Jeremiah 23
1. Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD.
2. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD.
3. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD.
Preachers today need to make a choice. You must decide whether you are going to be a man of God, or a sissy. Today, the sissy preachers are a dime a dozen; it takes guts to be a manly preacher. In this article, I will share from my own experiences why I hate sissy preaching. Is the word hate too strong a word for you? Let it be known that God hates sissy preaching. God does not look favorably on preachers who will not preach His entire Word, or who will not preach hard when necessary.
Sissy Preaching Defined
What is sissy preaching? Here is a three-fold definition.
Definition 1: False, heretical preaching
Isaiah 30:8-12
9. That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD:
10. Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits:
11. Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.Jeremiah 5:31. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
2 Timothy 4:3. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
The first and most obvious form of sissy preaching is false preaching. False preachers present half-truths and sugar-coated lies; easily gaining popularity with their deceived followers. These passages are a good description of the present generation. Preachers have diverted from preaching the whole truth to preaching smooth, easy to digest half truths. However, a life spent in the Scriptures is not vulnerable to their heresies, as the heretics are quickly exposed by the Word of God. Heretical preaching is sissy preaching. However, you need not be a heretic to be a sissy preacher. You can be doctrinally correct and still be a sissy preacher.
Definition 2: Weak Preaching
Jeremiah 23:32. Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the LORD, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the LORD.
This leads to the second definition of sissy preaching. Weak preaching is also sissy preaching. Note the words “by their lightness” in the above passage. The false prophets cause people to err by their lies. The sissy preachers cause people to err by their lightness. They may be theologically correct, but will not preach the hard things of Scripture. There are times when hard preaching, unpopular preaching is needed, but weak preachers avoids issues which may be controversial or unpopular. Weak preaching is sissy preaching.
Definition 3: Unanointed Preaching
The third definition of sissy preaching is preaching which is doctrinally correct, but done without the Holy Spirit’s power. Any preaching can be sissy preaching if done without the anointing of God. Even fire and brimstone can be sissy preaching, if God is not in it. “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:” 1 Corinthians 2:4. All preaching must be done in God’s power. If God tells you to preach one thing, and you preach something different, you are in rebellion against God, and you will preach alone, without His help. If you constantly ignore His leading, He may be forced to permanently remove His anointing.
And [Delilah] said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the LORD was departed from him. (Judges 16:20).
Samson did not realize that God had left him. There are preachers today who have preached for YEARS without the Lord, and do not know that God has departed from them. Worse yet, they despise God’s anointing. Your preaching can be doctrinally correct, yet still be sissy preaching, because you preach without God’s anointing. All sissy preaching is Ichabod preaching; it lacks any anointing from God. Never ignore or refuse His leading. Therefore, false preaching, weak preaching, and unanointed preaching is all sissy preaching.
Why I Hate Sissy Preaching
Sissy Preaching Fears Man Over God
This leads to the reasons why I hate sissy preaching. I hate sissy preaching because it fears man over God. Years ago, I was in a conversation with my youth pastor over the Catholic religion. We agreed that they preached a false gospel which is leading many to hell. I then asked him why he didn’t evangelize Catholics. He replied that there are some saved people within Catholicism, and that doing so would offend them! Sissy, effeminate preachers don’t want to “offend” people! What about offending God? Acts 5:29. “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” It is better to offend man than God. Remember this, people will be more offended at you if they end up in hell because you didn’t tell them than they are when you do tell them. If you don’t want people to be offended by your witness, just think how much more offended they will be if you DON’T tell them, and they go to hell. When the senior pastor of this church left, his last few sermons were the best I’d heard him preach. He let it rip! He had never preached like that before. Why? Since he was leaving, he wasn’t concerned about offending anyone! The preacher who fears man over God is a sissy. If you seek to please man before God, you have no right to be in the ministry, and you are making real preaching look bad.
Sissy Preaching Deceives Souls into Hell
2 Peter 2:1,2
1. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
I hate sissy preaching because it fears man over God. I also hate sissy preaching because it deceives souls into hell. Today, there are many church going individuals who think they are saved. They once said a salvation prayer, but there was no conviction, no repentance, no real knowledge of what they are doing. Perhaps they even prayed the prayer wanting to escape hell, but continued living like the world. How do I know that such people exist? Because I was once one of them.
A man of God, preaching with boldness, will bring conviction of the need of true salvation to these individuals. But a sissy will not, not wanting to offend faithful (but lost) tithe-paying churchgoers. I grew up in a Charismatic church; I was in that church for the first 17 years of my life. My opinion of that church can be summed up in one fact: In the entire time I was there, NOT ONCE did the preaching convict me of my lost state; that I was a guilty sinner in desperate need of God’s salvation. The sissy preacher preached a sissy love gospel; repentance was never mentioned. I moved to a mainline (not fundamental) Baptist church. The doctrine was stronger, and many errors of the Charismatic church were revealed. However, the weak preaching still did not convince me of my need of salvation. They seldom even preached the gospel at that church, and it was considered a “special” thing when they did! (For example, in the year 2001, it was planned and decreed that they would be preaching a gospel message on Sunday, Sept 23, and to invite all our lost family and friends. Then, the Sept 11 attacks shook the nation to it’s core. People were hungry, and flooded the churches the following Sunday, Sept 16. I hoped that this church would bump up the gospel message planned for the 23rd. But no! On Sept 16, 2001 it was business as usual in that church! No gospel message was preached!)
