Spiritual Combat Alert # 1: Preaching the Who of Jesus
Having listened to hundreds of sermons for over 65 years, having been a preacher myself for 50 years, having read scores of sermons and having taught classes on communication and preaching, etc., I have come to the conclusion there are three types of preaching as to content. Measuring the results of sermons will always depend more on the anointing of the Father and the spiritual hunger of the hearer rather than the qualifications of the preacher. Nevertheless, every preacher must constantly seek to know Christ better and then embody that truth in his preaching. Identifying the “level” of the preaching will always enable the mature Disciple to gain fresh and deeper understanding from the Father regardless of the content and power of the preacher. This is true whether the preaching is shallow or deep, simple or complex, average or outstanding.
Anointed listening is far more important than anointed preaching. To my thinking every “good preacher” should always aim to include all three levels of content in his preaching. To be one or two dimensional in one’s preaching will never take your hearers to the ultimate goal every sermon should aim for … lifting them into the Presence of Christ. But, let’s get back to our “three levels.”
The first level is what preaching. This is when the preacher’s main emphasis is on what to believer, what you should do, what you shouldn’t do, what’s wrong and what’s right, what’s going to happen in the future and what to think about God, the church, morality, government, missions, family, the Bible, etc., etc. All of these things are necessary. They are very satisfying to the many Christians who live in a “what world.” In such a limited reality they only need “what” answers. “What information” is enough to start growing on, but never enough to be fulfilled on. What preaching is for the children of the faith. It can increase vision and move you to action, but rarely move you into the mysteries of the daily life of cup-cross-resurrection!
The second level of preaching is why preaching. Those more thoughtful seekers in the faith love the whys. They provide numerous discoveries about our realities and confirm our beliefs about our Gospel message. Answering the whys will quickly show advancement in the faith. We need the whys if we are to build an adult faith that is responsible and effective. We love why answers and why preaching because it is far more stimulating and challenging than learning the whats.
Parents of young children are never challenged when their little ones ask, “Mommy, what’s that?” Easy. As these children grow, however, the questions deepen and so does the difficulty of the answers. “Daddy, why does this happen?” Hard! Why preaching answers many questions, solves many doubts and stirs many minds. There is no doubt we were created to learn the whys and to use them. Yet they are still not enough, something deeper is missing! There is much more to knowing the Living God than having our questions answered about what to do and why we do it.
Hence, the third level of preaching should be the goal of every preacher. It is what every Disciple most deeply needs. Its experiential payoff significantly exceeds the other two. It is Who preaching! What and why preaching are necessary if we are to learn the ABC’s of Jesus’ ways and the MNOP’s of His cross. But this deepest kind of preaching reveals most richly Who the Lord really is by conveying to us the XYZ’s of Jesus’ heart! I’m convinced we actually taste the wonder, the wounds and the whisperings of His Presence within us! I know that this is the kind of preaching I hunger for and love the most.
Many preachers seem to preach mostly what and why sermons. Good for the mind and good for covering the basics, but limited in presenting “Jesus only.” We all need to know more about what the Savior died for and why He did it … His cross-resurrection event … but most of all we need to know Who this Person really is to show us such lavish love, tender forgiveness and gentle patience.
What preaching can motivate us to seek the truth. Why preaching can thrill us with the wonders of the truth. But it is Who preaching that grips us with a passion to fall in love with THE TRUTH!
Mature hearers of the Word appreciate the what and why preaching and learn as much as they can from it. But, once exposed to Who preaching, they learn there is a qualitative difference. When the hearer actually sees, as well as hears, the incarnational fragrance of the knowledge of Christ Jesus in a preacher, it is an experience he or she longs to repeat for the rest of his or her life (II Cor. 2:14).
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