BY DR. JOHN SULLIVAN
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR-TREASURER
FLORIDA BAPTIST CONVENTION

Preachers must speak with integrity to the times
This is the third of a three-part series on “Issachar Implications”

The years ahead will press the American Christian with tough choices, especially those who preach Biblical truths. Yet there is one choice none of us have to make: choosing between the so-called “political” solution for our nation’s ills and the “spiritual” solution.

There is no political solution. The only real answer is valid biblical preaching by God-called preachers who recognize the need for a responsible church. There is a call for responsible integrity in this momentous hour.

We live in an era of reductionism, which is the tendency to reduce all explanation of phenomena and supernatural to natural causes. As a result: sex has been reduced to orgasm, persons to bodies, psychology to stimuli, economics to planning, politics to machinery, church attendance to convenience, and witness to “this little light of mine.”

Our culture is intensifying the production of the forbidden fruits of isolation, disaffection, divorce, sexually-transmitted diseases, drug abuse and despair. We have become a culture where the substitution of sexual experimentation seeks to replace marital intimacy.

In his book Marketplace Preaching, Calvin Miller notes that our culture is “gorged by trivia, yet is culturally malnourished as children fed only on lollipops. For music, we have MTV’s rock videos; for art, graffiti and painting by numbers; for sculpture, dashboard icons and lawn statues; for literature, the Harlequin novels; for drama, soap opera and game shows.

“Our communication has been minimized to depend largely upon grunts and that all-purpose substitute for thought, ‘Y’Know.’ Our tastes are determined by pollsters and ratings. This week’s Top Forty recordings are next week’s Golden Oldies. Whereas ancient Greece knew the difference in aesthetics and the moral tone between tragedy and comedy, we seem to have lost the power to discriminate,” concluded Miller.

This loss of discernment is one of the reasons why the spiritual life of the pastor must supersede the ability to develop and deliver a sermon when speaking to the times. Without the intentional development of our spiritual life we can not long lead our people in developing their spiritual lives. It has been well stated, “Responsibility is the key to human identity and spiritual development.”

Discern the times. We live in an age of rage. Road rage, domestic violence, drive by shootings, metal detectors, children killing children, wars and rumor of wars, all of this makes the 21st century the most exciting target for New Testament preaching.

Preaching is not just another factor for change, it is a God-ordained necessity for the survival of truth. It is not a profession—it is an obsession! It is the toughest muscle of the soul. I am not pleading for foolish preaching but the foolishness of preaching.

By deliberate design, life does not run smoothly. We must stand up to life, even when it is tough. The man of God within the preacher must never run out on life. When the propensity surfaces, the preacher must make a quiet self evaluation and make adjustments.

Don’t play the role of a coward. An entitlement mentality often exists that desires to be relieved of even the realities of life. We want to disengage from the reality of work, hard work, that which has been called the “discipline of toil.”

Preaching, pastoring and serving are all hard work. But the proclaimers of the gospel will never give themselves totally to their call and work if there are reservations. There is no running from responsibility for the God called!

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