However, my parents had bestowed strong morals upon me, and even while lost knew right from wrong, despite the weak preaching. I knew that I was a sinner, yet I could not stop sinning. I knew it was wrong and fought it, thinking that if I overcame my sin, I would be right with God and headed for heaven. I tried to overcome sin in the flesh, but when flesh fights flesh, flesh always wins. So I found it impossible to overcome my sin. But one day, one glorious day, the Holy Spirit of God spoke to my heart and said, “You know those sins you are dealing with, Jesus can help you with them.” And that night, I asked Jesus to take my sin burden for me. I was saved, amen! But the main reason why I hate sissy preaching is because SISSY PREACHING ALMOST SENT ME TO HELL, and I know that there are untold multitudes in the same position I was. Had God not stepped in, I may still be lost today. To those true preachers out there, preach bold, preach hard, don’t be afraid to step on toes, because you are rescuing souls!
Sissy Preaching Hinders the Work of God
“Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered.” (Luke 11:52).
When I was saved, it was not by preaching, but by God deciding to manifest Himself to me. God had to sidestep a sissy preacher to get to me. This leads to my next reason why I hate sissy preaching. I hate sissy preaching because it hinders the work of God. Preachers who are not separated discourage their congregations from being separated. Preachers who are not soulwinners discourage their congregations from being soulwinners. Before my salvation, I thought I was already saved. I was in church nearly every Sunday and in youth group nearly every Wednesday. But not once did the preaching and teaching convince me of my lost state. It didn’t even come close. I continued thinking that I was saved. Thus God had to bypass that pastor and that youth pastor to bring me to salvation. Sissy preaching hinders the salvation of souls. Do you let God work through you, or does He have to sidestep you to get the job done? If God is forced to sidestep you, He may have already removed His anointing and stamped Ichabod on your forehead. These sissy preachers literally hindered me from entering the kingdom of heaven. And the scary thing is that they meant well. They sincerely thought that they were doing right. God had to bypass them to get to one lost teenager in his senior year of high school. But what would I have done for God, had I been saved before then? What would have been, had the preachers in my life been real men of God, willing to show me my lost state, not being concerned about whether they were offending me? Under sissy preaching, the lost aren’t motivated to get saved, and the saved aren’t motivated to get sanctified. New converts soon backslide, or settle into a form of godliness that lacks power and anointing (2 Timothy 3:5), and are not challenged to grow up to perfection. Sissy preaching has stunted the spiritual growth of many.
Ephesians 4:14,15
14. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15. But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Sissy Preaching Makes Real Preaching Look Bad
Jeremiah 5:31. The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
The fourth reason why I hate sissy preaching is because it makes real preaching look bad. Real, Biblical preaching is loathed and avoided today, because sissy preaching is popular. People flock to preaching that makes them feel good and accepted. When people have a choice between hard preaching and sissy preaching, they will choose the warm fuzzies of the sissy. Children, when given a choice between meat and vegetables, or cookies and candy, will choose the cookies and candy. That which tastes good is preferred over that which is nutritional. Spiritual babes flock to the preaching which is comfortable, and away from that which is nutritional. Those who preach hard, who preach the whole truth, are looked down as being intolerant, mean spirited and judgmental. Why? Because people prefer sissy preaching over manly preaching. They have been fed to the full on sissy preaching, and crave it. They will not endure sound doctrine, and want platitudes for their itching ears.
2 Timothy 4:3,4
3. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Modern sissy preaching has truly made Biblical preaching look bad.
Conclusion
Sissy preaching is defined as heretical preaching, weak preaching, or unanointed preaching. I hate sissy preaching because it lacks the anointing of God, because it hinders the work of God, because it deceives souls into hell, because it considers man’s opinion over God’s, and because it makes real preaching look bad. If you are a preacher, or feel you are called to preach, you must make the decision whether you will preach like a sissy, or like a man. Is your preaching godly, or effeminate? Will you be a Billy Sunday, or a Joel Osteen? Will you seek to please God, or man? Will your preaching encourage the work of God, or will it cause it to grow stagnant? Most importantly, does your preaching seek to tell it like it is, to convince the lost of their need for salvation? If I had been in your church as a lost teenager who thought he was saved, would I have been saved under your preaching? Or would I continue thinking that I was saved? Would your preaching have convinced me of my lost condition? Or would you have sought to not offend me? If I was under YOUR preaching, would I still be lost today?
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