John Piper Criticizes Pastors For Ignoring Scripture So As Not To Appear 'Conservative'

The pastor and author is concerned that many pastors today are refusing to talk about texts and topics in Scripture out of fear of being labeled as a "conservative."

John Piper, who formerly led the Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, recently appeared at the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville, Kentucky, where he spoke about the attitudes of today's pastors towards Scripture. He lamented that a number of pastors are ignoring Scripture so as not to appear "conservative," a political label that they reject.

According to the Christian Headlines, Piper argued how some pastors have become "so fearful of being labeled conservative, or fundamentalist, or progressive, or woke" or other labels that are looked down upon that they would "avoid any kind of biblical command that would put them in some camp that they don't want to be part of."

Religious Author Names Topics Pastors Tend to Avoid Nowadays

Piper, who is the founder of DesiringGod.org provided examples of how pastors today are ignoring Scripture as to not appear "conservative." He said that pastors refuse to "deal with racial discrimination" because they will be called "woke." He added that pastors will not "deal with modesty or nudity in movies" because they would be labeled "fundamentalist." Moreover, pastors will also refuse to talk about how people are "citizens of heaven before we're citizens of America" lest they would be called "unpatriotic."

Piper argued that pastors must not be held "bondage to the opinions of others" but instead follow the model Jesus set for them. Jesus, unlike today's pastors, did not care about anyone's opinions, the author said. He mused, "Don't you want to be free like that?"

Also Read:John Piper Explains Why Some Pastors Avoid Talking About Holiness

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Piper added that pastors should be "so radically committed" to "all that the Bible teaches" so that when they are judged to be one thing, they can bring out something from their "Bible treasure" that would "[throw] them totally off balance." He admitted that pastors must "displease everybody sometimes" because if they did not, it would not be right. He added that people who are faithful to the Bible would love the pastors for upholding Scripture, while partisan people who are either more Republican or Democrat rather than Christian would probably reject the pastor's teaching. The point however, Piper argued, is not to be loved by the people, but for the people to be converted.

Last week, a survey released by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University revealed that only about one-third of pastors in the U.S. hold a biblical worldview. Research found that among senior or lead pastors, 41% possess a biblical worldview, while 28% of associate or assistant pastors hold the same biblical worldview. Only 13% of teaching pastors and 12% of children pastors hold a biblical worldview as well.

Cultural Research Center director George Barna remarked that the survey results are a "strong piece of evidence that the culture is influencing the American church more than Christian churches are influencing the culture."