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Monday, May 3, 2010

HOW TO BE A GOOD BAD GUY

 

They made them so easy to spot in the old black and white cowboy movies.  They wore the bandana, the black clothes, and talked like bad guys.  Stagecoach robbers, bank robbers, and villains are usually depicted in such a way as to leave no doubt as to who they are.  Everybody knows a bad guys looks, acts, and talks a certain way.

As a Bible camp director for ten years, a Future Preachers Training Camp director for four, and nearly twenty years as a preacher trying to preach the whole counsel of God, I have been perceived to be the bad guy more than one time.  For years, I have said, "Nobody wants to be the bad guy."  It's terribly unpleasant and usually unpopular.  Whether enforcing the rules or proclaiming the truth, it can be rough business.  Rather than rail against the unfairness of being perceived as the bad guy, maybe we should ask how one can be a "good" bad guy.

DON'T RELISH THE ROLE.  Some enjoy being the bad guy.  They seem to relish making others uncomfortable, confronting, and rebuking.  They appear eager to bare their knuckles and jump into the fray.  That's not a good bad guy.  The good bad guy would rather do anything but stand up for what's right except displease and disobey God.  Moses, Gideon, Jeremiah, and Peter were reluctant bad guys.  Such people do not have big chips on their shoulders, daring you to knock it off from there.

MAKE SURE THEY SEE YOUR HEART.  Are we afraid for people to know that we care about them, and that is why we are willing to play the bad guy role?  We should not fear being thought a sissy, tender-hearted, or soft.  Being a good bad guy does not mean bearing gritted teeth or railing and bitter speech.  That's a bad bad guy.  People must know you genuinely love them before you will have any effect in bearing bad news.

BE WILLING TO TAKE A STAND.  Speaking the truth in love (Eph. 4:15) still means speaking the truth.  Gently correcting those who are in opposition (2 Tim. 2:25) still means correcting.  In Ephesians six, Paul repeatedly urges the church to "stand" (11, 13, 14).  A good bad guy who knows what the Lord's will is will stand with the Lord.  He is willing to do so at personal cost and sacrifice.

I want to be seen as the good guy.  It certainly "feels" better and is more enjoyable.  Yet, my highest priority is to be the guy who's right with God.  I must do that, however others perceive me.  My hope is that some day someone will be in heaven to thank me for having been the "bad guy."

Neal Pollard

First Corinthians commentary:  Get the new First Corinthians commentary from www.abiblecommentary.com.  Preview the First Corinthians commentary through Google books at http://bit.ly/dfw86d.  Other Bible commentary material from www.abiblecommentary.com includes a FREE on-line Romans commentary:  http://bit.ly/3MRU5I  
 

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