Sadly, we live in a time when many of the messages we hear from the pulpit are tailored to pacify the congregation.
For whatever reason, many preachers have learned to play to the gallery.
People these days want to be appeased as they sit in the pews.
They want to hear what pleases their ears, not what cuts their hearts.
So, preaching has become a popularity contest where preachers compete to see who can stir the congregation's emotions the most, all while enriching themselves in the process.
The Bible predicts the times we live in. Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:3-4:
"For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after fables."
We live in a time when preachers tell the congregation what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear.
The congregation is now dictating the messages they want to hear preached, preferring only those that are pleasant and comforting.
However, the Bible clearly shows that God delivers two types of messages: one of encouragement and comfort, and another of challenge and warning.
A sound preacher preaches both.
An unsound or false preacher, on the other hand, delivers an unbalanced gospel, focusing solely on pleasant messages of encouragement and comfort.
You see, many times when we think of a false preacher, we often assume it only refers to those who twist or contradict the Scriptures for selfish gains.
However, Scripture also considers a preacher who does not proclaim the whole counsel of God a false preacher. Adding to or subtracting from Scripture is just as much an evil in the eyes of God as distortion and contradiction.
A sound preacher does not pick and choose when it comes to Scriptures; they preach the whole counsel of God because ALL Scripture is inspired by God. (2 Timothy 2:16)
We need to be encouraged and warned in equal measure.
Many preachers today have lost the crucial skill of balancing comfort and encouragement with challenge and warning, a hallmark of any sound preacher.
Jesus balanced encouragement and warning equally. The same is true for Paul and all the other apostles.
Paul tells his son in the faith Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-2:
"I solemnly urge you in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will someday judge the living and the dead when He comes to set up His Kingdom: Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching." (emphasis mine)
He reiterates the same to Titus in Titus 2:15:
"Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority". (emphasis mine)
So, he urges both to encourage and warn people equally.
In Colossians 1:28, he says,
"Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ." (emphasis mine)
We cannot have true spiritual revival if we only preach encouraging messages on our pulpits.
When Peter preached his maiden message in Acts 2, it was not a message of encouragement; it was not seven steps to prosperity or how to live your best life, it was a message of rebuke for what creation had done to it's Creator, and the result was, the Bible says the people were cut to the heart, and 3000 people got saved.
Peter didn't massage or pacify their egos; he told them the truth they needed to hear, even if they didn't like it.
If you read the messages of the different prophets in the Bible, they encouraged and warned in equal measure.
When Prophet Jonah was sent to Nineveh, he was not told to go and tell them God loves them unconditionally or God accepts them as they are or God will bless them; he was sent to tell them God will judge them. Because of that, an entire nation repented and turned from their wicked ways, and God spared them.
In Ezekiel 13, God tells Ezekiel to warn all the false prophets who declare peace when there is no peace. They were whitewashing God's truth to appease the people, and God was not having any of it.
In Ezekiel 13:9-10, the Bible says:
"I will raise my fist against all the prophets who see false visions and make lying predictions, and they will be banished from the community of Israel. I will blot their names from Israel's record books, and they will never again set foot in their own land. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD. "This will happen because these evil prophets deceive my people by saying, 'All is peaceful' when there is no peace at all! It's as if the people have built a flimsy wall, and these prophets are trying to reinforce it by covering it with whitewash!" (Emphasis mine)
These false prophets were telling the people exactly what they wanted to hear and glazing their sinful lives with frosting.
So, if you are a preacher reading this, preach the whole truth of God's word.
Don't preach to appease the masses.
Don't fear being unpopular or losing members by telling people the truth.
Offense is a good litmus test that you are preaching the true gospel.
The true gospel is offensive to those who, like Demas in 2 Timothy 4:10, love this present sinful world.
It irritates their demons.
So you'd rather lose members than lose your reward.
You'd rather please God than please men.
So don't be scared of being unpopular or making enemies because you preach the whole counsel of God.
Paul asks in Galatians 1:16, "So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?"
This proves that Paul preached the hard truth, even if it meant making enemies.
Enemies are a given if you preach the truth of God's word.
Jesus and Paul had many enemies, so if you have some as well, you are in good company.
So don't just preach nice messages that people want to hear; also preach the tough ones they need to hear.
And don't try to sugarcoat the tough messages, either. Give it to them straight.
Preach the truth exactly how it is laid out in the Scripture.
In truth, appeasing a crowd is dangerous for them and yourself.
One day, you will stand before God, and He will hold you accountable for what you preached.
In fact, in Ezekiel 3:18, God says to Ezekiel:
"Son of man, I've made you a watchman for the family of Israel. Whenever you hear me say something, warn them for Me. If I say to the wicked, 'You are going to die,' and you don't sound the alarm warning them that it's a matter of life or death, they will die and it will be your fault. I'll hold you responsible. But if you warn the wicked and they keep right on sinning anyway, they'll most certainly die for their sin, but you won't die. You'll have saved your life."
Another translation says their blood is in your hands.
So always remember you will be accountable to God one day for the messages you preach and for the souls that were either gained or lost because of those messages.
You must preach the whole counsel of God so that, like Paul, you can confidently say one day, "I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." (Acts 20:26-27)
Paul preached the whole counsel of God whether they liked it or not.
He didn't care about being liked or being popular or sounding politically correct like many preachers today.
He determined that if God liked him and was pleased with him and his message, that was enough because, ultimately, it is God, not men, who was going to judge him.
So, likewise, decide to please God.
Preaching the whole counsel of God may make you unpopular, but at least you will have a clear conscience before God, not to mention a reward from Him.
If you are a believer reading this, be very wary of motivational preachers who only tantalize your emotions as they lead you straight to the pits of hell.
If every time you leave church or you listen to a man or woman of God all you feel is good, motivated and encouraged but never cut to the heart, never challenged or warned about your life and how you are living your life and the risk of judgment and hell fire you are subjecting yourself to because of your careless living, it may be time to start listening to someone else and change churches altogether.
Always remember that a sober minister comforts you and warns you.
Infact, like any sober prophet in the Bible, a sober minister will often warn you more than they comfort you, especially in light of the dangerous times we live in.
God loves you and He wants you to endure this Christian race and make it out victorious.
Hebrews 12:6 says those whom the Lord loves, He chastises.
In verse 8, the Hebrew writer says that if the Lord does not chastise you, you are an illegitimate child.
Many people have fallen into the deception of thinking the preacher's job is to just encourage them and make them feel good. If the pastor preaches about those things they don't like or want to hear, he's a party popper or a prophet of doom.
We no longer want to be warned or challenged because we've become comfortable in our darkness.
We just want to subscribe to preachers who come with goody bags and never challenge our wicked lifestyles.
In fact, some of these preachers go even further and engage in the very behaviors they should be warning people against, sometimes even endorsing them from the pulpit.
As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:3, they preach peace and safety, but sudden destruction comes upon them and those they lead, and none of them escape.
I resolved that as a preacher, I would proclaim the whole counsel of God whether it was well-received or not, and regardless of whether i was going to win friends and influence people or not.
I'd rather lose a friend than lose a soul.
I'd rather please God than get applause from men.
I'd rather have a good conscience before God because, ultimately, it's Him whom I will be accountable to, not men.
God bless you.
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