Effectual Preaching

Recently, I began doing something my grandfather used to do (at least that's what I've been told), namely old-school wet shaving. For many, many years I hated shaving. I used goos and gels compressed in a can along with some brand-name cartridge razor having a manly action-packed name. I would usually irritate my skin as much as those razor commercials would irritate my ears. The irritation would be enough that I would let it go a couple of days. However, I have discovered for myself this old-school way of shaving. I now have a cheap but decent shaving brush, shaving soap (really!), a safety razor, and a variety of double-edge razor blades. Now I actually like shaving and even look forward to it! There is something nostalgic about this method, to be sure. However, one of the things about shaving old-school like this is that it forces me to slow down, relax, and pay close attention to what I'm doing through the whole process - and yes, it is a process. I had to learn how to do it effectively and it took some time to learn the technique.

Churches today need to go old-school. Why do I say that? Every once in a while, I will peruse the website of a random church and see where their emphasis is. I will see things such as their music ministry, their small groups, the youth program, men's group, women's group, and on and on and on and on. It is becoming less and less frequent to find a Church that emphasizes the preaching of God's Word. That really saddens me and it ought to sadden all of us. To be fair, it simply may be that there is good preaching at a particular Church, but the website does not highlight its preaching for some reason. Unfortunately, the sad trend has preaching taking a back seat in far too many Churches today in order to attract "seekers" in all kinds of different demographics - including cowboys. There may be a message of some kind, but frequently it amounts to little more than a pep talk or some kind of name it & claim it diatribe.  Preaching today is considered old-school and no longer effective in today's day and age. After all, why emphasize preaching when we have these nice plush movie-theater seats with cup holders for the pumkin-spiced latte you can get in the lobby - well we have to put it somewhere while we're clapping/dancing/swaying/raising our hands while the band worship team is rockin' the house leading us. Preaching is just old-school. Preaching is not as effective or as flashy or as exciting as the dry ice effects and purple laser lights coming from the stage.

My friends, it's time to go old-school and return to what the Reformers, the Apostles, and even Jesus emphasized in their respective ministries - the faithful preaching of the Word of God. Part of preaching's decline may simply be a gradual result of not knowing what preaching really is. What then is preaching? This is not going to be anywhere near an exhaustive discussion as I seek to answer that question.

Let me start by describing what preaching is not. First of all, preaching is not the same as evangelizing. It is true that every sermon ought to have something evangelistic, something that challenges unbelievers to repent and believe the Gospel.... preaching is not merely evangelism. It is much more. All of us can engage in evangelism, but not all of us can engage in preaching. More on that point later.

Second, preaching is not the same as teaching. As with evangelism, there ought to be teaching and instruction found in a sermon. However, preaching is not merely giving didactic instruction or giving facts and information about a particular text of Scripture. Preachers do more than merely teach facts. Certainly many can do that kind of teaching with great results, e.g., Priscilla and Aquila had to instruct Apollos in Acts 18, but only a relative few are called to be preachers.

Here is a helpful and succinct explanation of what preaching is and what it involves. Preaching is the authoritative, public, and verbal proclamation of God's Word by one lawfully appointed and ordained for that task.  Let me expound (pun intended) on some of this.

Preaching is authoritative because it is proclaiming God's Word which is itself absolutely authoritative. When preaching is taking place, there must be a "thus sayeth the Lord" sense to what is being proclaimed. A word of warning to my fellow preachers: preaching must be ministerial and declarative, i.e., it must come from God's word. Preaching is never magisterial..... ever! In fact, preaching is only authoritative insofar as it agrees with God's Word and when the preacher's message is consonant with God's Word he is God's herald and mouthpiece, i.e., you are hearing God's Word preached to you.

A preacher must be a man (not generic here! God's Word is abundantly clear on the matter) who is lawfully appointed. Jesus came to preach (cf., Mark 1:38). He was sent by His Father in heaven. The Apostles were sent to preach by Christ (cf., Mark 16:15. The word there is "preach"). The Apostles and the Church in turn sent men (once again, not generic here!) to preach. Notice the urgency in Paul's words to Timothy after just describing why Scripture is so important and useful. "I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word...." (2 Timothy 4:1-2a, ESV). Paul is emphatically urging Timothy to preach. Why this urgency? Paul's words elsewhere tell us why: "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'" (Romans 10:14-15). It is the Church that ordains men to preach God's Word to His people. It is the Church that sends these men to preach the Word to the ends of the earth. God did not send tracts and books, He sent men! As one theologian noted, preaching is truth mediated through personality.

The Westminster Divines also saw the urgency in preaching. "The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation" (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 89, emphasis added).

Who may preach? Are we not all to preach the gospel and make disciples? The answer is no. The keys of the kingdom belong first to the Apostles and then by implication to the elders of the Church. It is certainly true that all of us can share the gospel with others and all of us can testify to God's grace in our lives. Preaching, however, is a unique task authorized and appointed by God through the Church. One cannot claim to be a preacher and send himself. The Bible gives us a couple of examples of those who took it upon themselves to preach/proclaim in direct disobedience to Christ. For example, the leper healed by Christ disobeyed Him and began to preach (as the Greek has it) resulting in Christ not being able to enter the city (see Mark 1:40-47). Do not think that because you feel a need to preach that you are therefore called to preach. Has the Church called you or sent you? Remember that there is no shame in not being called or sent by the Church.

To you men who are preachers, you must direct your preaching to the mind, heart, and will of the people under your pastoral care. Preaching must contain the truth of God's Word in an understandable form; preaching must stir the emotions and cut to the heart so that the hearer is moved to hate his sin and yearn for Christ; preaching must direct the will toward repentance and faith in Jesus bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. This requires preaching sound doctrine in a plain, understandable way. It requires you to be zealous for God and His truth. At the same time it requires you love the sheep to whom you minister. Since such a task is daunting and monumental, you must be a man of prayer as you seek the ongoing guidance and illumination of the Holy Spirit as you open up the mysteries contained in God's Word; you cannot do it effectively without Him.

To my friends who are not preachers, what does all this mean for you? Firstly,  you need to sit under the preached Word. That ought to be obvious, but sadly it no longer is. If there is such an urgency for preaching in the mind of Christ and the minds of the Apostles, then you ought to have a sense of urgency for your need to sit under the preached Word. Secondly, pray daily for your pastor that he may preach God's Word with love and boldness, fervency and compassion; instead of wishing that your pastor preached like "that guy," pray for the pastor you have and pray that the Lord would watch over him so that he might preach faithfully. Thirdly, in love and in support of your pastor, expect good preaching from him. We live in a day and age where expectations for preaching are really low, and those expectations are sadly met. Be very careful here; before you go to your pastor and criticize his preaching in front of his wife and kids, remember the previous point about praying. For the problem may not be with his preaching, but your posture as he preaches. Once again, the Westminster Divines have this to say in the Larger Catechism: "Q. 160. What is required of those that hear the word preached? A. It is required of those that hear the word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence, preparation, and prayer; examine what they hear by the Scriptures; receive the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the Word of God; meditate, and confer of it; hide it in their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives." So before you feel the need to go and approach your pastor and criticize his preaching, examine your own heart to see if you do these things.

Preaching may seem passé and old-fashioned to you. Nevertheless, the preaching of God's Word in the Spirit is powerful and accomplishes all that God wills. It is through the foolishness of preaching (cf., 1 Corinthians 1:21) that God advances His kingdom, wins souls to Christ, sanctifies His children, and builds His Church. May God continue to raise up men to preach His Word and may He grant that preaching reclaim its central role in the life of His Church.