Our entertainment-crazed world, both in the world and in the pew, has made clear its demands:  preaching the “connects,” that “feels good,” that “entertains while meeting emotional and social needs”; preaching that isn’t “preachy,” with more jokes and less Jesus, more stories and less substance, more positive thinking and less mention of personal sacrifice; in short, pulpit patter that appeals more to the outer man than to the spirit.

Sadly, many of us who preach and teach have begun bending to these demands, preaching what amounts to “another gospel” (Galatians 1:6-9), and all the while excusing ourselves by whining, “But that’s what they want!”

Paul warned Timothy of the time when his hearers would not “endure sound doctrine,” but with “itching ears” would “heap to themselves teachers” who would tell them what they wanted to hear.  In the face of this wrong-headed insistence, however, Timothy was charged to “preach the word” and to do so “in season and out of season.”  (2 Timothy 4:1-4.)

Take note of the fact that Timothy was not encouraged to spend time attempting to discover what might tickle the ears of his hearers.  He was not advised to consider the current societal climate and then style his sermons accordingly.  He was charged, before God and in view of the coming Judgment, to “preach the word.”

Preachers, we must begin anew preaching the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

And may we never forget that our primary obligation concerns pleasing God.  The pleasing of men is better left to the politicians.