame and timid dog. That may work for a domesticated affluent day, but in a serious day that will be about as useful as a blind watchman or a lazy employee who thinks he deserves to be on his phone all day instead of doing what he’s been hired to do.
Listen closely to your pastor this week. Is he of the tame, domesticated, sophisticated kind? You know, the kind of preacher everyone loves to have, the kind who knows how to do funny tricks when you invite your friends, the kind who obeys you when you tell him to perform, the kind who makes you feel good about yourself and comfortable in your sin. That’s what Isaiah means when he calls that kind of dog a worthless dog.
Preacher, stay alert today. This is no day to love the comfort of your soft pillow and temperature-controlled dog house. This is a day to stay alert and aware of the present evil danger that has God’s people in bondage, a slave to that sin they love. You know what often happens when the people are agitated with their dog when he barks just as they are settling into their sleepy comfort? That dog gets yelled at, muzzled, and locked in the garage.
Church let the preacher preach. If he is preaching from the authority of the Bible, remove his muzzle and let him preach. You may grow to appreciate the dog who knows how to bark.
Paul Thompson is the senior preaching pastor of Eastside Baptist Church at 204 Eastland Drive North in Twin Falls. Eastside Baptist Church gathers on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. More information can be found at www.esbcTwinFalls.com
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