People may have
various views about preachers and their work, but the Bible plainly
states the kind of preaching that is needed in the world today. We need
preaching that is:
1.
Bible-based. The Lord told Jonah
to "preach
the preaching I bid thee" (Jonah
3:2). Some preaching is pleasant
to hear and it entertains people, but it leaves them sadly uninformed
about what God really wants.
2.
Doctrinal: Paul urged Timothy to
"take heed
unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this
thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee"
(1
Timothy 4:16). Doctrine is
distasteful to some folks, but it is essential to the saving of the
soul.
3.
Direct and Personal: Preaching
that doesn't deal with the real problems and sins of people is of little
value. We should not be unkind, but we need to "get to the point." John
the Baptist set a wonderful example and lost his head for doing so (Mark
6:18).
4.
Motivated by Love: We won't
succeed in reaching people if they can't see that we truly care about
them. But when we
"speak the truth in
love" (Ephesians
4:15), we will be able to help
people deal with the toughest problems.
5.
Full of Conviction: You have to
have a deep faith in the message you proclaim. As Paul said,
"I believed, and
therefore did I speak" (2
Corinthians 4:13).
6.
Bold: Some men check to "see
which way the wind is blowing" before they speak. Instead of this, we
should speak
"with all boldness"
(Acts 4:29).
7.
Balanced: We need both positive
and negative instruction. If we omit either one, we will not be
effective in this important work. Paul told Timothy to
"reprove, rebuke,
exhort" (2
Timothy 4:2), and in doing so he
emphasized the need for both positive and negative teaching.
