Authentic Christian preaching ought
to never be long, boring, rationalistic lectures, which are propositional,
authoritarian, and opinionated in nature. It does not necessarily mean
three-point, deductive, dogmatic sermons. It will always be a prophetic message that exegetes God’s revealed text and expose the people of God to the Word of
God. This is what expository preaching is; exposing God’s people to God’s Word.
This is the “baby” that ought to be kept. The “bathwater” that ought to be
tossed out will be any style that does not communicate the meaning of God’s
Word, or any well-communicated message that is not God’s Word. The text must be
taken very seriously and people must take themselves less seriously.
Necessity of Preaching (Part 2)
The essence of authentic Christian preaching can be
seen throughout the panorama of the entire story of God’s redemptive history,
recorded in the Scriptures. The fundamental task of the spiritual leader has
always and only been to listen to God’s Word, understand God’s meaning, and
proclaim it to his contemporary community. The Christian leader is to lead his
people to pay attention to God. In these last days, God is paid attention to
through the text of his spoken Word, the Bible (Heb. 1:1-3). The primary call
of the Christian leader, then, is to continue to exegete the texts of God’s
Word and teach it to his community.
How could any Christian person
“hate” that, sleep through it, or cheer for its absence during a Christian
gathering? Either God’s Word is being talked about, but not truly preached and
understood, or the message is being understood, but it is not really God’s
Word. Neither scenario is what God expects of authentic preaching in his
gathered covenant community. As John Stott points out, it is when the Church
has neglected to execute its first duty to authentic, exegetically based,
expository preaching, that it has experienced its eras of decline and weakness
in strength, numbers, and vitality.
As
the “bathwater” of modernist Christianity flows down the drain of history, the
“baby” of authentic Christian belief and practice must be saved and cradled in
new forms for a new generation. These nine important themes: Community,
Humility, Inquiry, Sensuality, Text, Irreverence, Activity and Text can guide
us in listening to and proclaiming the authentic Word of God in this new
postmodern paradigm. These themes will also help us test the bible teaching we
receive, to determine if it reaches the goal of being high logos, high ethos
and high pathos. This is the true high calling of both those who proclaim and
those who receive spiritual formation through that proclamation. As St. Paul
wrote: “Test everything. Hold on to the good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:2)
