The Danger of People-Pleasing Preaching

The Danger of People-Pleasing Preaching is a simple thought reflection on leadership from 2 Timothy 4:3 about the danger of people-pleasing preaching.

August 19, 2013

“because the time will come when people will not listen to the true teaching but will find many more teachers who please them by saying the things they want to hear.” (2 Timothy 4:3, NCV)

What’s bad for leadership in the corporate world is even worse in the church. The worst kind of a pastor is one who has decided that he will try to please everyone in the church. They try to appease some families, while not upsetting other families. This can lead to a form of “approval addiction.” The reality is that as a pastor, you are going to upset somebody in the church sometime. To really do your job, you are going to have to upset more people in the congregation than you plan for. The reason is that for you to get anything done, you have to be upsetting all of the apples in the apple cart, not just one or two.

This is especially true in our preaching. In other to “rightly divide the word,” as preachers we are going to have to address subjects which no one wants to hear. If one really believes that changing happens by the word of God, then you have to address the behaviors which need to be changed.

One should preach these subjects with grace of course. No matter how graceful, diplomatic, or tactful one is about a subject, someone will get offended.

It happened to Paul.

“For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10, HCSB)

it happened to Jesus.

“Therefore, when many of His disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard! Who can accept it?” Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples were complaining about this, asked them, “Does this offend you?” (John 6:60–61, HCSB)

and it will happen to you.