These articles are written to encourage Christians, and to be used by churches for their weekly bulletin.
All I ask is that credit is given with my name and the web address, bible101.substack.com
Folk wisdom tells us that there are two ways to spur others to action: we can entice people with a reward, called the carrot. Or, we can motivate with a threat, called the stick.
The Gospel is both carrot and stick.
It is good news, but failure to accept and respond to the good news will result in bad news. God calls us with His love and kindness toward us, but if that is not sufficient to motivate us to listen and obey, perhaps the threat of judgment will.
We see this two-sided dynamic in arguably the three most famous evangelistic texts in the Bible.
In John 4, Jesus offered living water to the woman at the well, an obvious carrot. This grabbed her interest from the start. But, in the course of conversation, Jesus also pointed to the error of her religion and her lifestyle. There was a beautiful promise, but it came with a corrective.
In Acts 2, Peter did not mince words in convicting the crowd for crucifying Jesus. Yet, the message ended with the offer of forgiveness and the Holy Spirit in baptism. Their guilt introduced the stick, cutting them to the quick. His solution extended the carrot.
And, in Acts 17, Paul told the people on Mars Hill that the true God was near to them, if they would but reach for Him. He immediately followed this message of hope with a reminder that it was time to repent, for that same God had fixed a day of judgment. Once again, carrot and stick.
The more we grow in Christ, the more we see the goodness of God, and the more we appreciate the carrot as a motivator. But, on the days when our faith in God’s goodness grows weak, the stick can help us stay on track, too. May we give thanks, appreciate, and respond properly to God’s motivation from both directions.