Expository Preaching Blog #51 – “Can You Trust the Preacher?”

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The direct answer is no you cannot trust any preacher. You can only trust God. You cannot trust the preacher just because he is the preacher. You must check to see if he is accurate. Accuracy is everything. If I find that a preacher is not accurate on one subject then I am naturally suspicious on other subjects.

Let me illustrate. One on my pet peeves is when I hear a preacher say “We are adopted into the family of God.” Frankly nothing is further from the truth. I have devoted another blog post solely to this issue and to the statement “we were orphans.” Neither of these statements are in any way supported by Scripture. They are man-made ideas and man-made twists on verses in the Bible. They stem from things in modern western culture and not from the Biblical text. The words are used in the Biblical text but they are nothing like our modern understanding in our culture. Preachers need to be accurate about this and not spin or flippantly use Scripture to use phrases that seem to appease the hearers.

They need to study out the half dozen verses that use the words adoption and orphans. If they do, they will see that the word adoption has a completely different meaning in Bible days. They need to study out the Jewish culture to see what the word means. In the Bible no child was ever adopted into a family. That was a foreign thought to them. They will also see that we are NEVER called orphans in the Bible before we are saved. Orphans are mentioned and described but only in a life and death sense, never, ever in a spiritual sense.

Now if a preacher cannot get these two fairly simple terms correct, how can you trust them in more difficult and serious issues. The obvious answer is that you can’t. I recently had a discussion with a local young pastor about the term adoption. I very gently encouraged him to study it out and understand what the scriptures truly, really teach. I was hoping he would. A few weeks ago, I attended a baptism service in his church. One of the people being baptized was a relative of mine. As he baptized them, he stated how they had been “adopted into God’s family!” I wanted to yell out, “No, no they were not adopted into God’s family, they were born into God’s family!” “Read John 3:1-10. It is very clear how someone enters the family of God!” But I kept silent. I didn’t trust his preaching. I don’t trust what he says because he has not studied it out. He does not get the small things right so how can I trust him with the larger things? I can’t.

The Apostle Paul backs this up. When he was in Berea in Acts 17, he told us that those people “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things (the things that Paul had been preaching to them) were so. If they searched out the scriptures when the Apostle Paul preached, how much more should we do the same thing today. Take nothing at face value. Study it out for yourself. You have the same Holy Spirit that any preacher does. You have the same Bible that any preacher does. They should do the work as the preacher, but so should you and I as the listeners.

You may think I am being petty. That is OK. But for me it is a matter of trust. As a preacher I bear a responsibility for the souls of the men and women I am preaching to. I am preaching God’s Word not my words. I have a sacred duty to get it right, the first time and every time!

 

Rev. David Johnson

Former Pastor

First Baptist Church of Austin, MN

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