The Pastor's Pledge

I read an interesting post by Ken Silva at Apprising Ministries this morning, and I wanted to pass it on. In his post, Silva, who is an SBC pastor in New England and has an on-line ministry as well, posed this question. As a pastor, shepherd, and teacher; are we willing to pledge what a John the Baptist pledged in the past, his head for the sake of the kingdom of God?

John the Baptist had a very simple message: "Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand." This of course was Jesus's message as well when His ministry began. This message, one extremely unpopular for anyone overtaken with hypocrisy and sin, cost John his head and Jesus His life on the cross.

Joseph Parker put it this way: "The man whose little sermon is 'repent' sets himself against his age, and will for the time be battered mercilessly by the age whose moral tone he challenges. There is but one end for such a man-'off with his head!' You had better not try to preach repentance until you have first pledged your head to heaven."

It is the role of the prophet, the one who declares the word of God, to preach the whole counsel of God. Any man who stands in the pulpit has this responsibility. If we are true to preaching God's whole counsel, repentance will be a regular message. In this day however, of self-help, psychobabble, ear tickling messages that please the masses and prop up the preacher, repentance is a sorely lacking message in many churches. The message of repentance will never be popular with lukewarm Christians or unrepentant lost people as it shows them their sin, and need to come home to the Father. In our culture we want to be told how good we are, not how debased. But repentance is a central doctrine of the bible.

You see, their is no salvation apart from repentance. In Acts 2:38 and 3:19 we see Peter confirm this. Repentance is in fact the truest sign that a person is saved. Their is no way we can be saved, having the Holy Spirit residing inside of us, and not experience dramatic change in our lives and behavior. Repentance, the act of turning to God and away from sin, is the first change that should occur when one is converted to faith in Jesus Christ.

So as Pastor Ken Silva asked, I also will ask my fellow pastors, preachers and teachers. Are we willing to pledge our head to heaven? Are we willing to face the consequences of being true to the bible and it's message, and the need for repentance. If we as those who instruct in the ways of the Lord are not, how can our congregations experience the true change that comes with a surrendered life to Jesus Christ. It may cost us church members; it may cost us donations; it may cost us our jobs. But the stakes are to high to be more concerned with pleasing the world than pleasing God. Is your head something you are willing to sacrifice for Jesus?