Good Preacher/Bad Preacher

"So they said to each other, 'Weren't our hearts ablaze within us while He was talking with us on the road and explaining the Scriptures to us?'"  (Luke 24:32, HCSB).


You've heard of good cop/bad cop stories, but this applies to all professions.  Jesus was a preacher par excellence and had no peers.  "When Jesus had finished this sermon, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, because He was teaching them like one who had authority, and not like their scribes" (Matt. 7:29, HCSB).  There was something different about the way he taught that even the common man heard Him gladly. Jesus knew how to make that "connection" (to be on the same page) as if He were one of them--the Jews.  And He identified with the issues of the day, the problems and burdens of the Jews, and the message of grace itself--the good news.

But Jesus didn't just tell them what was on His mind, for telling isn't teaching any more than hearing is listening.  Good teachers illustrate and make their point clear, often repeating it for emphasis.  A good teacher must do certain basics to drive home that point he wants to make without losing focus:  introduction and attention-getting method, points he wants to make, illustrations of those points, and repetition or summary of what was said.  You tell them what you will say, say it, and tell them what you said.

Jesus had a revolutionary style!  He used figures of speech in His teaching and more specifically told stories, especially parables about familiar events or circumstances that drove home the point.  Jesus also used epigrams, or short, wise statements seeming like a paradox, and He also used object lessons from some accessible item or circumstance.  He also was known for how He framed questions in a Socratic manner that elicited a desired or obvious response. He would readily turn a question into another question.   He skillfully made use of metaphors people could relate to and likened Himself to familiar things in order to make the point clear.  The good preacher doesn't lose his listeners due to boredom or belaboring a point either.  He must be aware of where the flock is and sensitive to their attention span and how well he's keeping it, not getting lost or off on some tangent--stay on subject.

A sermon isn't a lecture or Bible study, it's an outreach to all the members of the body and even attendees and visitors.  A good pastor knows the difference between teacher mode and preacher mode!  There is a place for teaching in a sermon, but it's primarily preaching just like there's a place for preaching in a Bible study or teaching session.  But good preaching speaks to the heart, not just the mind; it doesn't just inform but enlightens and illuminates Scripture.  Going forward one should feel inspired, convicted, motivated, and above all, especially edified.  There is a difference between being informed and being educated.

A good sermon isn't just "interesting" but it should be "challenging." We seek to be enlightened in the Word and see Jesus come alive in it.  Just presenting facts will inform, but showing how to apply them will enlighten and illumine us.  We must not see the Word as merely something to be well-informed about; we can know the Bible and a lot about it, without knowing the Author.  The preacher can lecture on the nature of Christ quite eloquently and not even be aware of His presence and maybe not even know the Lord much personally.

We need our eyes opened to wonderful things in the Word, and all Scripture surely is profitable for doctrine, but also for instruction in righteousness (application).  If we don't go away with any application the preacher really hasn't done a complete work.  Yes, we must all preach sound doctrine, but sound preaching is more than just preaching doctrine.  Jonathan Edwards said that his doctrine was all application and his application was all doctrine.  His sermons were meant to start revivals not lecture in theology (everyone knows him for "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God").   One's passion must be in the preaching to show that it affects you before it can affect others, especially the lost.   Good preachers preach the Word, in season and out, and comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable!   

When the preacher actually makes contact with the flock, they feel he's one of them and can put himself in their shoes.  They identify with the preacher and know where he's coming from.  That's why Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me."  "... The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice.  They will never follow a stranger, instead, they will run away from him, because they don't recognize the voice of strangers" (cf. John 10:4-5, HCSB).  Sheep know their shepherd!    Soli Deo Gloria!

Assumption Of Good Soil

"And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God" (1 Cor. 2:4-5, NKJV).

Too many preachers are adept and savvy at preaching to the choir and have adapted their sermons so as not to reach nor be sensitive to seekers and the wayward sinner.  Jesus never assumed the crowds were believing in Him and were disciples, in fact, He constantly illustrated the kingdom of God as if the audience wasn't yet in.  He was always cognizant of false disciples and pseudo-conversions.  There were always the Pharisees listening in to find something to criticize and condemn Him for.  Preachers must be cognizant of all varieties of listeners: pagans, atheists, agnostics, skeptics, seekers, newborn believers, adolescent believers, and even the seasoned believer.  Their job is to feed the sheep and the lambs as well as call the sinner to repentance; the gospel message is never passe.

What happens in too many churches is that there is the presumption of good soil when many have gotten into a worship or growth rut and are even backslidden despite their Churchianity and attendance.  The preacher must be all things to all people in a sense, knowing not who may be listening in and God may be working on or wooing through the sermon, known as the "Hound of Heaven" tracking them down. The preacher sows seed in the manner of the prototype Sower Himself, Jesus, and the seed is the Word.  The preacher who relies on the Word and its effect on souls in melting the hardened heart will be most efficacious. Jesus sees through the veneer and the Word penetrates soul and spirit convicting and softening the hardest of hearts.  The Word shall not come back void and will accomplish God's will according to Isaiah 55:11.  Jeremiah adds in Jer. 1:12 that God sees well to perform His Word.

