Mark 6:20
for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.
Herod knew. Herod knew that John was righteous and holy. Herod knew that a righteous and holy preacher of the ways of God clearly condemned Herod’s immoral relationship. Herod knew enough to protect John from harm until he was backed into a corner. Yet Herod did not change his behavior.
Sometimes we think that knowledge, data, is the need of the world. If only we can convince people of the truth, the rightness of the right and the wrongness of the wrong, people will change. Herod gives the lie to that thought. Herod had a hard and impenitent heart. Herod heard true words from a man he knew was telling the truth, but Herod did not change.
So, do we stop telling the truth? No, of course not. But we should not think that information is the issue. People’s hearts change when God changes them. For people to have life, they need more than an argument. They need the enlivening power of God’s Holy Spirit. Thus, for us, the right answer is to prayerfully tell the truth as we ask the Lord to work a miracle in the hearts of those who need new life.
Pastor Travis Peterson 