When The Church Should Be Silent

As a preacher I've heard my share of complaints and criticisms about my preaching (and some of it was well-deserved).  One of the most popular criticisms is that "you shouldn't talk about that subject at church."  I've been told this after preaching about money, politics, and diet and exercise.  The assumption is that there are some topics that the church should be silent about. 

But how do we know which topics to address at church and which topics to avoid?  Simple.  The only time we shouldn't talk about something in church is if God doesn't care about it, or if God has nothing to say about it.  When you think about it like this, it's clear that the problem with modern preaching is not overstepping the boundaries of the pulpit, but muzzling God.  Too many preachers today are avoiding hot-button topics because they don't want to see a drop in attendance and giving.  And when the pulpit is silent, then God's people will follow the world rather than the Word.  Perhaps this explains why Christians in America are so worldly.

The call of the preacher is to give God a voice.  Does God care about politics, and same-sex marriage, and abortion, and money, and transgenderism, and diet and exercise, and pornography?  Absolutely!  Does God have something to say about these issues?  Definitely.  Not only is it permissible to discuss these hot-button issues in church, it is imperative.  The preacher must not be silent.  And if people don't want to hear about these issues in church, then it's clear that their goal is not to purify the pulpit, but to prevent the pulpit from purifying their lives.