Only Preach the Gospel

Frank A. Thomas is the Pastor of Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church in Memphis and CEO of Hope for Life International, Inc.

Man years ago, on a Tuesday night in a church meeting, I tried to maintain my sanity and reduce my stress, but it was to no avail. The tension was sky-high in the room and I was the target of much of the anxiety. I was trying to get our leadership to adopt my vision, but I got anxiety, fear, and negativity in response. It got so bad that I did not even bother to address and respond to much of it. I wrote down the comments and the writing was a way to keep myself calm and allow their anxiety to pass through me. I got out of the meeting alive, but then I could not sleep – anger, hurt, fear, and tears. Late night tossing and turning and wondering if I should just quit. I was quite depressed on Wednesday and Thursday.

It is Friday morning now and I am the preacher for Sunday. Friday is usually my most critical sermon preparation day. But now, nothing is flowing and nothing is coming. What is coming, I cannot preach –venom and wanting to call certain those from that meeting hypocrites. I devised the perfect Scripture – I would preach Jesus’ words: “ye white washed tombs and workers of iniquity.” I would call them white washed tombs and workers of iniquity and I would put the words in Jesus mouth and they would not even know that I was talking about them – but they would know that I was talking about them. But the spirit spoke to me: Preach the gospel. Above all else, preach the gospel. The victory is in preaching the gospel.

I remember years ago as a young pastor, I had an experience that shaped my belief that the victory is in preaching the gospel. I had developed a relationship with one of my members, who happened to be a teller at my bank. I was nervous at first when I approached her at the window and she told me that she was a member. I instantly pulled my bank book back. It was not that I had very much, but whatever I had I was afraid that she would find out and spread it across the membership. When she noticed me pulling the book back, she said, “Don’t you think that I am a professional?” I sheepishly slid the book back. From that point on, I would not use anybody else in that bank and we developed a great relationship. All of a sudden, I did not see her in church and I inquired about her. I found out that she had a brain tumor that was inoperable. She did not want me to know so she did not tell me. I questioned her as to why she could not tell me and she could not explain. With my visit, she started coming back to church. In one of our conversations, she said something to me that I will never forget. She said, “I schedule my chemo on Monday because it makes me sick and I want to be well by Sunday to come to church.” It dawned on me that if this woman fought chemotherapy to get to church, I could at least try to have a word for her when she got there. She did not want to hear about any white washed tombs or workers of iniquity. She did not care that several of the leaders did not support the pastor’s vision. She fought chemo to try to get a word and if she was going to fight chemo to get a word, then I was going to try to have a word when she got there.

For all of us who might feel like fussing and fighting from the pulpit; for all of us who feel like getting members “straight” and publicly calling out the opposition, I would like to remind you that some of your members fight chemotherapy to get there. Some member or visitor has been suffering with depression and barely got up the energy to come to church; someone is suffering from some devastating heartbreak; some child has just had to bury their parent whom they had to make the decision to bring off of a ventilator; someone just got laid off –in other words, people need a word. They do not need to hear about church fights and negative church business from the pulpit. Preach the gospel and only the gospel.

I pulled myself together and preached the gospel that Sunday despite my hurt and my pain. I think I won the battle with those leaders right then and there. I just believe that God sees and rewards the preacher that puts the Word above their personal hurts and feelings. When I got to the next meeting, they voted unanimously for what I was trying to propose. But I learned that I had already won based upon the fact that I preached the gospel despite my own hurt and disappointment. Just preach the gospel only and always.