The following article is part of a series of articles that seeks to offer practical advice to preachers. Each article will contain advice from seasoned preachers pertaining to all matters of pulpit ministry.
I was a young pastor when a major news story broke about President Bill Clinton’s involvement with a young female intern. Not only was this national news, but pastors and leaders of Christian organizations were all over the airways decrying such sordid behavior by a sitting president. Rightly, I believe, the consensus was that “character matters” in our leaders, with many even calling for the President’s resignation.
I too believed that such actions rendered a holder of high office unfit for the position, and I made my views known—from the pulpit. That’s right, on a Sunday morning I denounced President Clinton and expressed my opinion that he should resign. But here’s something I didn’t realize: we had a visitor in the room. This wasn’t just any visitor, but he was the unbelieving husband of a long-time member, and he had never attended the church before that day. He was also a Democrat and a supporter of the President. That was his first and last time to go to church, and he died not long after. Without Jesus.
Now, the truth is that the Gospel is offensive, and many biblical truths are offensive. We should never shrink back from preaching the whole counsel of God. But something I wish I had known back then was that it is not my responsibility as a pastor to address every hot topic—every controversy of the day. My responsibility is to preach the Word.
As I often say when I’m preaching, please do not hear what I am not saying. Frequently we need to speak to issues in our culture, and often some current event or controversy will provide a fitting illustration or point of application for our sermons. But I’ve noticed the tendency of preachers thinking we are obligated to address any and every cultural firestorm that arises. In fact, a common social media refrain declares, “If your pastor doesn’t preach on [insert topic here], then you need to change churches.” Unfortunately, we often take the bait.
So how do we know when it is appropriate to bring up contemporary issues? Let me provide some helpful questions:
- Is this issue affecting my congregation or community? A pastor friend told me a while back that he was preaching on Critical Race Theory every week. When I asked why, he said that it was a major problem in his congregation. Perhaps that was true, but I can tell you that though some of the effects of CRT might be touching my church members at certain points, it is not even in the top 50 most pressing matters for me to address. I would never devote multiple weeks to it.
- Is this an issue the Bible clearly addresses? Abortion? Homosexuality? Racism? Absolutely. But removing Confederate statues or the efficacy of certain clean energy guidelines? Maybe not. I’m not saying the Bible doesn’t inform our opinions about these matters, but I would say there is not a clear biblical position.
- Is the issue directly connected to the text I am preaching? Illustrations and applications are only legitimate if they actually illustrate or apply the passage being preached. While I abhor the offering of free abortions by Planned Parenthood outside a recent political convention, saying so would be irrelevant to my sermon this week from Ephesians 4:25-32, but it might fit if I were preaching Proverbs 6:16-19 (where we are told God hates “hands that shed innocent blood”). I need to stick to the text.
- Will my addressing this issue actually be helpful? In the aforementioned story about my calling for a president to resign, was anyone in the room helped by that? Did it move the needle of the national discussion at all? Did it change the opinion of anyone present? Did it need to change the opinion of anyone present? Did any lost Democrats (or Republicans) come any closer to salvation? I don’t think I helped anyone.
- Do I know what I’m talking about? Is this an issue I can speak to with authority? Do I have all the facts? Am I the right person to address this? It seems to me that artificial intelligence leads to a number of ethical questions that are important to families and to society as a whole. I, however, am not the person to speak to that. I might be able to bring a biblical perspective to some of the concerns, but I am not to think through every issue. Maybe I need to sit this one out.
- Have I already addressed this issue? Through the course of my preaching, my congregation is well aware of my positions on abortion, LGBTQ issues, racism, and a host of other matters. They are aware because of my systematic preaching through books of the Bible, which has directly touched on these topics. Therefore, every time a male athlete competes against a woman, or a politician defends abortion, I don’t need to chime in. My position is clear.
- Will this cause unnecessary division? Divisions over primary and even secondary doctrines can be warranted. But do I really want to split the church over my opinions on red flag gun laws, school choice, or carbon emissions? I don’t. It’s not worth it.
On that day in 1998 when I stood behind the pulpit and used my authority as a pastor to call for the President’s resignation, I have no idea if anything good came from my outrage and public denouncement. What I do know is that what I said placed a stumbling block before a lost man, convinced him that church was “all about politics,” and ensured that he would never again intentionally put himself in position to hear the gloriously Good News of Jesus.
Pastors, let’s never shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God. Let’s never be afraid to stand against the current cultural milieu. And let’s not believe that addressing every contemporary controversy actually serves to fulfill our mandate to preach the Word.
