Security in the Aloneness of Preaching the Word

I have been spending time reading through the letters from Paul to Timothy.  There are no better books for pastors than the  Timothy letters.  For me, Pastoring again has led to want to make sure that I am fulfilling the Biblical mandate of the calling. There have been times after I have preached or during a sermon where I felt alone in my embracing and communication of truth.  There is an aloneness in preaching that can come when you point out the faulty thinking and practices of American evangelicalism or the sin nature that we can all embrace. Not many understand the enormity of calling the church to be only biblical in its functions and in these days I am feeling the weight of my call.  It wakes me up in the middle of the night to pray, forces me to my knees, and moves me to seek Him more in more in the Holy Writ.  Here is what Paul said to  Timothy in the 2nd Letter:

"I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.  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 4:1-5.

The most important thing for me in my calling is to preach the word, when it is popular and when it is not.  It is what will chart the right course for the church.  This is no easy thing, but I would not want any other calling.  In a day where church can be about giving people what they want to hear, I am determined more than ever to proclaim Christ as central to everything and fulfill my ministry.

I have found a security in the presence of God and  Christ Jesus when I am fulfilling my calling to speak the truth people may or may not want to hear.  There is a security in the aloneness of preaching the word when the desire is to say what God wants said regardless of what itching ears long for.  It is the sober-minded who can navigate a body of believers to embrace fully the whole counsel of God and stay away from myths. That is my prayer for my life.