Jeremiah 1:17
But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them.
There is a fear that eats at the hearts of ministers of the gospel around the world. Whether he is in a large church or a small one, whether his people are wealthy or poor, whether the setting is urban or rural, the same fear is present. Can we truly teach the word of God to the people of God without compromise?
You might think that this is an easy question with an easy answer. Of course pastors are supposed to preach the word without compromise. But, you know what, it’s not happening. Look around. Visit a grand variety of churches. Seldom is the pulpit ringing with the words of the Lord from the Scripture. Seldom do you hear the word taught without gimmick or apology. Seldom do you hear the word applied as it makes its points itself. Seldom do you hear the gospel of God’s holiness, man’s utter helplessness, God’s wrath, man’s rebellion, Christ’s atonement, man’s surrender, and God’s faithfulness.
If you look around, what you will often see is churches that take the word of God, and tinker with it. Men stand in pulpits (if the churches still have pulpits) and offer counsel from their own minds that they back up with contextually disconnected and topically-driven points. Churches often see their numbers of attendees increase, not because the word is taught, but because the church has put together an entertaining program, a sparkling children’s recreation time, or a fantastic support-group system.
But then we look back at words like God’s to Jeremiah. God told Jeremiah to stand before a rebellious people and to proclaim his word to them without fear. This is what is missing from so many pulpits today. Where are the men who will, without fear of man but with great fear of God, stand erect and proclaim to the people the full counsel of the word of God? Where are the men who will call sin what it is? Where are the men who will call the people of God to holiness? Where are the men who will call the lost to fall on the mercy of Christ, not walk through a 4-step process? Where are the men who will speak truth, even when truth does not add to the budget?
Not all churches which preach the word will find themselves in a battle between the word and the people. There are those which will experience the grace of God in wonderful growth. There are those which will hold aloft the light of God’s word, and they will experience the nations being drawn to it. There are those which will preach the word to the people and then marvel as the people stand up, stride into the community, and share the true gospel with the lost.
Know this, regardless of what kind of church you are in: your pastor is under pressure to compromise. There are business models and methodologies that will tickle the ears of the world and draw crowds to hear a watered-down and socially-sanitized version of the gospel. Your pastor is under pressure to bring more people into the pews and more pennies into the plates. There are church members and management gurus who would tell your pastor to preach differently, to tone down the Scripture, and to make the message more like the kind of truth that the local culture wants to hear.
But also know this: the Lord commands the man of God to tell the people what he, their Creator, has said. The pastor’s job is to proclaim the word with faithfulness and boldness. The pastor’s job is to fear God more than the world. The pastor’s job is to not be dismayed by the people, but to fear the Lord first and foremost. The pastor’s job is to pray for, to feed, and to lead his people into greater holiness. You, if you want to know God more, want a pastor who will proclaim the word of God to you without compromise and without fear of man.
Pastor Travis Peterson 