“Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” 2 Timothy 4:2
June 10, 2022
If you have not noticed, there is a dispute taking place among preachers, and in congregations as well, about the pulpit and politics. In my seminary training in the 1960’s the mandate for us budding preachers was “preach the word.” I had come to Christ and grew up in a church that kept my attention on honoring the whole counsel of God (aka, the Bible) by good solid biblical exposition in the pulpit. Fast forward. I am reading articles now and books that warn, “why I leave out politics from my preaching,” and “why choosing sides sidelines the church.” There is an element of truth in this. We will get to that later. Personally, I have never used the pulpit (in sixty years of preaching) to tell people who to vote for in any given election. Over time I have preached through every book of the Bible and delved into scores of relevant topics based upon the truths of Scripture. With that said, I find it somewhat curious that politics must be kept out of preaching. I would like to speak to this in the next few Morning Minutes. After all, our expectations for our churches should be biblical. Paul admonished his understudy, Timothy, to keep the “God-breathed” Scriptures ever before the house churches in Ephesus when it was convenient and when it was inconvenient. Hopefully, you are in a congregation that “feeds the flock.” There is no substitute for it. The truth is, politics is downstream from our culture. Our culture is downstream from our worldview, and our worldview is downstream from what God has revealed in the sixty-six books of the Bible. The incentive for this is “Jesus Christ is to judge the living and the dead.” He will personally appear and inaugurate His kingdom on earth (2 Tim. 4:1). Keep this in mind. The way to preach the gospel is by expounding the Scriptures, all of them. This will keep us from an artificial distinction between the gospel and what is happening in the world around us. Pray for your pastor that this Sunday he will explain and apply the Word of God to give you the mind of Christ for the days ahead. H
A time to pray: “O God of all wisdom, dispel the darkness and shallow thoughts that seek to inhabit my mind. Your perfections and knowledge are infinite. I need to hear from you as your Word is proclaimed.”