4. Intellectualizing
“I’ve been thinking and researching this in the original languages … “
We’re supposed to love God with our heart, soul, mind and strength. And preaching that stops at the shoulders is defective preaching. It has to move me—it has to call me to action—mind, emotions and will. If you’re just preaching your theological construct, you’re blowing it.
Stop preaching the scaffolding around the Bible and preach the Word—what God actually says.
John Calvin said, “God deigns [considers it proper] to consecrate to himself the mouths and tongues of men in order that his voice may resound in them.” Your preaching is at its best when your people have forgotten you’re even standing there, and God’s Spirit is moving through you. I am afraid we’ve lost sight of this.
5. Abbreviating
“Twenty-minute sermons.”
I don’t know how it works at your church, but for us it takes five minutes to set the rig up and another five or 10 minutes to take it down. If you’re only preaching for 20 minutes, that gives you five minutes to drill. You’re not going very deep, are you? It takes some time.
Romans 10:16, Jesus said, “He who hears you, hears me.”
“He who hears you,” Jesus said, “hears me.”
Yet, there’s no pridefulness, is there? It’s so humbling. It’s a crushing weight, isn’t it? I tell people the weekly message preparation is the crucible of my sanctification. Never get in a habit of getting up in the pulpit when things aren’t square everywhere. That by itself will keep you going in the right direction. “He who hears you, hears me,” Jesus said. I love that challenge—to be that person.
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