A young preacher called recently asking me what he should do. Two of his elders had taken him aside and requested he “tone down” his preaching. They said, ‘For example, you called the book, Fifty Shades of Gray ‘pornography.’ Do you realize that probably 90% of the women in our church have read that book? They were offended by that.”
“And you said when we send our kids to the State Universities we are sending them into a spiritually hostile environment. This is a university town. That’s offensive to a lot of us whose livelihood is dependent on the success of the local college.”
One of the elders added, “You recently asked us to change our church’s by-laws to assure we will not marry same-sex couples in the future. If we do that, the local paper may label us as a ‘hate organization’ and those of us who are employed by government agencies, including those on staff and faculty of the university could lose our jobs!”
“Let’s face it,” they continued, “the time is coming when we’ll have to perform same sex marriages—that’s the way the country is going. We’re going to have to adjust or we’re going to come down on the wrong side of history. In the meantime you need to use less inflammatory rhetoric.”
The preacher said, “Bob, I’m not a hell-fire and brimstone preacher but I am committed to speaking the truth in love. What should I do?”
Keep in mind that this is not a liberal, mainline denominational church…it’s an independent Christian Church with a conservative history. But now their lay leadership is weak and vacillating.
More and more Bible-believing preachers are experiencing pressure from their own board of directors to “tone it down” and not offend anyone. If the ministers stand for truth they are in danger of losing their pulpits and the means of providing for their families.
(1) Church leaders need to remember that the gospel is offensive to those who don’t believe. Jesus offended people. “Then the disciples came to him and asked, ‘Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?’” (Matthew 15:12). When John the Baptist told King Herod it was sinful for him to steal his brother’s wife, Herod was so offended he had John imprisoned. Herodias, his live-in girlfriend was so offended she insisted John be beheaded. The message of the cross has always been counter-cultural and sometimes offensive to unbelievers. Jesus said we are to consider ourselves blessed when we are persecuted for righteousness.
(2) We need to be more concerned about coming down on the right side of eternity than the right side of history. “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:17).
(3) We need to anticipate persecution coming from within the church. Jesus predicted that in the last days there would be a great falling away from the faith and that false prophets would arise and deceive even the elect. The Apostle Paul warned the elders at Ephesus, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard!” (Acts 20: 29-31a).
(4) We need to go out of our way to support preachers who are courageous enough to stand for truth. Sadly, an increasing number of preachers, even in conservative churches, are watering down the message or becoming shrewdly silent on controversial cultural issues. They so desperately want the church to have a positive image in the community that they bend over backward not to offend anyone for fear of being labeled as judgmental or intolerant.
If your preacher is strong and courageous, find ways to encourage and reinforce him. Shake his hand after a Biblical message and thank him for his boldness. Write him a note and urge him to be faithful. Stand up for him behind his back. Pray he will endure hardship and stand firm in the faith in spite of mounting opposition from within. And most importantly, speak to the church’s elders and express your appreciation and encourage them to stand firm.
“And let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:23-25).
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