Throughout the evangelical community, there is a desperate and urgent cry for a recovery of gospel-centered ministry. While some churches try to fill their appetites with empty, Christian fadism, the sheep starve. Nothing will satiate the child of God as long as pastors continue to exchange gospel for gimmickry, teaching for technique, and ministry for management. In the face of such a dearth of biblical teaching, the church must recover a vision of proclaiming the full-orbed truth of God. Consider the final words that Paul spoke to the Ephesian elders:
"26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all of you, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." (Acts 20:26-27)
In light of Paul's instructions, let us consider three implications the apostle's command has for faithful, Biblical preaching.
1. Biblical preaching begins with God and not with man.
The pastor's task in the pulpit is not to teach you how to have your best life now. Any teacher of the Word who begins by attempting to address felt-needs is a scandal and not a true gospel minister. Any preaching that seeks to exalt man's supposed "self-esteem" is in direct contradiction to the Scriptural teaching of self-abnegation. Therapeutic messages trivialize the minds of the congregation and do not feed the soul. As preachers of the Word, we are to be doctors of souls! The only way we can do this is by exalting the sovereign grace of the Triune Jehovah. Men need theology not more triteness! The world is already fattened with frivolity. We wonder why we do not have a revival and why men are not hungry for the Word of God. It is because they are so full of the world. Ministers of all stripes are guilty of stuffing their congregation with meatless food. From the seeker-friendly antics of the Southern Baptist preacher to the chic, eloquence of the psuedo-Reformed PCA pastor, men across the denominational spectrum are depriving their congregations of hearty, robust preaching. Yet, we plead for revival and wonder why the rain has not come. My friends, we have not tilled the soil! We must break up the fallow grounds of Biblical and Systematic theology. True devotion springs forth from a solid doctrine of God. Let us eschew this false dichotomy of doctrine and application. As John MacArthur has said, the Word of God is relevant, so we do not need to make it relevant. Those of you who crave for revival, ask yourself this: "When is the last time I heard a sermon on the holiness of God?" More importantly, would such a sermon be cold, lifeless, and boring to you? We want a manifestation of God's presence without true knowledge of him! We want revival without reformation! Such talk is nothing more than sensationalism.
2. Biblical preaching must do justice to the teaching of all of holy Scripture.
Mark Driscoll has said that one of the greatest dangers in the church today is that of theological reductionism and I believe he is correct. Theological reductionism is teaching one truth in Scripture to the exclusion of others. For example, old school liberalism emphasizes the imminence and humanity of Christ to the exclusion of his transcendence and deity. Both Arminianism and Hyper-Calvinism are the results of theological reductionism. Arminianism teaches the autonomy of the human will to the exclusion of God's sovereignty, while Hyper-Calvinism teaches God's sovereignty to the exclusion of human freedom. Arminianism depicts God as an impotent, beggar unable to accomplish his desires while Hyper-Calvinism portrays him as a capricious despot who works evil in the hearts of the non-elect. Both distort the true picture of God in the Bible. Notice that in Paul's words to the Ephesians that he informs them that he is "innocent of the blood of all of you" because he declared the whole counsel of God. Does anyone speak this way anymore? What does Paul mean by saying he is innocent of the blood of the Ephesians because he preached the whole counsel of God? We find a similar statement in Paul's command to Timothy:
"Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers." (1 Timothy 4:16)
The sobering reality is that our teaching can either be a means by which men are saved or a means that further serves to harden their hearts, lead them astray, and further their condemnation. Preaching the whole counsel of God enables us to say with Paul, "I am innocent of the blood of all of you." Oh how many of our hearers would be spared the anguish of being duped by false teachers if only they heard the whole counsel of God from our lips. Think of the millions of evangelicals who comprise the "health and wealth" prosperity movement who would be kept from the heartache and disappointment of not inheriting riches if they had been told that while through Christ we have everything (cf. Romans 8:32), the kingdom of God is for the poor (cf. Luke 6:20) and that in this world we will have suffering (cf. 2 Timothy 3:12).
3. Biblical preaching is inherently authoritative, proclamatory monologue not egalitarian, dialogue.
Paul's words of "I did not shrink from declaring to you" are in striking contrast to the postmodern, spirtiual ethos of this age. The muse of our culture says, "All opinions are valid. Dialogue is the best option for our worship services" and "Preaching is outdated." We must avoid the siren calls of our society and uphold authoritative preaching as the Biblical form of communicating the gospel. Spiritual gurus and their eloquence is not the call of the minister. The desire to be winsome is a deterrent to the powerful, bold proclamation of truth which is intrinsic to gospel preaching (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:17). Winsomeness leads to a watered down gospel and the Lord call us to exalt God not please carnal men. We exalt God in preaching when it is both authoritative and proclamatory. Let us examine this further:
1. Preaching is authoritative.
Preaching is authoritative not because we know everything but because the Word of God is the source of our knowledge. Any epistemological humility we have is because of the finiteness of our minds, the frailty of our condition, and the fallenness of our hearts that prevent us from further understanding the Word of God and not from any uncertainty about the veracity of Holy Scripture. We do not know all things infallibly but we do know infallible truth. To say otherwise is to fall snare to the false dichotomy that has been the crux of the egalitarian spiritualism of the emergent church, which claims that since we are fallible we must with humility consider all ideas valid. Such nonsense, is little more than thinly disguised skepticism, or to speak more bluntly, unbelief. The Word of God is the source of our knowledge and we cannot abandon our confidence in it to engage in discussion with the lost world. Apart from it, we cannot make sense of reality. As Augustine said, "I do not understand that I may believe. I believe that I may understand."
2. Preaching is proclamatory.
Preaching is proclamatory meaning that it involves not just teaching. Teaching is only one aspect of preaching. We must labor over clear articulation of the doctrine of justification. But if we only teach the technial "ins and outs" of the instrumentality of faith, the meaning of justification, and the concept of double imputation we have only done half our task. We must also proclaim this truth to the congretation. We must not just define justification but also comfort believers by telling them that if their faith in Christ is genuine, they are righteous. Many men are great teachers but they are not called to preach. To put it simply, all preachers are teachers but not all teachers are preachers.
Conclusion: Let us strive then to fulfill the mandate of the apostle Paul in preaching the whole counsel of God. Pastors, please be diligent in expositing the text of Scripture. For many this will mean a complete paradigm shift. For others, it will mean making sacrifices to labor over the exegesis of next Sunday's passage. For those of you who already faithfully preach the Word, remain the course! For those of us who fill the pews, encourage your pastors when they preach God-centered, weighty, Biblical messages. For those of us who yearn for Biblical exposition, it can be easy for us to be unyielding in our criticisms towards our pastors. Here's a challenge: spend more time praying for your pastor to have a hunger to exegete God's Word than you do criticizing him. For all of us: let us continue to shine the light of the gospel of our glorious God in this dark age, until finally, Post tenebras lux, the light of the knowledge of Christ shines most brilliantly! Soli deo gloria.
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