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A young preacher in Kentucky wanted to make his first
sermon memorable, so he preached a fiery denunciation of horse racing.
After the sermon one of the deacons called him aside and reminded him
that he was now living in a neighborhood noted for fine horses, and
that many of his members enjoyed the races.
The preacher took the hint and next Sunday thundered and
stomped against tobacco, whereupon the same deacon reminded him that
the weed was a major item in the region's economy, and that part of his
salary would come from the tobacco growers.
The following Sunday, the preacher took out after
whiskey and again stirred the deacon to remind him that the church
building was in the shadow of distilleries, in fact, some of the
members worked at the distilleries.
Frustrated by this time, the young preacher asked the
deacon, “What can I preach on?”
The deacon replied. “Why not preach against heathen
witch doctors? There isn't one of them in a thousand miles of here.”
It is not our aim to be insensitive with what I shall
say in this article. I have heard, and must say I have been guilty of
preaching lessons that were insensitive to the hearer's feelings. I am
in total agreement that the TRUTH must be preached in love (Ephesians
4:15). However, any attempt to soft-soap a message because it steps on
the hearer’s toes, is unacceptable to those who love and preach the
WORD.
Two things that a preacher must do to be effective. One,
he must preach to the people who are present. It does no good to
present a truth that is needed, if those who need it are not going to
hear it. Secondly, that which he presents must be the TRUTH regardless
of whose ears tingle (1 Samuel 3:11). The preacher who omits certain
subjects from his repertoire of sermons, does not deserve to be called
preacher (Acts 20:27). A preacher must never let friendship or the fear
of losing a job influence him to fail in his responsibility to, “preach
the word; be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort,
with all longsuffering and teaching.” 2 Timothy 4:2.
Truth, by its very nature, has a bite to it. Truth is
singular. There is no other way and no compromise. Those who want to
embrace doubt or shades of gray in the face of obvious truth, are going
to be pricked in their hearts (Acts 2:37). Truth then becomes the agent
that illuminates the heart of the hearer. If the heart is good ground,
the seed of truth will bring forth fruit, a hundred-fold (Luke 8:5-15).
There is a quote going around that comes from a movie in
which a Marine colonel says, “The truth, you can’t handle the truth!”
It is sad when people of the world cannot deal with the truth from
God’s word. It is disastrous when those who call themselves New
Testament Christians cannot handle the truth.
Can you handle the truth?!
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