In the past, many churches could avoid hot topic issues. But not today. A clear line of demarcation is being drawn in the sand. Many pastors are choosing between political correctness and biblical faithfulness, between crowd appeal and crowd conviction, between tickling the ears and challenging the heart.
Whether the megachurch is in California, Georgia or New York, it’s sad to see many pastors concerned about offending their audience. After all, who has the most followers, campuses and downloads is the way to gauge success, right? Wrong. God judges faithfulness—faithfulness to His Word.
Truth about marriage, abortion, socialism and national security is often neglected, watered-down or avoided altogether in the hope of not offending members. Please don’t misunderstand: There are many megachurch pastors doing great things, from Chuck Swindoll, Tony Evans and Jack Hibbs to Jack Graham, John MacArthur and Jim Cymbala (and many more). We feature many of them on the WCF Radio Network. While there, download the app and listen 24/7. But as a whole, many are audience-driven, not God-inspired.
I love my fellow pastors, including David Platt. We feel the pain of parents losing a child to an overdose, marriages crumbling under our watch and more tragedies than we can count. But at the end of the day, we are not just shepherds, we are also watchmen. We are to uplift and encourage but also convict.
We don’t have to abandon our ethics or compromise our principles to be involved in politics—what good is salt left in the shaker or a light that is hidden? Contextually, when Jesus referred to being “salt and light,” He was referring to holy living at the individual level, but the overlapping principle applies to all areas of life. Politics is not a bad word; in simple terms, politics refers to governing or leading a group of people. Hear more here.
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