Gospel preachers are in the public spotlight and that is exactly where God wants his faithful ministers. Sermons are delivered in the most public manner. Articles they write are read throughout the world. Their daily activities are watched and put to the test of hypocrisy due to the public nature of their work. Lives can be changed for the better or worse depending upon the content of the message proclaimed. The command of God is to “preach the word” not our personal convictions and opinions (2 Timothy 4:1-2). A preacher is disqualified from the work of an evangelist when he preaches or writes about his personal opinions and convictions as though they represent truth.
Jesus said that we can know a man’s heart by what comes out of his mouth (or pen) (Matthew 12:34; 15:11, 18). When we put preacher’s sermons and articles to the test we find what is in their hearts (see 1 John 4:1-4). Sometimes what we hear and read brings glory to God. Sometimes what we hear and read brings glory to man and this world.
Preachers who stick to divine revelation by respecting the authorized words of God stay out of trouble with God but not always with men. Pointed application to God’s word is a guaranteed toe stomping occurrence that brings God ordained reproach to the speaker. We ought to all say amen and embrace it. The content of the sermons or articles are never to stray from truth.
Gospel preachers are disqualified; however, when they soap box about matters of their personal conviction and opinion. Far too many times we are hearing and reading articles from preachers who address things of their own scruples rather than divine truths. The man who preaches opinions from the pulpit and on the pages of paper or digital media disqualifies themselves. The preacher who preaches his strong conviction about personal matters reveals that he is the weaker brother of Romans 14. The apostle Paul wrote, “The faith which thou hast, have thou to thyself before God. Happy is he that judges not himself in that which he approves” (Romans 14:22). It’s difficult enough for elders to deal with overzealous opinionated brethren but when preachers are this way they pave the way for disaster in the church.
What happens when a man preaches or writes about his personal opinions and convictions as though all else ought to believe and hold to the same opinions? First, the man has sinned in the grandest of fashion. When one preaches his personal conviction as truth he sets himself up as a law giver. He usurps the authorized position of the sovereign God of all creation (see 2 Thessalonians 2:4). Secondly, he destroys others whom Christ’s died for (Romans 14:15). Thirdly, he stirs deep trouble within the Lord’s church (Acts 15 and the book of Galatians). Finally, such a man reveals to God and the church that he just doesn’t get what preaching and writing is all about. The opinionated brother disqualifies himself from preaching the gospel.
There is an obvious temptation for man to move away from divine revelation to his own personal opinions and convictions else the word of God would not deal with the subject. Book after book in the Bible we read of warnings against those who would take spiritual matters into their own hands. The Apostle Paul wrote, “For our glorying is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and sincerity of God, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we behaved ourselves in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward” (2 Corinthians 1:12).
Those who preach and write personal opinions as truth are disqualified from preaching and writing. No elder of a church ought to let a preacher, teacher, or young man stand in the pulpit and preach their personal scruples. Those aspiring to preach ought to pay careful attention to divine instructions regarding the work of preaching (see 2 Timothy 4:1-5). There are many matters of personal judgment in this life. Do not make your personal judgment the law for all. Stay with the word of God and you will save souls!
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