Preach the whole counsel of God

My reading today took me through Jeremiah 23.  Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet because of his tears over the rebellious nation of Judah and God’s impending judgment.  As a prophet—one who speaks forth for God—he revealed God’s message of warning, judgment, and comfort.  At the same time Jeremiah was surrounded by many false prophets who gave a message of peace and restoration when there would be no peace and restoration.  God responds to these false prophets in Jeremiah 23:8-9 and says, “‘Let these false prophets tell their dreams, but let my true messengers faithfully proclaim my every word.  There is a difference between straw and grain!  Does not my word burn like fire?’ says the Lord.  ‘Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces?’” 

A few thoughts occurred to me while reading this:

• God’s word spoken faithfully is food for the soul, whereas everything else is empty and while filling will not sustain one’s soul.
• God’s judgment is harsh against pastors and church leaders who are too cowardly to speak His word faithfully to His people (see verses 30-32).
• God’s word is sufficient in and of itself to transform any life.

The Church has departed, I feel, for the last few years from being faithful to the whole counsel of God, but not out of cowardice, instead out of ignorance and great intentions.  It has ignored and downplayed God’s judgment and wrath as well as His demands on those who will follow Him because of a desire to make the Gospel relevant, appealing, and necessary for the felt needs of life we all have.  The Bible has become the ultimate self-help book for all ages.  This has been a reaction against the rigid fundamentalism and harsh legalism in many evangelical churches that has turned people off the faith and rightfully given Christians and Christianity a bad name.  Recently this has been brought up again by celebrities such as Brad Pitt and Katy Perry who spoke of being reared in legalistic and harsh religious homes.

Now, I am not saying that we must not make the unchanging truths of the Bible and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ relevant and appealing.  We are missional and we need to find fresh ways for every generation and every age to present the God’s truth to people who are far from Him and heading for an eternity of separation from Him.  I am also not saying that we should not address the felt needs of every person through the liberating and life giving relationship we have with Jesus.  What I am saying is that we tend to throw the baby out with the bathwater.  We need to be appealing, touch on felt needs and make the unchangeable truths of our faith relevant, but at the same time we must present the whole counsel of God and not shy away from the frightening and unappealing messages in His word. 

As pastors it would do us well to remember John Wesley’s charge to his preachers.  He said, “You have nothing to do but to save souls.  Therefore spend and be spent in this work.”  The reality is that not everyone is going to heaven.  Many in our congregations have a false hope that will not save them.  If we fail to declare the whole counsel of God to them out of some misguided desire to be appealing or cowardice God is going to hold us accountable for their blood (see Ezekiel 33:1-9).  By the way this applies to all Christians. 

Some sobering thoughts to cheer up your weekend.