**Each Friday Preaching Truth looks at some aspect of preaching, inviting pastors and scholars to submit articles. Today’s “Preaching Post Fridays” feature is authored by Dr. Theodore “Doros” Zachariades, interim pastor of Wolf Creek Baptist Church in Wolf Creek, Montana.
Doros earned his postgraduate degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (PhD, 2004; MDiv, 1997) and his undergraduate degree from Greek Bible College in Pikermi, Greece (1991). He is the author of several scholarly articles and books including The Omnipresence of Jesus Christ: A Neglected Aspect of Evangelical Christology (Milton Keynes, UK: Paternoster, 2015).
On a personal note, Doros is a good friend who has helped me grow biblically and think theologically. You can follow Doros on Facebook and Twitter.**
Preaching the Gospel
The great need for the church is a strong preaching ministry. It is because of our commitment to the truth of God’s sacred Scriptures that a strong pulpit is essential. I believe in the verbal and plenary inspiration of all sixty-six books of the Protestant canon. As the whole Bible has been Breathed Out by God, it is therefore inerrant in the original manuscripts. The Holy Bible is our sole authority governing belief and behavior. Expository sermons usually are grounded in studies of entire books of the Bible, so the message God intends is paramount. Topical sermons are permissible but must also be expository and thus grounded in serious exegesis of a given passage. Peter Leithart wrote, “Scripture once transformed the world precisely because Bible students clung to the letter. Once the letter is reduced to a malleable vehicle, Scripture loses its potency. It no longer shapes our imaginations, our poetry, or our politics, because it is not allowed to say anything we do not already know. We have lost the Bible because we are no longer theologians of the letter.” Preachers can do no less.
Paul’s Principles of Preaching
The Apostle Paul highlights Preaching in 1 Corinthians. Look at this extended passage:
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. 18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. . . . 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God [1:17-25; 2:1-5, bold emphasis added].
In another relevant text, Paul affirms:
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry [2 Timothy 4:1-5, bold emphasis added].
Preparation for Preaching
“It takes twenty years to prepare a sermon,” noted E. M. Bounds, “because it takes twenty years to prepare the man.” This may appear an exaggeration, think about our Lord Himself, when he was about thirty embarked on His public ministry. No doubt, Jesus dazzled the folks at the Temple when he was a mere twelve-year old boy in both his questions and answers. This is particularly interesting as answers are given in response to enquiries. Jesus was being grilled by the scribes and teachers of the Law. His answers are thus from a posture of teaching!
However, Jesus went down with his parents and was subject to them. No doubt, He was always about His Father’s business. Twenty years or so later, He steps on the stage to proclaim as the herald of a new message, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I mention this to underscore the need for preparation. The Bible warns us about putting hands on men “too early.” Jesus was prepared. So, must we be as well.
Potential Pitfalls
Seminary may be completed swiftly in a three-year stint. An M.Div is a standard degree expected by many congregations for their prospective preachers. This is supposed to prepare them for the tasks at hand when they engage in pastoral work. I am grateful for my opportunity to obtain an M.Div. However, I crammed my three years into seven. Now, less I be misunderstood, I am not advocating that it is necessary to get academic degrees to do the Work of the Lord, I am merely noting that this is a common procedure. Also, I believe that when it comes to preaching the gospel, schooling can get in the way of the simplicity of the task. Love and truth are non-negotiable and are sometimes a great replacement for the college diploma. We can become too dependent or trusting in our preparation or scholarship. Despite having to burn the midnight oil, it is God’s anointing that really matters to the actual preaching. I learned this the hard way. Many difficult and challenging years may be nothing more than God’s training ground for current needs.
Personal Pruning
I have learned what it is to speak God’s Words, only after throwing out over ten years of sermon manuscripts that I had both cherished and delivered during that tenure. There was a dawning on my soul how idolatrous that was. I had come to think of “my messages” as special. I had one sermon that I had preached almost twenty times in varying venues. I needed to clear the way. Christ loosened my grip on my written manuscripts. They had to go!
Have you heard the one about the Methodist preacher that was jokingly teasing the Baptist preacher? “Well,” the Methodist preacher asked, “Do you know the difference between a Methodist sermon and a Baptist sermon?” The Baptist Shrugs. “Well,” says the Methodist, “A Methodist sermon has three points and a poem. But a Baptist sermon has three poems and no point!” To which he burst out laughing.
