Preach the Word!

A couple of years ago, I received an interesting comment on my blog. It came from an unknown source. I did some investigating and it led be to a man named Samuel Brown. On his website Brown was advertising his new book Son of a Bishop. He tells the story of how he had to come to terms with his sexual orientation growing up in a traditional religious family. Here is an excerpt from the book:

Samuel Marcus Brown was raised in a very traditional religious family, and his parents are leaders in the Church of God In Christ organization. Samuel has always loved the Lord and the church, and he has always had a heart to worship and please the Lord. After years of feeling personally bashed by the traditional organized church, he still continues to fellowship with the “saints.” He was finally forced to rely on his strong convictions that his mentor Jesus Christ loved and accepted him just the way he was made by God. Although he really tried, he could never receive the message from the traditional organized church that he would be “damned to hell” that he was “not in the Lord’s will” due to the authenticity of his innermost reality.

There are a couple of observations that I want to make concerning this statement, and then I want to make a general application to the church. First, I want to point out Brown’s understanding of the person of Jesus Christ. He calls Him “mentor.” In one sense Jesus is our teacher for we follow his teachings, but the reason that we follow these teachings is because he is Lord and Savior. He has authority over our lives as believers in Jesus Christ.

Second, Brown states, “he could never receive the message from the traditional organized church that he would be “damned to hell” that he was “not in the Lord’s will” due to the authenticity of his innermost reality.” He could not accept the authority of the Scriptures on account of the “authenticity of his innermost reality.” This statement is clear that Brown’s understanding of truth is not absolute. Truth is found in one’s reality, therefore, what is true for me, may not be true for you. The authority of the Bible and the truth of the Bible are not believed.

I see this same sort of belief in the pews of “traditional” churches today. People don’t want to submit to the word of God because their ultimate authority is found in their innermost reality. Thus, they don’t get involved with sharing the gospel because it doesn’t fit into their innermost reality. They don’t pursue holiness, or tithe, or do the work of the kingdom because they don’t fit into their “innermost reality.” They can actually say that their doing what God wants them to do even though God’s word says what they are doing is outside the will of God.

The only solution is healthy Biblical preaching from the pulpit. We need pulpits to preach the “whole counsel of God” and preachers who believe in the power of God’s Word. We need preachers who will say, “I will not compromise the Word of God.” We need preachers like the late Adrian Rogers who said, “I’m willing to compromise about many things, but not the Word of God. So far as getting together is concerned, we don’t have to get together…I don’t have to be the pastor of the Bellevue Baptist Church. I don’t have to be loved; I don’t even have to live. But I will not compromise the Word of God.”

Preach the Word!