Preaching was once the glory of Protestantism. When the pulpit displaced the altar and the preacher replaced the priest, the benefit to the common people was immeasurable. What happened at the Reformation was not, of course, an innovation but rather the recovery of an ancient emphasis, for the history of preaching is an honorable one going right back to the apostles and to Christ Himself.
In fact, preaching has a place in Christianity which it has in no other religion. If it is true that preaching is the product of the Church, it is also true that the Church is the product of preaching. For the Church did not spread in its earliest centuries through the sword or with the backing of state favor, but in the face of great obstacles and enmity. Its advance was spearheaded by the preaching of Spirit-filled messengers of the cross.
Does preaching still occupy this central place in the Church today? It is probably true to say that serious and meaningful preaching has fallen upon hard times. One authority on this subject goes so far as to say: “In the [present] history of the Church, preaching has been neglected, ignored, debased, even almost totally forgotten, but never has its place been as seriously questioned by those who are genuinely concerned with the vitality of the Church’s witness as has been done repeatedly in this century.”
In the place of preaching, they wish for more time to be given to all kinds of innovations — group therapy, liturgical experiment, discussion forums, “in-depth” counseling, seminars, and many others, some of which are useful but none of which is a substitute for preaching.
Every preacher must face one important question before he faces his audience: Not just, “Do I believe in preaching?” but “Do I believe with all my heart that preaching is a divinely ordained means of reaching men with the message of the love of God and the power of the cross. We must understand that God’s grace is not confined to the subject of the Gospel but extends to the preaching of the Gospel. Thus the God who revealed His grace at the cross still reveals His grace whenever the Gospel is preached. Failure to really believe this — that preaching is a divine activity and one at the very center of the purposes of God results in many of the vices for which preachers are criticized: superficiality, frivolity, novelties in interpretation, dullness, and many others.
These deficiencies bring preaching into disrepute and can never be overcome unless first we clear away the debris of false ideas so as to come to a clear understanding of the nature and function of preaching. It is an event in which, as someone has said “the Incarnate Word is manifested from the written Word through the spoken word.” Nor is preaching a performance in which we set ourselves forward. It is an encounter which sets forth Christ in such a way as to bring men face to face with Him.
Moreover, preaching is not a comfortable discourse. Rather it is an urgent summons of God to men, “God Himself entreating by us, ‘Be ye reconciled to God.’ ” Thus preaching is not merely the heralding of the saving action of God. It is itself an action of God through His chosen servant to call men to Himself. The God who worked in Christ to reconcile the world to Himself now works in His messenger, calling men to accept the reconciliation which has been effected at the cross.
The task of the preacher is thus of the very greatest and highest significance. His is a calling like no other, a task of immense responsibility, a message awesome and unique. What is most lacking today is not homiletical expertise, though this is important. Nor is it sufficient to speak of “hardened hearts” or “itching ears” as the cause of ineffectiveness. The real lack is often a sense of exalted calling, which every preacher should have, together with a strong faith in the efficacy of preaching. “We believe and so we speak.”
Written by M. S. Liddle