Many of my sermons were three-point messages. I used alliteration [still do this!] and assonance. I searched for memorable anecdotes that would drive the point [poem?] home. I had learned a theological system and the messages were careful to “fit” within the said system. This is all too common, and I was just like many preachers. In moving to the south, I learned that preachers are “a dime a dozen.” But so are hypocrites and heretics! Had I become a mere robotic minister churning out sermons as a sausage maker turns out bratwurst?
Preaching: A Calling
About fifteen years ago, I reevaluated my theology and ministry goals. After discarding years of written sermons, I ended up in a small congregation that I pastored for about that same many years and my messages became focused on the text. In the past, I was terrified of going off script. I was manuscript dependent and so, manuscript crippled. Now, manuscripts for me were barriers and hindrances. Now, I was more at liberty to preach. Sometime, during that period, I had read George Whitefield’s journal, and I had undertaken to read the large two-volume biography of D. Martyn Lloyd Jones. My calling was solidified: I was a preacher. Here is where I am, by God’s Grace, today.
Preaching Principles:
Here are a few maxims that I have adopted more recently:
“The preaching of God’s Word is God’s Word.”
“No matter how long a sermon is, it should ‘seem’ like 20 minutes.”
“Preaching from the Bible is not necessarily the same as preaching the Bible.”
“Passion is always welcome; indeed, essential.”
“A Sermon is God’s Word expounded to a local congregation.”
“Preaching is a mysterious business as God is in the mix.”
“Christ is the Great Subject of the Scriptures.”
“Context is King: ‘A Text without a Context is a Pretext.’”
Preaching Pathways
John Stott has described the Christian preacher as a “bridge-builder,” one who connects the biblical world and the modern world so that his hearers might journey back and forth between the two. In this context, Stott writes: “We should be praying that God will raise up a new generation of Christian communicators who are determined to bridge the chasm; who struggle to relate God’s unchanging Word to our ever changing world; who refuse to sacrifice truth to relevance or relevance to truth; but who resolve instead in equal measure to be faithful to Scripture and pertinent to today.” I would say, Stott’s thesis is mostly sound, and it remains a challenge for any communicator, but especially a preacher of the Bible. One must remain faithful and applicable. In Karl Barth’s maxim, we should preach with the Bible in one hand and the contemporary newspaper in the other.
Today, it is a surge of the “need for relevance” that has flooded the church. The sufficiency of Scripture is betrayed on all fronts as we invest in lighting and mood making equipment. We show movie clips and play worldly music in our worship gatherings believing that these accoutrements are what really impress people. All this is increasingly becoming the dominant way to do church. Gone are the days, it seems, where simple faith in the gospel to do its mighty work was fully trusted and we showed this trust by putting an emphasis on expository proclamation.
Today it is much more common to hear tips on how to achieve self-fulfillment from a church professional than hearing about repentance from sin and self-denial. The ancient style of speaking the word of fire that is a hammer has been replaced with speaking the lie with winsomeness. If one focuses on truth however, relevance can be applied by the Holy Spirit without our need to embellish and entertain.
Preaching: Partnership with People
A passage may have relevance without the need for imitating behavior. God is the Grand Actor in Scripture and Christ is the Great Theme. In this sense the gospel is paramount, and every sermon ought to relate the gospel to the congregation. I try to find the theme of a passage and preach on the one point of a text. If I can apply it with contemporary aptness, I may try. But, mostly, I trust in God’s leading of His people so that they see the application for themselves. This puts greater responsibility on the listeners to engage God’s Word as it is proclaimed. Lloyd Jones called this a Transaction. We should not cut the meat (word), intake it, chew it, and finally ready our people to swallow. They ought to wrestle with the message as God speaks to them. Both the speaker and his audience must be gripped and transposed.
Conclusion or Postscript
While preaching is central to church ministry, all believers should be engaged in proclaiming Christ. “We proclaim Him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ” [Colossians 1:28]. The Gospel of Christ: the death, burial, resurrection, ascension, session, rule, and the return of Christ must be proclaimed, by all means as God leads us.
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