A Church that Welcomes the Truth

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

2 Timothy 4:2–4

We need more pastors and teachers in our churches today who will preach the whole counsel of God without fear. We need pastors who are prepared in season and out of season... who correct, rebuke and encourage. But we also need churches who will listen to and welcome the truth.

Sadly, some churches have turned away from the truth and refuse to hear it. Some churches won’t put up with sound doctrine being preached from their pulpits. Instead, they gather teachers and preachers who will preach what their itching ears want to hear.

Don't let that happen at your church. If you want your church to be a place where the whole counsel of God is preached… then do your part as a church member to welcome sound doctrine and sound preaching. 

How do you do that? Let me give you a few ideas:

1) Encourage your pastor more than you criticize him. When you think he preached a bad sermon, say nothing. Chances are he already knows. But when you think he preached a good one, go out of your way to encourage him and tell him what it meant to you. 

2) When your pastor preaches a difficult passage of Scripture and handles it biblically, thank him! Let him know that you want to study hard passages of Scripture and have them carefully explained.

3) When you hear other church members complain about sound doctrine being preached, support your pastor! Have his back. He may very well be risking his job to preach God's Word. If you want him to keep preaching courageously, then support it!

I am very thankful to be in a church that does all of these things, but I know that not every pastor is as blessed as I am. You may not be able to change the climate of your church overnight, but you'd be surprised how much impact a single church member can have. Be that church member for your pastor and for your church.