The Greek word season literally means "convenient." The answer to the "when" question concerning the church's proclamation of the Word is at any and every time, whether it's convenient or not.

Now that has a lot of applications. For a pastor it means to preach the Word no matter whether the congregation is saying amen or sitting and glaring. Preach the Word whether doing so reaps praise or anger. Preach the good parts that make everyone smile, but don't neglect the tough passages that have a hard message for God's people.

I remember hearing a story about George Beverly Shea, the longtime soloist with the Billy Graham organization. Shea was at a luncheon one day when the master of ceremonies spotted him and came over to invite him to sing. The man only had one request, that Shea not sing a gospel song since this was a secular gathering. Shea graciously declined, explaining that the only reason he had to sing was Jesus. Shea may not have sung that day, but he was ready to witness for Jesus even if the master of ceremonies thought it would be inconvenient.

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If the devil can't silence the preaching of the Word through force, he'll try to silence it through intimidation. And, sad to say, it can happen in the church, because not every body of people that meets together under the banner of the church is really ready to hear and heed God's Word.

Why does God command His church to preach His Word all the time? Because there is no season and no time when God's people do not need to hear from Him. There is a reason that we don't go through the Bible once and then move on to something else. An old advertising slogan used to say, "You never outgrow your need for milk." I can't comment on the nutritional accuracy of that statement, but I can say with authority that we will never outgrow our need for God's Word. In fact, most of us need the inconvenient, "out of season" messages more than we might like to admit.

If you are looking for a church right now, or ever need to find one in the future, one good test by which to evaluate any church's ministry is the "seasons" test from 2 Timothy 4:2. That is, does the preacher handle the tough stuff from God's Word as well as the more easily accepted parts? Do any of his messages step on toes or make people uncomfortable?

I'm not talking about being disagreeable or hammering people with the Word. But the late preacher Vance Havner had it right when he said his job was "to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable." If everything is "feel good" preaching, then you have a right to question whether the Bible is being preached in and out of season. Truth isn't always convenient.

With today's increased emphasis on "praise and worship" in the church, one of the things we have to be careful of is that the declaration of God's Word doesn't become devalued. With all the talented worship teams and catchy worship choruses the modern church has, it might be "convenient" for a pastor just to read a verse or two and offer a few thoughts at the end of the service and send the people home. But the church is not a performance center; it is a guardian of the truth.