The preacher is to be attended that gives proper place to the Word--Isaiah 8:20 says that if they speak not according to the Word, they have no truth in them!  We must not rely on the articulate, eloquent talents of the mind, but the sensitivity of the spirit to the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the soul of the congregants and attendees' needs. This is so that our faith doesn't rest in the wisdom of man nor in the education, brilliance, nor talents of man but in the spiritual gift of preaching by the power of the Spirit; as the Word says, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the LORD in Zech. 4:6.

The biggest error evangelists fall prey to is assuming the lost soul is already saved--they get saved without never having had a sense of being lost.  The preacher must get them lost before getting them saved; in other words, preach the law before the gospel--the bad news of sin before the good news of grace!  The reality of the matter is that there is good soil in the church, but also rocky, weedy, and shallow soil!  There is the good seed, but also the bad seed that the devil has sown and continues to subvert God's work.  Christ has commanded that the good shall grow with the bad and we are not to do any weeding as it were to cast out the bad seed.  This means that every church likely has an enemy of Christ who has crept in unawares, even a false disciple. The preacher must sow unadulterated seed, not the Word mixed with some bad seed.  This implies sticking to the Word and being faithful to preach it according to sound doctrine.  This will save him and his hearers.

The truth may be unbearable to the hardened in the heart (rocky soil) and the sinner shouldn't feel at ease in God's house.  The church is a place to convict of sin and bring to renewal in the Spirit, setting one on the path to righteousness in the will of God.   Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance!  (see Luke 5:32).  The sinner can prepare his soil but God can till the soil of the most hardened heart of stone and transform it into flesh.  We must believe in the power of the Word itself to transform lives and work miracles--the changed lives from the gospel are the best miracle we can witness.

This is why some churches don't accomplish much for the Great Commission because they have no focus on the soils.  Good soil is guaranteed to bring forth fruit!  They must not become complacent or let members get a false assurance of their salvation and comfortable in their walk, not committed to growth and service. Is it any wonder that Mahatma Gandhi said that he "likes their Christ, he doesn't like their Christians[?]" And that Nietzsche said that he would "believe in the Redeemer when the Christian looks more redeemed[?]"  The sermon should be a spiritual checkup and appraisal of one's walk and should have a message for everyone's heart.  This is precisely why the Pharisees couldn't bear His sermons: He preached to them as if they weren't saved or spiritually secure in their turf.  He threatened their job security and personal space!  It was like they were saying, "Don't you know who we are?"

This is why it's so important to prepare our hearts for the Lord's day and the sermon and not let it fall on unprepared hearts or other than good soil!   There is a grave error in assuming we are good soil and that the hard sayings of Christ don't apply to us or that we've arrived--for Paul, the apostle, said that he didn't claim to have laid hold of it yet!   But don't be discouraged, the preacher is promised that the Word will not fall on deaf ears if preached faithfully and there will be fruit, though foliage seems the immediate result.  Sooner or later, there will be results from the faithful preaching of the gospel working in the hearts of the lost--the flock need never grow tired of the gospel message but always open to new perspectives.

True preaching of the Word is as a two-edged sword:  comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. Jesus will see through the veneer and false pretense!  The preacher ought to be cognizant of all soil types in the church and try to get through to the hardened, to set free the weedy, and to give substance to the shallow--there are too many believers who have exhibited a shallow conversion and exhibit their lack of salvation by falling away, proving their ultimate disloyalty and lack of faith.  The love of the world is an obstacle to faith and the preacher must not let them feel comfortable with their weeds.    No matter what the threefold enemy of the devil, the world-system, and the old sin nature or the flesh attack with--don't succumb!  The preacher is commissioned to preach the Word in spite of the soil types and let God do His thing and work miracles.      Soli Deo Gloria!

Back To Basics...

When we don't know what ails us and have too many spiritual problems and deficiencies to face up to, maybe it is time to go back to Square One, to First Base, the fundamentals, or the basics. Spiritual troubleshooting can be problematic; usually, the problem is that you just need to get back to basics because you've forgotten something. You are not ready for the meat of the Word if you haven't digested the milk, but will only err and be "tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine" (cf. Ephesians 4:11), not being grounded in the truth. 

Just like milk is a basic and most never tire of it, you should never get tired of the basics, and should never feel insulted by hearing them--the gospel message always seems like music to the ears. Some churches seem to be abecedarian or rudimentary, stuck in the ABCs; however, there should always be a challenge to those who are mature and can discern good from evil, according to Hebrews 5:14, and for those ready for the meat of the Word.

