Banana Pudding Pulpits

​“For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness.”--1 Thessalonians 2:3-5
 
There is a great chasm between preaching to please God and to please men. And, there is a strong pull in the hearts of all men to be accepted by others—even the hearts of those in the pulpit. However, such an attitude in church leadership robs the membership of what she truly needs. Any attempt to satisfy lay critics is harmful to both the shepherd and the sheep. When an elder becomes a man-pleaser, he ceases to be a God-pleaser. And when the membership constantly hears that they are already where they need to be, they’ll see no use for spiritual growth. 
 
Churches have one primary need from their leaders—“preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2). Every church without exception needs reform, some more than others. “Reform” has been defined simply as “To change from worse to better; to amend; to correct” (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary). There has never existed and will never exist a group of broken humans that do not need to change for the better. In a church, this begins with the pulpit ministry. Just before Paul instructed Timothy to “preach the word”, he explained that “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). If the church at Ephesus (where Timothy was stationed) needed teaching and reproof and correction and training in righteousness, it seems a reasonable conclusion that every church needs it—and the Bible is the means through which that change must come.
 
I love banana pudding. Now for clarity’s sake, I am not speaking of that cold kind that most of you folks are thinking of. No, I was brought up in the South in a home where Momma cooked. And, Momma made the old-fashioned kind of banana pudding—the kind that is served hot. I cannot ever remember struggling to take a bite of it. I’m confident I could eat it at every meal—in lieu of every meal! But how healthy would I be if all I ever ate was Momma’s banana pudding—breakfast, lunch and dinner? What if I never had protein; never had vegetables; never had dairy?  What if my entire diet consisted of this best-of-all dessert? From my point of view, that sounds quite amazing actually. However, we all know that I would be in poor health (and fast) if I lived on such a diet. Thankfully, Momma knew better when I was growing up. She would occasionally give me banana pudding—it’s not that. But we ate veggies far more often. We were a “meat and three” kind of family and we were all the better for it. Mom knew what her family needed, and she tried to make sure we ate healthy.
 
I’m sure you’re wondering why some random paragraph on banana pudding is stuck in an article on pulpit ministry. First of all, I know my Mom reads my blog and I’m hoping for banana pudding tonight. But more than that though, it serves as a wonderful illustration for the needs of a congregation. There are those Christians—and groups of Christians that we call churches—that have a “banana pudding-like” doctrine (or set of doctrines) that they love. Like an 8-year with a “dessert-first” mentality, we often arrive at church hoping the preacher skips the meal and serves us our own favorite sweet. And preachers, this is tempting to do—we all know it is. One of the easiest ways to quiet a spoiled child is to give him what he wants. However, that will ultimately hurt that child in the long run, won’t it? And serving banana pudding to a congregation week after week after month after month after year after year after decade after decade will make for an unhealthy church. God’s plan for healthy churches comes through the preaching of God’s Word—all of it. And if churches are being spoon-fed dessert every week, that church will become unhealthy—and will ultimately apostatize. There is really no other possible outcome.
 
Dare I say that the doctrinal equivalent of a banana pudding diet is the tickling of ears? Paul later warns Timothy, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:3-5). In other words, pastor, it’s quite possible that your people “will not endure sound teaching.” That is, they won’t last if you open up a text week after week and preach exactly what’s in that text without drowning out the meaning with banana pudding. And get this—this was a warning to Timothy who was leading a church that was established by Paul himself. Do we really believe we are immune to such an attitude? There are countless congregations that hire pastors to tell them what they want to hear—what they believe they already have figured out—and all “to suit their own passions.” And as easy as it is for a pastor to fall into such a trap, this approach to the pulpit will ultimately cause a church to “wander off into myths”. If Timothy was to “fulfill [his] ministry”, he must “preach the word”.  And church elders today, the same goes for us. 
 
There probably isn’t a church out there that truly realizes that they have their pet doctrine(s). And though there certainly are many scam artists in pulpits, there are some honest men that have fallen into the trap of serving banana pudding weekly to a group of spiritual 8-year-olds—and such churches are becoming more and more unhealthy with every sermon.  We, as preachers, must be determined “not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.” We must commit to preach the Word of God unashamedly to our congregations. And listen—just because we can find our version of banana pudding in the Bible doesn’t mean we are preaching the whole counsel of God. Pet doctrines—even if they may be true—become skewed when it’s all we ever serve up. God has given us a Book full of various genres and truths (the primary theme obviously being the Gospel of Jesus Christ). And every congregation needs every single word in that awesome book.
 
Pastor, can we commit together to stop pleasing men—to stop pleasing our congregations—and that, because we love them?  If we truly care for our people, we will give them what they need, not what they want. If you don’t know where to start, let me give you what seems to be a wild suggestion in our day. Open up to a book of the Bible—any book, really—and begin at Chapter 1, verse 1. Having studied to make sure you have the contextually correct meaning, preach every word of that book until you arrive at the end of the book. Don’t shove into the text what is not there. Don’t exegete the white spaces. Preach it as it reads—as God inspired it. This may take weeks or even months. And I’ll warn you, it will absolutely take effort and time. However, it is that Book that God has given to mature His people. And as pastors, we are charged with preaching it. This approach will guarantee that the people under your care receive a healthy diet of spiritual food. And it will also ensure that we, as church leaders, are seeking to please God who called us and equipped us to lead men for the good of their souls (Hebrews 13:17).