Preach the Word

“Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching.” 2 Timothy 4:2

90% of the time I write for the glory of God to the typical American Christian, including myself. 10% of the time I write for the glory of God to pastors, including myself. Today’s post is a mix.  I am in Durham, NC anxious for my continuing education study week at Duke Divinity.  I am beginning my day by reading, among other things,  some Charles Spurgeon, who was a great 1800’s Baptist preacher. I understand he preached to a different type of people in a different era.  I sometimes wonder how he would have handled the people of today.  In a section I just read he said preachers tend to take the easy path and preach about sin in general, yet he says preachers must preach in detail about specific sins!!!   That stands in stark contrast to a pastor I heard say he would not preach about specific sins because he did not want to offend people.  He said he couldn’t preach about divorce when half the congregation was divorced.  (For the record, that kind of attitude in preaching will apparently get you a large church attendance today.)  

Spurgeon said that while God most generally uses preachers to reconcile people to Himself, sometimes He has preachers preach to an impenitent nation and all the preacher can do is pray, preach, and weep (Jeremiah).  Impenitent defined as: not feeling shame or regret about one’s actions or attitudes.

I don’t know how to reconcile that I’m completely saved by grace, yet still feel like each of us is going to have much to answer for before God. It’s too easy to confuse the fact that God forgives sin with the idea He overlooks sin.  I do not know what the answer is to our society’s impenitent problem is.  Perhaps it’s just a  “time of weeping” for pastors preaching repentance. Spurgeon writes, “Whether souls are converted or not, if Jesus Christ be faithfully preached, the minister has not labored in vain…”  That’s a good word to some of my brothers and sisters in the ministry who must surely wonder sometimes if it is worth it.

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