- "7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline. 8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity" (1 Timothy 1:7-9)
Timothy was sent out to be a pastor the Ephesus and he was told by Paul to not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is just the way it is when we say the gospel is offensive. That is a sad fact to some, but to some it is the gloriousness of God. To the Greek the gospel was foolish; to the Jew it was a stumbling block. But to those whom God chose to reveal His Son to it is the means in which Faith comes. "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing the Word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).
The Word must be spoken in the manner in which it was given. Yet many preachers give weak sermons, meant more to cheer on a lazy group, instead of edifying Christ body.
Why? That is a good question and I wish I had the answer to that and I feel that it changes from preacher to preacher. One reason I think it so it because of what I stated earlier: the gospel is offensive. Men of the pulpit are fearful of what might come to be if they were willing to stand and tell the people of the church the truth. They might be thrown out of the door and told never to return leaving them and their families hungry and homeless.
Some might feel pressure from members of the church to "keep it simple stupid." I think that many of today's pastors have great wisdom and desire to teach the church the great truths but feel that they have to keep their level of knowledge to the height of the lowest member. Others I fear don’t have the knowledge in themselves to teach the flock of God.
In my previous post I spoke on the use of altar calls. Could it be that men of the pulpit have to rely on such measures because they don’t deliver a sermon that has the power to bring one to saving faith? I don’t know much and I don’t claim to. I am a layman of the church who is trying to point out some simple flaws it has. My desire is to be a pastor and my views of the church might be affected by that, but when I look at the great men of the past whom God has built up and established a lasting ministry, even past their own lives, I see men who preached the gospel of Christ; Genesis to Revelation, who were not fearful to speak the whole truth of God. They may not have always had the biggest churches, the highest pay, or the most respect in their time, but God blessed them in ways we can only imagine.
Men who are called to the ministry of eldership of a church must be willing to lose all in sake of achieving that goal, trusting that God will provide, and meet the requirements which God has given: to shepherd over His flock and feed them His Word. And the flock needs the whole diet, not just the desert. That means teach on: Election (whether for or against), Atonement, Baptism, End Times, Creation, Incarnation, Woman's Role in the Church, Sexual Sin, Giving to God, Responsibilities of Elders, Service of Deacons, Sin, and all the other stuff that is hopped around so that no one is offended. And once you get though all that then teach some deep theology. You might not find it all important because no one is saved by theology, but were you not made wiser by it, allow us the same pleasure.
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