In 2 Timothy 1:5-14
, Paul exhorts Timothy to be bold in the gospel and guard this good deposit entrusted to him. In the middle of this passage it is as if Paul sets before his protégé two options.
One option is to fan into flame the gift given to him even if it leads to suffering. The other option is to let this gift grow cold and just kind of get by. Such an option will lead to less outward suffering but I’m convinced that it’d wreak havoc on Timothy’s soul. You can’t hold such a fire within your bones.
As I thought through Paul’s exhortation to Timothy I applied his exhortation to my own life—particularly in preaching. There is a way that I can preach that will keep me employed, keep most people happy, but will do damage to our church and ultimately to my soul.
There is a difference between preaching like a chicken and preaching with the boldness that Christ has purchased for us.
Now I imagine that some will assume that preaching with boldness means getting red-faced and passionately telling people their opinion. As if the difference between bold preaching and timid preaching is found in the amount of sweat beads dropped and blood vessels broken. Just stirring people up because you “tell it like it is” isn’t what Paul has in mind here. He has in mind the boldness of preaching the gospel even if it might lead to your suffering.
For me to really get this down in my soul I came up with 8 ways that if I wanted to I could preach like a chicken. Here they are, I preach like a chicken when:
- I don’t give time or room for the text to do work on my own heart first.
- I try to preach someone else’s sermon as someone other than myself.
- I avoid texts that challenge my own pet theology.
- I avoid texts that could be comforting but challenge the congregations pet theologies.
- I grey-up the black and white.
- I preach how the passage makes me feel rather than preaching the true emotion of the passage.
- I avoid making down to earth application and I settle for keeping it in the clouds so as not to step on any toes.
- I take the exhortations out and only preach the indicatives.
- I leave sinners in my hands or in their own hands instead of entrusting them to Jesus.
Preach on brother
Needed that just now. Thanks.
“There is a way that I can preach that will keep me employed, keep most people happy, but will do damage to our church and ultimately to my soul.” I once heard of a church that decided it couldn’t afford a pastor and the board of deacons found a fellow who would preach for free. It turns out that the deacon board didn’t tolerate truth in preaching and didn’t like the biblical preaching the fellow was delivering. They tried to get rid of him but couldn’t because they weren’t paying him anything. So they tried to kill the church in… Read more »
Thanks Mike. Sounds like a good recipe for faithfulness. Can you give a couple of specific examples that might apply to your church?
I’m confronted with that temptation every time I preach. The most recent would be that I preached on Romans 1:18-32. In crafting that sermon there were many different “chicken” exits that I could have taken. I could have spent only a minimal time on God’s wrath. I could have minimized God’s wrath and made it mechanical instead of personal. I could have not dealt with the issue of homosexuality. I could have dealt with homosexuality but did it in such a way that certain groups were appeased. I could have spoken about the wrath of God “for them” but not… Read more »
Thanks Mike. That is what I was getting at. I visit a lot of churches, as a Gideon, and I find that some preachers are often happy to keep it general in terms of teaching on convicting issues but fail to touch on any specifics (especially those that may apply to their hearers). If a church leans toward legalism then they may need some “radical grace” (maybe even “3 Free Sins!) and if a church leans toward antinomianism – they need to be challenged with the gospel use of the law and the summons to serious discipleship. Keep up the… Read more »
Amen, Mike! I keep these two questions in front of me to avoid “being a chicken” when preaching a convicting or difficult passage that challenges “pet theologies” (someone tell me if I am being stupid). 1. Am I a little uncomfortable myself by this “hard saying” or are these words too easy to say? 2. Is there enough compassion in my words and tone that people can be challenged and driven to comfort in repentance and not unnecessarily angered or hurt but comforted. I even often will scribble four words on my notes or in the margin of the bible… Read more »
Mike I have got repeatedly beat up for trying to follow these principles. I would appreciate your prayer.
You’ve got it brother. Stay faithful…our reward is great.
Hang in there. God is faithful to accomplish his purposes.
Andrew, you are not alone. Anyone who preaches faithfully and does not avoid the ‘hard sayings’ will endure hardship.
I will pray for you as Paul asked the Ephesians to pray for him:
“…that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” Ephesians 6:19,20