Sunday 23 September 2012

Preaching



"Preaching is not so much about getting something out of your head as it is about getting something into your hearer's heads."

If this truth were taken seriously by preachers there would be fewer theological lectures and Bible studies presented on Sundays to hungry Christians who want only to meet with God and to hear a message from Him.  Such an attitude and practice betrays the preacher's self-interest and displays an absence of interest in the eternal well-being of those who listen to them.

Preaching is surely the highest form of communication known to mankind.  And the communicator par excellence is God Himself, and His Son Jesus Christ.  When Father and Son communicated with us, Their concern was not just to get something out of their heads, but a soul-saving message into ours.  And He did what was needed in order to do that very thing.  He humbled Himself and became man in order to redeem man, and also so that the message He would bring would be relevant to man's spiritual needs.

What point would there have been in Jesus Christ speaking in high sounding language to ordinary people who had not been to the schools, and expect them to understand what He was saying to them.  Spiritually they had enough problems in grasping what the Son of Man was saying, but their problems were spiritual and moral not intellectual. 

Preaching must be plain and simple enough to be able to lodge in the mind of every listener, and at the same time stretching enough to encourage spiritual growth. 

Let all who preach study to be clearly understood and labour to get the message home to every heart and mind.
  

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