The preacher's role is to feed the sheep and the lambs or to meet the needs of the whole body. Some students of the Word get intoxicated with the deeper truths of the Word and haven't even mastered the basics, such as:  How to be assured of your salvation;  the learned discipline of confession; how to give a testimony; how to put on the armor of God; how to walk in the Spirit; knowing the way of salvation; how to pray; how to witness; and skills in reading the Bible. 

Did you know some Christians don't know what repentance and faith are?  Sad to say, all the exposure some believers get to the Word is what they hear on any given Sunday.  A preacher can bring him to repentance of his sins (to make him see them and have a right mental attitude toward them) because God is against sin and they need to learn how to claim victory over them--Jesus came to save us from our sins (Matt. 1:21).

Studying the deeper truths doesn't guarantee maturity unless one has mastered the basics and is able to digest them. We are hold to the deep doctrines of the faith with a clear conscience.  (cf. 1 Tim. 3:9). And to study and show ourselves approved unto God able to rightly divide the Word of truth. (cf. 2 Tim. 2:15).   Meditation is thought digestion and this is a lost art in today's church at large. 

We are to do more things with the Word than simply hear it preached:  We are to study it; meditate on it; memorize it; share it; teach it; receive it; examine it; pray it; heed it, read it; preach it; and obey it in order to get a proper grasp on Scripture--we are only cheating ourselves not doing these because you forget 95 percent of what you hear, but you remember 100 percent of what you memorize! 

But it does no good if we don't apply it to our lives!  The mind has to be selective in what it remembers and has to prioritize or we would face information overload, also known as cognitive overload or too much input.  We need reinforcement from other methods, even though we can retain 100 trillion facts in our brain.     Soli Deo Gloria!

Are We Called To Preach?

Preachers often have favorite doctrines or agendas that they enjoy, but Paul said he was not remiss to proclaim the whole counsel of God. Just because we preach--and we are all called to preach in some vein--doesn't mean we are perfect, experts on the subject, or deserve the right to preach on it. What is important is that we key into our listeners and know where they are at and where they are coming from, and tailor the message to them specifically and clearly. God has chosen us to preach the Word regardless; however, it is hoped we will not become hypocrites, and we will practice what we preach. Jesus was the prototype preacher par excellence in that He practiced what He preached and preached what He practiced--but we all fall short of this ideal. By the way, Paul said he preached not himself, "but Christ and Christ crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2).

Someone has said of Jonathan Edwards that "his doctrine was all application and his application was all doctrine"; we are not to just make our preaching an intellectual thing that has no relevance. Our preaching should challenge us as well as our hearers and we should humbly thank God for the honor and privilege of preaching and for the high calling that it is. Sometimes it is even ironic that we can preach on a subject because of our background. For example, many ex-drug addicts or ex-convicts have dramatic testimonies, and sometimes the experts on home life actually come from broken homes or less than ideal situations. Sometimes it is very interesting to hear what they have to say and what their point of view is because of their experiences.

Let's not second-guess God as to why we are preaching and accept the authority of the pulpit as being from God and has His anointing. The focus should be to preach the Word according to our faith and gifting. In the final analysis, we really want to know what the Bible says more than some one's experiences which can be biased. (We test our experiences by the Word of God, not the Word of God by our experiences.)   Soli Deo Gloria!

Preachers With Visions

Some preachers unashamedly go on and on in great detail about visions, (Col 2:18 ESV warns against this) thinking this is some sort of credential or approbation of God to their testimony. We don't need visions to tell us what to believe, but should "rely on the Word."

I think of Thomas asking to see Jesus, and being told, "Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believed." Seeing a vision is not something to be sought after. I know we live in the last days, and Joel prophesies that young men shall see visions, but I don't think that this is a promotion per se, and shouldn't necessarily be shared--what on earth is their motive, except to perhaps exalting themselves. This is not the norm, and to talk about visions can be very discouraging for those who have to rely on simple faith.

There is a great possibility of being led astray by false mysticism and the deceived. Visions are not edifying and the Bible never says to preach visions, but to preach the Word. Preachers should be expositors, exegetes (doing exegesis or explanation/analysis of the text), encouragers, or modern-day prophets (having a vital message for our day) who are in tune with the Word, and not only with their own spirit and personal experiences.

Let's not forget Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church of South Korea who claims to have live conversations with Christ. This is dangerous territory and I think any preacher who feels led to share a vision should do it in a humble way so as not to seem to be exalting himself or making it seem normal. One has to wonder about the motive for sharing his vision. Paul was very humble and hesitated to share his vision. If one wants to boast, he should boast that he knows the Lord (Jer. 9:24). When the Scripture says in Prov. 29:18, "Where there is no vision, the people perish..." it does not mean we're supposed to have visions, but be visionaries.   Soli Deo Gloria!

I think Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Church expounds on this theme.