For pastors: A vital lesson from Billy Graham and C.H. Spurgeon
Watch Larry’s most recent “Week in Review” video.
“Larry, I’m a pastor and I want to be like Billy Graham – preach the Gospel! I don’t want to get involved in politics.”
Billy did preach the Gospel and lots more. He told me personally (pointing to his Bible), “Stay in the book!”
Remember that Billy was an evangelist, not a pastor whose primary responsibility is to feed the flock, preach “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) and equip the saints for works of service (Ephesians 4:12) so we can fulfill our mandate to be “salting” society, holding back decay and not simply trying to avoid controversy.
Billy did both as God’s ambassador, announcing the Gospel plus addressing the evils of his day: atheistic communism; segregation and racism (front-page headline in South Africa: “Billy Graham Calls Apartheid Sin!”); and same-sex “marriage” and sexual immorality. He and Franklin placed a full-page statement in the Charlotte Observer exposing gay “marriage” and upholding biblical marriage between a man and a woman!
Charles Spurgeon
In the mid-1800s, Charles Spurgeon, Prince of Preachers, was a master Bible teacher believing in the sufficiency of Scripture to address all issues as he emphasized the Sovereignty of God and call for repentance. I love his famous quote: “Bold-hearted men are always called mean-spirited by cowards!”
He spoke out boldly against slavery, causing copies of his sermons to be burned in America. He said, “I often hear it said, ‘Do not bring religion into politics.’ This is precisely where it ought to be! The Cabinet and Parliament do work of the nation as before God, and I say enough of men without conscience! Let policies founded on wrong foundations be cast to the moles and bats! Whether Kings or Queens, Prime Minister or members of Parliament, God grant that the day come when the division between secular and religion shall no more be heard!”
Free Speech
Mr. Spurgeon speaks to us in America today! Multitudes have been misled regarding the “separation of church and state,” which appears nowhere in our founding documents and correctly interpreted means freedom OF religion, not freedom from religion!
Many have been misled by the so-called “Johnson Amendment” (1954) used to intimidate and muzzle pastors afraid of losing tax-exempt status, causing scores to refrain from any advocacy or opposition to political candidates or legislation. Truth be told the IRS has never actually revoked the tax-exempt status of any church for violating this unconstitutional policy. The Alliance Defending Freedom is currently working to once and for all eliminate this measure (contact ADF for any caution or clarification).
Are you aware that prior to 1954, churches and ministries never had any problem speaking about political issues and political leaders?
Spurgeon was not afraid to address controversial issues like freedom of speech! He also spoke on other political issues: slavery, which he branded as the “foulest blot”; corruption in government (excoriating a “tyrant king”); using his monthly magazine, “Sword and the Trowel,” to address societal events (which were mild compared to today). He refused to go “woke” as he spoke out about compromise and what he believed to be unscriptural practices, eventually departing his Baptist Union denomination and being “canceled” by colleagues and friends.
There is a cost to being a person of conviction! I know this firsthand as I experienced the same thing along my ministry journey. After I produced a biblically based video called “Is Gay OK?” the top leader of the church I was at said it was a “deal breaker … just go and don’t come back.”
Applied today
Do you really think Charles Spurgeon, a man of strong convictions, would’ve been silent if a young girl in his congregation had teen boys come into her bathroom or changing room? Would he have been mute if leaders in London were endorsing and celebrating taxpayer-funded abortion up until the moment of birth and beyond? Would he have turned a deaf ear to English magistrates pushing surgical mutilation of young children in the name of “gender care” … pornography distributed in schools … calls for defunding police and parades of homosexuals and undressed lesbians openly in the streets of London, along with drag queen presentations in elementary schools?
Would Mr. Spurgeon simply look the other way if over 1 million unborn babies were slaughtered in the womb yearly? How about a hundred thousand dying yearly from drugs coming into the U.K. through “open borders”? Or 100,000 children declared missing with many ending up suffering sex trafficking, rape and horrible deaths?
Is this “loving our neighbor” to allow this on our watch and to support politicians who have this blood on their hands? Let’s be real: Is simply studying books of the Bible and avoiding “hot button” issues getting the job done?
“If anyone knows what to do is right and does not do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17).
4 kinds of pastors
1. COMPLACENT
Sadly, there are many in the pulpit who have “lost their first love” (Revelation 2:4) and are merely maintaining status quo religious services to make a living and “wait out the clock” till it’s time to recalibrate careers or comfortably retire.
2. COMPROMISING
Tragically, some are caving to “woke” cultural pressures and betraying the call to “contend for the faith once delivered” (Jude 2) and choosing to yield to the fear of man and societal acceptance.
3. COWARDLY
Those first “cast in the lake of fire” (Revelation 21:8) are those who submit to the fear of man. Lacking biblical convictions in these “times that try men’s souls,” they’re afraid of losing members, tithers and maybe their salary and next mortgage payment.
4. COURAGEOUS
Billy Graham said, “Courage is contagious!” and the good news today is that many are awakening to bring both grace and truth, declaring the “whole counsel of God” in one of the most serious moments in America’s history.
Our defining moment
Liberty or tyranny? Free-market capitalism or Marxist socialism? The window is closing fast in America, and if the wrong candidate takes office, conservatives will awaken to chilling consequences.
We are at an inflection point in this existential crisis, requiring all of us to summon bravery to honor our Judeo-Christian heritage and our founders’ ideals.
If you are a pastor, parent or person who can influence others, please avail yourself of the FREE instantly available, brief videos prepared by 16 key leaders in America to help you with the 30 hot-button issues of our day. We need to be informed influencers changing the hearts and minds of as many as we possibly can. Go to larrytomczak.com, click the “Bullseye” graphic and get started!
Here’s the Deal
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years, telling our children and children’s children what it was once like in the United States, where men were free.”
– Ronald Reagan
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