Preaching Points by Mike Glenn

Just before I turned 16, my father took me out to dinner. I knew it was going to be a serious conversation because we were seated in a booth at Shoney’s. We ordered our food and spent the time telling stories of me growing up and Dad telling me how proud he was of me. He talked about how, now that I was almost 16 and I would be driving soon, I would be facing choices, and he wouldn’t be there to help me make those decisions.

My friends would be there, he said, and sometimes my friends would encourage me to do things that I knew my dad wouldn’t approve of. “In that moment,” he said, “you’ll have to decide. Are you more afraid of them or are you more afraid of me?”

Then he got serious. He folded his hands as he leaned on his elbows and put his face directly in front of mine. His voice was quiet, but it was solid in a fierce confidence. “Boy,” he said, “you’d better be more afraid of me.”

I never forgot that conversation.

I didn’t grow up in a hellfire-and-brimstone home. I was taught Jesus was love. I heard it every Sunday. Jesus loved me. Everyone whom I knew in my little mill-village church loved me. I was loved into the kingdom. I have tried to make my ministry one of love, grace, and mercy.

That may be part of the problem. We live in a time when our culture is trying to stifle the preaching in the churches of our nation. God’s truth isn’t wanted or encouraged. Sermons dealing with difficult and complicated issues such as gender identity, same-sex attraction, human sexuality, and other complicated subjects are carefully monitored by our culture. If preachers say anything outside of or contradictory to the carefully prescribed message outlined by our culture, preachers can and have been subjected to intense social-media attacks, public confrontations, and other attempts at public shaming.

Let’s not kid ourselves. These attacks can be dangerous—to the preacher and their families. No one wants to be “canceled,” but it’s a growing reality of our times. If crowds feel comfortable shouting a Supreme Court justice out of a restaurant, they’ll have no problem shouting down the pastor of a local church.

Which brings me back to my original story. Sometimes the only choice we have in a moment is who we’re more afraid of. Sometimes the only choice we have is who we’re going to make mad. Disappointing Jesus or getting canceled by our culture—some days, there are no easy choices.

And some days we forget how powerful our God is. Yes, He is the Gentle Shepherd who rescues His lost and wounded sheep. Yet our God is also the Avenging Warrior who leaves His enemies trampled under His feet. He’s the King of kings and Lord of lords whose Word cannot be challenged or ignored. He is God.

Jesus warned His followers there would be days like this. When they come, He said, don’t be afraid of the one who could kill the body. Fear the One who can kill the soul.

Our culture is going to continue to ramp up the pressure on pulpits in America. I’m afraid it’s only going to get worse. We live in a time and place where people don’t want to hear the truth. Preaching the truth will be costly, yet preach the truth we must.

Not preaching the truth will cost more. Some days—like these days—the only choice we can make is to decide whom we’re most afraid of.

Choose well. Our lives and the lives of our congregation depend on our commitment to preach the truth…and to preach it regardless of the cost.