"Preaching is more than regurgitating your favorite exegetical commentary, recasting the sermons of your favorite preachers, or reshaping notes from one of your favorite seminary classes. It is bringing the transforming truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ from a passage that has been properly understood, cogently and practically applied, and delivered with the engaging tenderness and passion of a person who has been broken and restored by the very truths he now stands to communicate. You simply cannot do this without proper preparation, meditation, confession, and worship."
The quote above is an excerpt from a blog post by Paul David Tripp. What he said resonated with me since I find myself facing these same challenges in my preaching but also as I encounter and sit under a lot of mediocre preaching. I used to think it was noble to withhold sermon critiques to "honor the pastor". Now I realize that I was simply enabling mediocre preaching and doing a disservice to the Church and the one preaching.
Here's the challenge. For those of us who sit in the pew, we need to know our Bibles well enough and love our Savior deeply enough to expect and demand good preaching. And,we need have the courage to speak the truth in love to our dear pastor, if his preaching has fallen on a rocky shoal.
And, the for those of us who have the rare privilege of preaching God's Word to God's people, we must, as Tripp says, "not lose sight of the excellent One and the excellent grace we have been called to represent. We cannot let his splendor appear boring and his amazing grace appear ordinary." We must realize that, as inadequate as we may feel, we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God is making his appeal through us. Men, we have a high and holy calling. Let's not waste our lives rearranging deck chairs!
Tripp's entire post can be read here.
To God Alone be the Glory
No comments:
Post a Comment