There has always been a prophetic edge to preaching if done with integrity. Otherwise, why would Jesus have said “blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and spread all sorts of evil against you falsely” in Matthew 5.
The Bible is real about that. It is an honest book. I love this about it.
I have never been prone to offend people in my role as pastor. I listen and care, and try to let the Word speak for itself.
However, there have been times when I stood with scripture to speak against white supremacy, Christian nationalism, prosperity teaching, intolerance of differences, schismatic separatism, conspiracy thinking, and the like. I do it all for love.
I remember one man who came and asked me why I talked about racism, for that was a political issue. I said, “I don’t talk about racism because it’s a political issue. I talk about racism because it’s a gospel issue.”
