Preaching Truth in an Evil Age

"It is terribly easy for the preacher to shape his message to fit in with the spirit of the age. What begins as a concern to be relevant and contemporary-both admirable goals-ends up with seduction and domestication. This is especially likely when the rich and powerful are paying our bills. At every level it is easy to fool oneself into thinking that cowardice is prudence, that silence on the moral issues of the day is a small price to pay in order to have influence on the corridors of power. Get invited to the White House (or even denominational headquarters!), and you will never inveigh against its sins. Give a lecture at a prestigious academic organ, and be sure to ruffle as few feathers as possible. Become a bishop, and instead of being the next J.C Ryle, you sell your silence. Of course, it doesn't have to be that way. God will always have his Micah and his Amos. But it happens frequently enough that we ought to return often to God's revelation, to make sure our message is shaped by what he has said and is neither the fruit of smart-mouthed petulance, nor the "appropriateness" of those who cleverly say only what people want to hear."

D.A Carson's commentary on Micah 2