“For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27)
A pastor who does not believe and declare “the whole counsel of God” — rather, believing and preaching preferred portions — willfully rips Scripture and spiritual wholeness from the church. Paul reminds us why we are to declare “the whole counsel of God.”
1. A pastor has responsibility compelled by position (Acts 20:28). Pastors are called of God and placed by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of preaching “the whole counsel of God.”
2. A pastor has responsibility compelled by purchase (Acts 20:28). “Shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” A pastor therefore is not to negotiate with sin, the philosophies of the world or with an individual’s proclivity to sin. Pastors placed by the Holy Spirit believe and exposit “the whole counsel of God” without equivocation.
3. A pastor has responsibility compelled by preservation (Acts 20:29-31). Paul was concerned that after his departure, men posing as pastors — “savage wolves” — would come in “speaking perverse things,” drawing the church away from the truth. They will care nothing about the souls of men and where they will spend eternity, but with fallacious preaching they will “draw away the disciples after themselves.” What could be a greater example today of Paul’s concern than imposters who pose as pastors performing same-sex marriages or ordaining the LGBT community into ministry, thereby perpetuating perversion? It is no New Testament church that sanctions such deceptive immoral teachings or follows such “savage wolves.” Christ purchased His church with His blood, then left the safeguarding and protecting of His clear teachings in the hands of a preaching pastor. Therefore, Paul delivers his caveat to the pastor: “Therefore watch!”
I am praying for you, pastor, for courage to “declare the whole counsel of God.”
I hope to see you at the annual South Carolina Baptist Pastors’ Conference Nov. 9 at Southside Baptist Church, 316 South Church Street, Spartanburg. Remember to register for a chance to take home one of two Logos 6 Bronze Resource packages to be given away at the conference. Email your name, address, church where you pastor, and phone number (cell, preferably) to cityviewfirst@gmail.com before Oct. 31.
— Mike Runion is pastor of City View First Baptist Church in Greenville and vice president of the 2015 South Carolina Baptist Pastors’ Conference.