Risking a bad pun, I must ask, “Why is Donald Trump rising in popularity these days?” It is not his wealth or his “you’re fired” notoriety. No, these days he is gaining in popularity because he is not afraid to say what he believes to be the truth.

No political correctness. No minced words. No one has to wonder what he means when he speaks. There is something to be said for that.

I know of no more “successful” preacher than Jonah. He preached to the Ninevites of the wrath of God that was about to come down all over them and 120,000 people, including the king, repented. A minor caveat was that Jonah passionately hated the Ninevites. Did his disdain compel him to tell them exactly what trouble they were in without sugar-coating the message? Did his delight in their looming destruction free him from any fear of “alienating” them with a harsh message?

Remember the emperor and his “new clothes”? He paraded around naked but no one would say so for fear of being considered foolish. Who became the fools after all? Of course those familiar with this old tale know that everyone was foolish except for the little boy who exclaimed unabashedly, “He’s naked!” Trump would have told him. Jonah would have told him. Would I have told him?

David wrote, “The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the Lord are true; they are righteous altogether”, Psalm 19:9.

This “cleaness” regarding both the Lord and his judgments is to me the unmixed, unadulterated, unmitigated, untainted, fearless clarity of devotion God and his righteousness demands.

With God, there is no hidden agenda. There is no subliminal message. There is no concern for offense, but rather only the fear of leaving anyone uninformed as to their need to get right with him before it becomes too late.

How clean, clear and true is our speech today?

Are we afraid to tell the emperor that he is naked?