Paul wrote the following words to a young evangelist named
Timothy, "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to
judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his
kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent
whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke,
and encourage with the utmost patience in teaching."
(2 Tim. 4:1-2; NRSV)
A careful reading of the passage cited above leads to an
inescapable conclusion: God demands balance in preaching.
Imbalance which takes one to the left or to the right, or from one
extreme to the other will culminate in the field of disaster! God
always knows what is best for his creation.
There are preachers who accentuate the positive and minimize
the negative. On the other hand, there are preachers who capitalize
on the negative and say very little about the positive. Both ideologies
violate the will of God. It is so important to be balanced in preaching.
There are key phrases in 2 Tim. 4:1-2 that imply the need for balance.
Paul says "proclaim the message," or as some versions say, "preach
the word." The message to be proclaimed contains condemnatory
language against the sins of lying, strife, adultery, drunkenness, anger,
impurity, and the like. They are called "works of the flesh."
(Gal. 5:19-21) And the same context contains language that
commends love, peace, kindness, patience, gentleness, self-control,
and the like. They are called "fruit of the Spirit." (Gal. 5:22-23) Do
we not see the wisdom of God in this?
The "trick" is in knowing when to be positive and when to be
negative. When a person is convinced that the time is right to be
positive or negative based on the teaching of sacred scripture, he
needs to make his stand without partiality or apology! Paul says,
"whether the time is favorable or unfavorable." Don't wet your
finger and test the wind. Just do what needs to be done, believing
that God is with you. (2 Tim. 4:17,18)
The Holy Spirit of God through Paul's pen also teaches that
there is a time to "convince" (elencho; confront or expose
wrongdoing); "rebuke" (epitimao; implies to reprove or correct
with sternness); "encourage" (parakaleo; to urge or exhort one
to perform). Again we see God's wisdom in instructing the
evangelist about what is entailed in his work. If he is determined
to be faithful to God, he simply must confront false teachers; he
must correct those in error; he must encourage people to pursue
spiritual excellence. He must do this with "the utmost patience
in teaching." He must not grow weary and become agitated and
give up. He will not be as prone to become frustrated if he prays
often and strives for balance in preaching.
There are times when preachers are to unhesitatingly "name the
names" of false teachers. It should be done without apology and
God's people should be warned. (2 Tim. 1:15; 4:14-15) There
are also times when naming names is not necessary. (Acts 15:1,5;
Gal. 2:4-5) One must exercise wisdom in determining when to
name names and when not to do so. The scriptures indicate that
it was done both ways.
Much of the preaching done by the prophets in the O.T. and
the apostles and evangelists in the N.T. would be stereotyped as
negative by the standards of some people today. First, may we
not forget that God by his Spirit was guiding those men. (Neh. 9:
30; Zech. 7:12; Mat. 10:19-20; Jno. 16:13) Therefore heaven's
approval was upon them. Second, O.T. Israel was unfaithful most
of the time and Yahweh wanted the issue of her unfaithfulness
addressed. There were issues that arose in the N.T. (Judaizing
teachers, division, immorality, and doctrinal errors about the
resurrection, etc. God guided the apostles into writing letters
and orally preaching about the issues. Both the prophets of old
and the apostles gave sentiments of hope along the way. There
was balance in their preaching. It was the kind of balance that
God decreed.
Let us remember that each generation must be taught all the
truth all over again. May we avoid capitalizing solely on the positive
or solely on the negative, but may we preach on both the positives
and negatives of God's will without fear or favor. Let's strive for
balance in preaching.
RD
Copyright 2011
Timothy, "In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to
judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his
kingdom, I solemnly urge you: proclaim the message; be persistent
whether the time is favorable or unfavorable; convince, rebuke,
and encourage with the utmost patience in teaching."
(2 Tim. 4:1-2; NRSV)
A careful reading of the passage cited above leads to an
inescapable conclusion: God demands balance in preaching.
Imbalance which takes one to the left or to the right, or from one
extreme to the other will culminate in the field of disaster! God
always knows what is best for his creation.
There are preachers who accentuate the positive and minimize
the negative. On the other hand, there are preachers who capitalize
on the negative and say very little about the positive. Both ideologies
violate the will of God. It is so important to be balanced in preaching.
There are key phrases in 2 Tim. 4:1-2 that imply the need for balance.
Paul says "proclaim the message," or as some versions say, "preach
the word." The message to be proclaimed contains condemnatory
language against the sins of lying, strife, adultery, drunkenness, anger,
impurity, and the like. They are called "works of the flesh."
(Gal. 5:19-21) And the same context contains language that
commends love, peace, kindness, patience, gentleness, self-control,
and the like. They are called "fruit of the Spirit." (Gal. 5:22-23) Do
we not see the wisdom of God in this?
The "trick" is in knowing when to be positive and when to be
negative. When a person is convinced that the time is right to be
positive or negative based on the teaching of sacred scripture, he
needs to make his stand without partiality or apology! Paul says,
"whether the time is favorable or unfavorable." Don't wet your
finger and test the wind. Just do what needs to be done, believing
that God is with you. (2 Tim. 4:17,18)
The Holy Spirit of God through Paul's pen also teaches that
there is a time to "convince" (elencho; confront or expose
wrongdoing); "rebuke" (epitimao; implies to reprove or correct
with sternness); "encourage" (parakaleo; to urge or exhort one
to perform). Again we see God's wisdom in instructing the
evangelist about what is entailed in his work. If he is determined
to be faithful to God, he simply must confront false teachers; he
must correct those in error; he must encourage people to pursue
spiritual excellence. He must do this with "the utmost patience
in teaching." He must not grow weary and become agitated and
give up. He will not be as prone to become frustrated if he prays
often and strives for balance in preaching.
There are times when preachers are to unhesitatingly "name the
names" of false teachers. It should be done without apology and
God's people should be warned. (2 Tim. 1:15; 4:14-15) There
are also times when naming names is not necessary. (Acts 15:1,5;
Gal. 2:4-5) One must exercise wisdom in determining when to
name names and when not to do so. The scriptures indicate that
it was done both ways.
Much of the preaching done by the prophets in the O.T. and
the apostles and evangelists in the N.T. would be stereotyped as
negative by the standards of some people today. First, may we
not forget that God by his Spirit was guiding those men. (Neh. 9:
30; Zech. 7:12; Mat. 10:19-20; Jno. 16:13) Therefore heaven's
approval was upon them. Second, O.T. Israel was unfaithful most
of the time and Yahweh wanted the issue of her unfaithfulness
addressed. There were issues that arose in the N.T. (Judaizing
teachers, division, immorality, and doctrinal errors about the
resurrection, etc. God guided the apostles into writing letters
and orally preaching about the issues. Both the prophets of old
and the apostles gave sentiments of hope along the way. There
was balance in their preaching. It was the kind of balance that
God decreed.
Let us remember that each generation must be taught all the
truth all over again. May we avoid capitalizing solely on the positive
or solely on the negative, but may we preach on both the positives
and negatives of God's will without fear or favor. Let's strive for
balance in preaching.
RD
Copyright 2011
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