“Strong teaching makes strong Christians. And it makes soft-hearted, tender, loving Christians. But soft teaching makes hard, callused Christians. Soft teaching is for people who have itching ears. They do not wish to have their lives interfered with.” – Jim Wilson1
Jim Wilson is becoming one of my favorite authors. He went to be with the Lord in 2022, but I am thankful that the Lord is still using his writing ministry. He had a simple and straightforward way of writing, and I am so thankful for that approach. It is a breath of fresh air.
I am grateful for this reminder that it is strong teaching that makes strong Christians. As a pastor, I need to hear this reminder daily. It is easy for pastors and teachers to try to make the message of the Word more palatable. I am sure there are times this begins as a good intention to be gracious and gentle. Most times, I am sure it comes from the fear of man.
There is always a temptation for those who handle the Word of God to make the Bible more appealing and less confrontational. It is always tempting to keep everyone happy and not “stir the pot” or “upset the applecart.” However, the pot needs to be stirred, sometimes, and the apple cart needs to be upset. There are times that the pot needs to be dumped out and smashed because the pot is made of lead and its contents are poisoned. This does not mean that the messenger should be a jerk. Instruction should always be done with a gracious attitude out of love for God, his Word, and the recipient (Colossians 4:6; 2 Timothy 2:24-26).
“Strong teaching makes strong Christians.” Pastors and teachers must be gracious, but we must also stop worrying about what people want to hear. We need to stop worrying about what God’s people can or cannot handle. God’s design for his people is that we hear the Word of the Lord. The Thessalonian believers were commended for receiving God’s Word as God’s Word in 1 Thessalonians 2:13:
“And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”
Believers in Christ are to hear the Word of God and receive it as the Word of God. We are to hear and receive its every part without doubt. The Word of God is what preachers are called to preach. As Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-2:
“I charge you 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: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”
Fellow Preachers, the Father and the Son are witnesses. We are to preach the Spirit-inspired Word of God without addition, subtraction, or compromise (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Preach the Word. That’s it. That’s the message. The Bible is strong teaching. Opinion and conjecture are not the contents of strong teaching. Strong teaching is the Word of God. The Word is the good and strong food that will grow healthy Christians. As we preach the Word, we will reprove, rebuke, and exhort, because that is what the Word of God does (see 2 Timothy 3:16). The reminder that we must preach with complete patience and teaching addresses the attitude in which we preach the message not the content of the message. The content of the message must always be the Word of God.
By God’s grace, an important lesson I have learned and am learning is: “Strong teaching makes strong Christians.”
- Jim Wilson in his book Being Christian: Who We Are and What We Do In Christ, published by Canon Press, 2016. I am quoting from the Kindle Edition, which does not have page numbers. This came from the Preface. ↩︎
Photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash
I highly recommend Jim Wilson’s book titled Being Christian: Who We Are and What We Do In Christ published by Canon Press. You need to know that I do not receive any compensation for recommending this resource to you. I am simply recommending it because it has been helpful to me and may be to you.
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