Pastor, Give the People What They Need, Not What They Want

Last updated on: February 4, 2022 at 1:44 pm by Grayson Gilbert

Pastor, Give the People What They Need, Not What They Want 2022-02-04T13:44:42-05:00 Grayson Gilbert

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

My pastor has long used the phrase, “Preach the Word and let the chips fall where they may.” In a nutshell, this encompasses his philosophy of ministry (and my own). The central task of the preacher is to preach. This should be a relatively uncontroversial statement to make in one sense, but in our current church culture, where the pastor is more often seen as a CEO or “brand builder” rather than a shepherd, it is an unpopular statement to make. The expectations placed on pastors are often flatly unbiblical ones, partly owing to the congregant’s lack of biblical wherewithal, yet partly owing to the pastor’s neglect to preach the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27).

There are obviously many other duties tasked to the shepherd of God’s flock, but they all invariably flow from the ministry of the Word and prayer (Acts 6:4). Visitations, funerals, weddings, counseling, even administrative duties, all must fall under the auspices of this primary duty. When they don’t, these duties invariably transform into something other than what is intended of them. In other words, these duties, when done rightly, are an extension of the pastor’s primary task of preaching and teaching. Counseling, marrying, burying, and more, are to be born out of the pastor’s obligation to the Scriptures rather than simply a perfunctory duty, and especially the main duty.

There are constant temptations to let the central task of the preacher be something other than the ministry of the Word and devotion to prayer. The obvious example of becoming the next big name in celebrity evangelicalism is relatively low-hanging fruit to identify, but it is nonetheless something the broader church culture places high currency on. However, the more subtle examples of this abound in the various ministries that churches can participate in. That is not to say it is inherently evil that someone desires the church to have a soup kitchen, for example, but good social deeds are not the primary focus of the church. Rather, the Great Commission is (Matt. 28:16-20).

Yet if you were to ask the average layperson what the primary duty of the church is, it is highly doubtful the Great Commission would come to mind for many. Some would say social justice is, others would claim that a vibrant youth group is what’s needed. For many though, the last thing that would come to their mind is making disciples of Christ. Even for those who would lift up the Great Commission as the primary task of the church would not adequately define what that actually means or would place heavier emphasis on one of the three means Christ has given us rather than encompassing evangelism, baptism, and teaching as the way one makes a mature disciple. I have sincere doubts that many pastors would even adequately define this as the church’s primary duty; after all, the positions of those in the pews is often a reflection of what comes from the pulpit.

It is of no small consequence that Paul’s dying exhortation to young Timothy was to, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim. 4:2). The reason? “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

Brothers, we are living in this “out of season” time, where the multitudes prefer fables fit for old women to sound doctrine. Nonetheless, the charge to pastors is still that they preach the Word, and that is precisely what we must do. We must feed Christ’s sheep (Jn. 21:15-17). Yet in order to do that, we must be a workman approved, who accurately handles the Word of truth (2 Tim. 2:15). This is particularly where I sense many have failed in their confusion of what it means to be a pastor.

The people don’t need self-help.

The people don’t need to discover their true inner self.

The people don’t need motivational pep talks from the pulpit.

The people don’t need entertainment.

The people don’t need to be spurred on to inclusivity, encouraged to rally behind pet social causes, or even urged to participate in ten step programs that promise them a better life if they follow Jesus.

The people don’t need topical sermons born out of spurious proof-texting, nor do they need “expositional” sermons that are little more than using the text as a springboard for their faulty theological positions.

Christ’s sheep need His Word.

They need to be taught those ancient truths of Scripture that transcend time itself and will stand for all eternity. They need pure, expositional preaching that doesn’t shy away from a single verse in God’s Word. They need men willing to stand or fall on every jot and tittle of the Scriptures, seeing these as the inspired truths of God Himself, in whom there is no guile. The church needs lion-hearted preachers who refuse to tickle the ears of their congregants. They need bold-hearted pastors who aren’t afraid of controversy generated by simply preaching the Word as it unfolds, verse-by-verse, and letting the chips fall where they may.

What we need then is not to give the people what they want, but what they need. The reason for this is simple: God’s Word is the only thing which will accomplish His desires in us, through us, and for His glory. The sad reality is that many have forgotten this beautiful truth and chase after various other things that fail to deliver on that which they promise. And this, at the heart of it all, is what it truly comes down to. We fail to take God at His Word, that the Word itself is the means by which the Spirit has promised to work and accomplish His will.

