Don’t be afraid to preach!

A classic Christian bumper sticker says, “Preach the Gospel and if necessary, use words”. We certainly get it, we need to be living the Gospel among mankind before we have the right to “preach at him”. Or, it would seem. Yet, for those of us called away from secular work and into the Kingdom building work, a major part of our call involves preaching, and yes with words! Today there seems to be a glut of teaching and a famine of preaching. Oh, I’m not simply talking about talking faster and raising our volume, I’m talking about a declaration of Truth. While teaching is certainly a big part of discipleship, it causes people to ponder and gives them room for consideration. Preaching doesn’t really leave room for comparative religion. By definition, preaching is a heralding, a declaring, publishing and proclaiming truth with no options other than the truth being set forth in the Scripture. Of course we need to make sure what we are “heralding as Truth” is in fact, the Truth of the Bible. It’s tempting to “preach” our pet doctrines but maybe we should leave those to our teaching venues.

In California and other States, there is a movement that is called, “teach don’t preach”. The thinking behind this movement is precisely my point. They are calling for Christians to use our Holidays as opportunities to “teach” our beliefs to those in our communities in a passive, non threatening way. That sounds good. There is even a place for that in our Nation. I like to practice diplomacy and enjoy being known as a peacemaker or one who can communicate without conflict. However, when we bring that thinking alongside the commands of Jesus and the very foundation of our mandate to take the Gospel to all Nations, we quickly discover that to preach is in itself an act of confrontation and demands a decision to be made by the hearer.
The New Testament is especially filled with commands and exhortations to get on with the preaching!

I have noticed in my own ministry that when I have actually abandoned my efforts at self preservation and reputation building, and actually let go and “preached the Good News of the Gospel” without compromise, there came into the room a fresh empowering. I could sense it in my preaching and I saw it settling on the audience. It brings a confrontation between the hearer and God Himself. When Peter was facing charges in Acts chapter 4, his answers to the authorities was not teaching. He was not bargaining for his life or reputation. He declared, he heralded, yes he preached, 11 This is the 'STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED BY YOU BUILDERS, WHICH HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE.' 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." That is preaching!

Paul challenges Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7 by saying, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Timothy had a problem of timidity. Then later in this letter Paul gets down to some specifics of Timothy’s struggles when he says in 2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach The Word”! It is time to preach. Don’t be afraid to preach!