2 Samuel 18:27 “And the watchman said, Me thinketh the running of the foremost is like the running of Ahimaaz the son of Zadok. And the king said, He is a good man, and cometh with good tidings.”

Do we really need more “Ahimaaz” preachers and ministries?

In 2 Samuel 18, a deadly war breaks out between Absalom and David… Absalom is David’s son who has tried taking over by force… and so this is a very sad and bitter war for David.

A decisive battle happens, where Absalom is defeated and killed, despite David’s orders not to harm him… and the war is now over… but David does not know anything of what’s happened just yet, and he’s waiting for someone to tell him the news.

Christians, many people are waiting to hear news, but what news will you bear them?

And so from the frontlines, Joab, who is the general of David’s army, tells a bloke called “Cushi” to go and tell the king what has happened… preferring to send Cushi over another bloke called “Ahimaaz”.

Cushi gets called to do it, but Ahimaaz wants to do it… but Joab knows that Ahimaaz isn’t the guy for this kind of message… “because the king’s son is dead.”

As David notes in the verse quoted from the story above, Ahimaaz is the guy for “good” news. He carries messages that people like to hear. And many Christians these days are obsessed with being seen as good, praised as good, and also profit from being good.

Nobody likes a negative Nelly after all. “Good” messages can make people feel good, “bad” messages might bring the conviction that people don’t feel so good about.

And much of the time it’s not that Christian ministers are doing anything overtly bad, and in fact quite often the “good” they are spreading is quite lovely or true in and of itself… but in leaving off the “bad” bits, and in the absence of all the necessary details, they leave people wanting for the whole truth that we all so desperately need.

In court, you swear not just to tell the truth… but the “whole truth”… for a reason, because it’s the bit that you leave off which matters often more than what you do say.

Often in the Bible, God’s prophets had the burden of bearing a lot of “bad” news, and you know the old saying “don’t shoot the messenger”, it’s because a messenger that brings bad news can feel the wrath of those receiving it, even if they’re not even responsible themselves.

King Ahab in the Bible surrounded himself with prophets who would tell him “good”, they never had a “bad” message for him. But if we were being honest, we all, given our proclivity to sin… need the bad far more than the good. If we aren’t right with God we need to feel uncomfortable. Backslappers and glad handers make people feel good, but John the Baptist is who prepared the way of the Lord.

But back to the story, despite Joab telling Ahimaaz he’s not going to run today, he really wants to go! …Just because there are countless Christian ministries out there running for God, doesn’t mean they are “of God”, just because they do “good” doesn’t mean they are truly doing good… but seeing as he wants to and will go though, Joab says ok, even though… “Wherefore wilt thou run, my son, seeing that thou hast no tidings ready?”

There is a lot of damage being done by people representing Christ without the message ready in their own heart and lives before they go to tell someone else all about it. Are you truly ready to run the message, Christian?

But then you know what happens next? Well, Ahimaaz takes an easy way and overtakes Cushi! … he “overran” him, and you know all the churches and ministires out there that have the biggest congregations and followings overrunning smaller ministries holding the far straighter truth? Yes, that’s right, all the ministries with the good, good, good tidings….

There’s a lot of false gospel out there which isn’t about the good of the lost sinner going to hell, it’s about people making themselves look good, feel good and preying upon people who will only hear good and don’t want the truth.

If you take shortcuts with the gospel and things of God, you will likely overrun ministries that are not… but you will never do anybody any real good. If you do not know and cannot deliver the whole truth of the gospel, you really have no business putting yourself “in the running” of any ministry.

When Ahimaaz arrives first, he tells David “all is well”… when all is not well. But that’s Ahimaaz… only the “good” part! And yes they’ve won a war, but there are a lot of dead people, including David’s son. But that’s what Ahimaaz’s ministry is… “all is well”… while David’s son just popped into hellfire where he still is today.

If “all is well” for you while people go to hell and you never told them the truth… just how in “safe keeping” are the souls committed to your trust? See, all David wants to know “is the young man Absalom safe?”… but Ahimaaz doesn’t want to “go there” and he tells David that a lot was going on, and he didn’t see and doesn’t know.

There a lot of people in church positions who are looking the other way when it comes to what they need to see, could see, should see, must see. But they look the other way while all the sin is going on, the fornication, the drunkenness, the worldliness, people are heading to hell and they don’t know anything about it “ Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.”

It’s serious business. And we as messengers of Christ have a big responsibility with what tidings we are bearing to this world. And maybe that’s why Cushi didn’t volunteer and instead was called, and why he ran slower, because he had a heavier message.

When David cannot get the answers, he tells Ahimaaz to step aside, because he’s no use for the king… then Cushi arrives, and he delivers the message. No fanfare, no self glory, not all about him and how good he is …“Tidings, my lord the king…” he tells David clearly and soberly what has happened… the whole truth. The good and the bad all put in the right perspective so David doesn’t need to wonder about what happened. Look, if someone is not right with God, they need to know, not wonder. David is no longer in the dark, how about lead people out of darkness with the light of Christ than leaving them there?

If all you traffick in is “good”… you’re not an evangelist and no use to the king as Ahimaaz was not. There are a lot of ministries “running” a lot of programs and “running” a neat little business… and they may doing good, spreading good, making people feel good… but for a world dying and going to hell… they’re at a complete stand still as Ahimaaz ended up being.

People need the whole story… so run like Cushi, Christian!

Blog Absalom Ahimaaz Bible Christian Church Cushi David Faith Gospel Jesus Joab Salvation Samuel Spirit