Preaching the Word: Compassion without Compromise

In a message titled “Advice to Pastors: Preach the Word,” John Piper says this:

“Pastor, my message to you is very simple and very precarious. It is 2 Timothy 4:2, ‘Preach the Word.’ I call it precarious, because there is a constant temptation to do other things in the place of this. There ARE other things to do in the ministry, as these letters to Timothy show. And we must do them to be found faithful. But none of them is treated as solemnly and forcefully as this one simple exhortation from the apostle: ‘Preach the Word’” (emphasis mine).

In today’s message, I will be making a case for why pastors must shepherd the church by teaching, and why they must teach by the Word of God. Along the way, I will be making reference to a couple of churches whose pastors left off teaching the Word of God to pursue other things.

I think this abdication of the Word is tragic and deadly serious, but I feel compelled to balance this statement with an admission that the motives of these pastors were most likely not to undercut the Word of God. There are more demands on pastors and churches than most people know, and I can understand how, in the day to day execution of their ministries, pastors find it easy to wander off into less important things, thinking all the while that they’re doing the really important things.

I know from first hand experience that this is a difficult balance to achieve, and thus I have compassion for sincere pastors who unwittingly go astray. After all, shepherds are sheep before they’re shepherds.

But in the end, I cannot let compassion lead me to compromise. The Bible could not be clearer about the fact that pastors are to lead by teaching, and they’re to teach by the Word of God. They’re to be men who themselves greatly delight in the Word, and feast on God through the Word every day of their lives. And so, with a heart of compassion, my exhortation remains: Pastors, rise up and teach the Word of God as you were meant to do.

Longing with you to be faithful to and feast on the Word,
Pastor Charlie