Few pastors jump at the chance to preach a sermon on sexuality.

I certainly didn’t. When I saw my name on our church’s preaching schedule attached to the topic, “Wisdom in Sexuality (Proverbs 5–6),” my first inclination was to try to get out of it. Couldn’t a more seasoned elder at our church take this one?

But I didn’t try to get out of it. I preached the sermon. And I’m glad I did.

Was the room icy as Antarctica as I preached for 40 minutes about God’s wise design for human sexuality? Yes. Was my throat dry as the Sahara as I worked my way through various points about gender complementarity, sexual immorality, and drinking water “from your own cistern” (Prov. 5:15)? Most definitely.

But the feedback I received after preaching the sermon was surprising. Thank you for going there. Thank you for not avoiding such a difficult topic. We need more sermons about this.

Pastors, your people want you to go there. They are hungry for clear, compassionate, biblical teaching on the difficult topics facing our culture and their own families. Sexuality. Gender. Racial reconciliation. Hell. God’s wrath. Tithing. Church discipline. Divorce. Greed and materialism. War and violence. Charismatic gifts. Christ’s exclusivity.

The Bible has things to say about all of these things. And preachers should, too.

Whole Counsel

It takes courage to preach the whole counsel of God. When Paul tells the Ephesian elders, “I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), he implies there would be reason for some to shrink.