(note: although the following is in regards to ‘preaching,’ and seeing as how few- if any - preachers will ever read this blog, I invite you to see how these principles might apply to your daily life. Just because you might not preach, per se, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try and communicate the gospel, daily…perhaps the Spirit might even encourage you through my “thoughts on preaching," so give’em a try!)
I am a preacher at heart, always have been, always will be. Proclamation of the Word has always been of utmost importance to me, and most of what I have learned in regards to the act and art of preaching came from working experience and from my old man, Wayne Wylie; who, despite the fact that we don’t always see the same on some issues, and despite the fact that our “styles” of rhetoric are incredibly different, I agree with whole-heartedly in regards to the whys, hows, and what-fors we continue to preach, week in, week out.
So here we go, the first of a number of posts in regards to preaching:
As I see it, all modern preaching can be grounded in two scriptures, which I will share below: Mark 1.14-15 and 1 Corinthians 2.1b-5:
Mark 1.14-15: After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
In the Gospel of Mark, the very first thing Jesus after being baptized and spending time in the desert was “Proclaiming the GOOD NEWS of God.” Proclaiming the GOOD NEWS, ie the GOSPEL, is a joyous proclamation, one that is meant to inspire, convict, and plant hope in the hearts of all that are hearing. First and foremost, preaching is about proclaiming the gospel, letting the gospel (the Spirit) speak for itself through the preacher’s words, preparation, and conviction…This seems so simple and obvious, it should go without saying. Yet how many of us have sat through countless sermons that made mention of everything under the sun except “the good news of God?”
Besides that, consider the following:
1 Corinthians 2.1b-5: When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.
Paul preached nothing but “Jesus Christ and him crucified.” His preaching lacked ‘wise and persuasive words,’ but was infused with ‘demonstration of the Spirit’s power……’..!!!! The first time I truly read this, in light of the act of proclaiming the Gospel, it was an incredible revelation to me(!)
If his writing was any indication, Paul was a 'strong' preacher, certainly a whip-smart one. But he did not rely on his own voice, his own eloquence, his own mastery of the Aristotelian rhetoric that was so valued of his day. Perhaps he was not as skilled as Apollos, but he certainly proclaimed boldly (just as he wrote) and relied on the SPIRIT to SPEAK THROUGH HIM. You see, if we speak boldly, we should do so freely only because we have utmost confidence in the Spirit to communicate through us(!)
If you are a preacher, sit back and chew on this for a bit: Do you allow the Spirit room to speak thorugh your efforts (or lack thereof)? Do you address the Hope of the Gospel weekly? Do you rely on the Spirit’s power instead of powerpoints, gimmicks, movie-clips, and half-baked stories? Do you realize that there are many in your hearing that desprately need to be reminded of the GOOD NEWS week in, week out, because LIFE and the suffering it entails demand just that?
And if you are not a preacher, can you consider how vitally important it is to let the Spirit speak through you, as you attempt to proclaim the GOOD NEWS to those you come into contact with in your own pulpit-free life?
Pray for me, I will pray for you, and I hope your Friday and the days to come are blessed,
Mark Wylie
ps. in the next 'preaching' blog post, I will humbly outline what I believe to be the three most essential points a preacher should consider when attempting to communicate the gospel, in light of these two scriptures.
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