Wimps in the Pulpit: Speak Up or Ship Out

OK, here it goes. This is an urgent appeal to unmute spineless yellow-bellied preachers. Can I say it any plainer? Stay with me and I will.

Today I come as an advocate to those who would like to say certain things to their leader or their pastor, or a host of television preachers, but do not have a platform to speak from, or they fear being misunderstood.

Our nation is under siege. The Supreme Court will rule on gay marriage very soon. If gay marriage becomes a “constitutional right” and then federal law, which many anticipate, it will change the entire landscape of Christianity in America and will stifle every godly 501C-3 organization, if we let it. The real test of muteness will begin then.

How did we get this far? And how will we fare from here? The prophet Jeremiah said it best.

“If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? And if in the land of peace in which you trusted, they wearied you, then how will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?” (Jer. 12:5).

Evil advances when godly men say nothing and do nothing. That is how we’ve come this far. Not enough pulpits have spoken with fire. Now what will we do if we enter into the floodplain?

I’m grateful for the many godly leaders, ministers and pastors across this land, but there are still far too many who are riding the fence, being politically correct, playing the part of coexisting cowards and refusing to speak up on vital issues facing the church and the nation in this hour.

This is a word for the man-pleasing preacher or pastor who cares more about man’s applause than God’s approval. This is a tough loving rebuke for those who are more concerned about their personal popularity and ratings than the power of God and revival.

I do not apologize for speaking bluntly and with candor. If you can’t take it then you may be a wimp.

The dictionary describes a wimp as a weak, ineffectual and timid person. We have too many of them in our nation’s pulpits.  

If you claim to be a preacher and can’t stand up for righteousness and speak truth in the midst of such a wicked and perverse generation, you are a wimp.

If you are a pastor and can be easily intimidated into compromise by a controlling elder in your church or a wealthy sponsor of your ministry, then you are a wimp.

If you have surrounded yourself with “yes” men in your organization who court your favor by continually affirming how great you are without ever offering another perspective to any of your decisions, then you are an egotistical wimp.

If your voice can be muted in such a day of gross evil, perversion and injustice, you are a big wimp.

The real church doesn’t need you. You are a yellow-bellied, lily-livered liability and not an asset. You are aiding the enemy. Our nation’s moral crisis calls for preachers now with great courage and conviction. Urgent times require urgent preaching.

There was a day in England when Catherine Booth went from church to church in search of burning words. Her observation had been that there weren’t any preachers with fire in their belly. Today it is no different. Many no longer even believe in preaching, but now hold to a conversational style of sermonizing and motivational pep talks. You are a wimp.

Preaching will never be done away with. Preaching is God’s plan, not man’s. Quit following the pew and follow God.

And for you professing evangelical pastors who believe you can practice homosexuality and follow Jesus at the same time, shame on you! Big shame on you! Preach the Word! You are fighting against God and not man. Put away your limp-wristed humanism and develop some backbone. Woe unto you who call good evil and evil good!

Listen to this scathing statement from the lips of Glenn Beck:

“The American Revolution, the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement came and were won from the pulpits first. The pulpits should be on fire, but our pulpits are barely an ember! It’s shameful what is happening!”

We not only have far too many wimps in our pulpits, but we also have an abundance of pimps who merchandise and market everything from God’s presence to any of His blessings using every kind of trend, fad and cheap gospel gimmick.

The dictionary defines a pimp as a person, especially a man, who solicits customers for a prostitute or a brothel, usually in return for a share of the earnings.

Pastors, if you treat your congregation like customers, you are a pimp.

If you are more interested in attendance, buildings and cash than you are in spiritually preparing your people for the crisis facing our nation and the desperate times we are living in, you are a pimp.

If you coerce your flock into giving a love gift or a seed in exchange for a 100-fold return, you are a pimp.

Preachers, if you connive the people into thinking that somehow your ministry is the source of the flow of the blessings of God in their lives, you are a pimp.

Every pimp has to gain the trust of his prostitutes. They do this through deception. They don’t care about their prostitutes in the same way that these pimping preachers don’t care about you.

Don’t let pimping preachers make a mockery out of you and deceive you into giving with wrong motivations. The root of their hollow preaching is their greed and love of money and their lust for power and influence. They don’t give a rip what God thinks.

Think about it. Where else but in America can a TV minister be convicted of various kinds of scams—from financial embezzlement to tax evasion to infidelity or immoral behavior, only to be right back on TV in the pulpit pimping their audience and selling their best-selling spiritual junk food books and racking in the big bucks. And the saddest part of it all is that their insensible adoring fans continue to support them holding up their God-card of “thou shalt not judge” their favorite superstar. What a sham!

Today’s Christianity markets everything from “Christian lingerie” to “Christian Exercise videos” to “Anointed Healing Water from the River Jordan”—all for personal gain.

And for those of you holier-than-thou professing evangelicals who complain against American policy that has taken God out of our classrooms and institutions, you cannot speak with any authority because you are guilty of banning the Holy Spirit from speaking and moving in power in your churches, meetings and classrooms. You suffocate the supernatural with your programs and you expect to be a spokesman for God against antichrist institutions. Please! If you are going to judge righteously the first requirement Jesus laid down was for you to remove the plank out of your own eye before attempting to remove the speck in someone else’s eye (Matt. 7:1-5).

Pure burning hearts produce flaming tongues, and that is the only kind of preaching that will save America right now.

This quote from Evangelist Mario Murillo says it all:

“If American preaching returns to the Bible and our sermons are thundered from burning hearts full of the Holy Spirit we have more than a good chance to save America. If preaching stays as is, there is no chance … period. Pastors are dispensing new age goobly gook when they should have been training the people in biblical morality. This is one big reason that 6 million Christians voted for their pocketbooks instead their convictions.”

Do our nation a favor, preachers. Get some fire in your belly and preach with some holy conviction.

It may be our last line of hope.

Bert M. Farias, revivalist and founder of Holy Fire Ministries, is the author of several books including The Real Spirit of Revival and the newly released My Son, My Son—a beautiful father-son memoir co-written with his son Daniel for the purpose of training up a holy generation. He ministers inter-denominationally and cross-culturally in nations, churches, conferences, on the streets, and in homes. He and his wife also host The Holy Ghost Forum—a school of the Spirit. Follow him at Bert Farias and Holy Fire Ministries on Facebook or @Bertfarias1 on Twitter.