It should be of little wonder then to see why the broader church is in such a sorry state as it is, where many cannot articulate the truths of the faith, let alone the gospel. It should be little surprise to find many who are double-minded and unstable in all their ways (Ja. 1:8), who are tossed about by every new wind of doctrine (Eph. 4:14), and who are infants struggling to take in even the most elementary teachings of the faith (Heb. 5:11-14). While many are baffled at the surge of deconstruction stories in the church—should we really be all that surprised by it when we’ve sold our birthright for lentil stew?

It grieves me to see so many caught up in the throes of an authority other than the Word, yet I believe this is simply an unraveling of what has long been the practice of many who purport to be Christian. We have an abundance of Bibles available to us and a myriad of ways to properly understand the text—yet when it comes to what the Bible teaches, what often gets shouted rather than whispered is, “Has God said?” Yet unlike Eve, many are so ignorant to the Word that they are even more susceptible to the lies of Satan than she was. Couple this with the hordes of “teachers” who will happily teach contrarywise to the Scriptures, and the situation is quite bleak.

Yet there is a remedy to this. Preach the Word, in season and out of season. Submit yourself to the authority of the Scriptures in every manner and then demand no less from your hearers. Everything under the Sun must be brought into submission under the Word of God. Everything. We preachers are those tasked with handling the sacred truths of God, in such a way that we can indeed “reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with great patience and instruction.” All of this, of course, presumes that we actually believe we have the market cornered on the proclamation of truth, and that we don’t shrink back from that awesome task in the marketplace of ideas. We, of all people, have the ability to say, “Thus saith the Lord.”

Many will not desire this in an out of season time such as ours, but who cares? This is the task to which you were solemnly charged in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom. Give the people what they need, not what they want. If they are truly Christ’s sheep, they will hear His voice (Jn. 10:27-28). If you’re not preaching to those who will hear His voice, to whom are you preaching? Is it not far better to accurately handle and proclaim the excellencies of His Word for His sheep than to try and feed the goats, whose bellies will be destroyed on the Last Day? Feed His sheep.

Previous Post

January 21, 2022

A Simple Trick for Memorizing Scripture

Next Post

February 8, 2022 Four Ways to Pray Like Paul

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category #ShoutYourAbortion 10 Commandments 2016 Election 2017 2020 Election Abortion Accelerate Books Adultery America Andy Stanley Arminianism Ashley Madison Atonement B&H Academic Baptism Barry Horner Beauty Biblical Elders Billy Graham Blog Book Review Bruce Jenner Caitlyn Jenner Calvin Calvinism Cheating Chick-fil-A Children Christ Christian History Christian Living Christian Podcasts Christianity Christmas Church History Church Leadership Civil Disobedience Constitutional Coronavirus Culture Death Demoninations Discipleship Doctrine Doctrine of God Donald Trump Ecclesiology Entertainment Eschatology Ethics Evangelical Evangelism Evil Evolution Fear Forgive Yourself Forgiveness Francis Chan Future Israel Gay Marriage Gender Genesis George Floyd Gospel Government Gun Control Halloween hamartiology Heavenly Reward Hermeneutics History Hollywood Holy Spirit Homeschool Homosexual Homosexuality Hope Hospitality Humor Husband Infant Baptism Interview Jesus John Piper Josh Duggar Joshua Harris Judgment Justice Kathy Griffin Kim Davis Leadership Logic Love Manhood Marriage Martin Luther Messianic Prophecy Miscarriage Mocking Modesty Money Movie Reviews Music Music Review Netflix New Testament Obergefell Old Testament Parenting Pastor Pastoring Persecution Planned Parenthood Podcast Politics Pop Culture Pornography Prayer Preaching Predestination Pride Prosperity Gospel Rachel Held Evans Racism Ravi Zacharias Redemption Reformation 500 Reformation Day Reformed Theology Relationship Repentance Salvation Same Sex Marriage Satan Satire Scripture Seminary Sex Sin slavery Sola Scriptura Soteriology Sovereignty Spiritual Gifts Spurgeon Star Wars Steven Furtick Suffering Sufficiency of Scripture Sunday School Supreme Court Technology Testimony The Church The Lord of the Rings The Problem of Evil The Shack Theology Theonomy Tithing Transgenderism Tullian Tchividjian Uncategorized Universalism Vanity Fair Video Games Virgin Birth Voting Wife Women Worldview Worship

Select a Month June 2025 April 2025 March 2025 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 June 2023 April 2023 March 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz