Too many pulpits these days are filled with stand-up comedians, motivational speakers and professional salesmen. Well, maybe not literally, but that appears to be the case in many places. A man gets up to speak during a worship service and he tells a funny joke, he shares some moving stories, he offers some advice for life, and oh, he sprinkles a couple Bible verses in there. Some may think that is an exaggeration, but it’s actually not far off in many places. And, of course, the response might be, “Well, that’s what the people want.” The question preachers should be asking is, “What does God want?”
When God came to this earth, He relied upon and based His preaching on Scripture! When He went to the synagogue in Luke 4, He started by reading from Isaiah (Luke 4:16-21). A lawyer later asked Him a question, and Jesus responded, “What is written in the law?” (Luke 10:25-26). When the men on the road to Emmaus were confused about the events of the crucifixion, Jesus preached to them, “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:47), and “He opened the Scriptures to” them” (24:32). Jesus preached from “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms (24:44). On at least six occasions, He asked His hearers, “Have you not read?”
Not only did Jesus rely upon and base His preaching on Scripture, but so did all of the apostles! Read Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 and see how much Scripture was at the heart of His lesson. In his preaching, Paul “reasoned with them from the Scriptures” (Acts 17:2), “saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said” (Acts 26:22), “persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets” (Acts 28:23). Read the New Testament epistles (from Romans through Revelation) and see how much they quoted from Scripture, even as they were writing new Scripture.
People today can turn on late-night television if they want to see a stand-up comedian. They can get on Facebook if they want some motivational quotes. But what they need from preachers is the Bible! How can preachers today think that they know how to preach better than Jesus and the apostles, and choose to have “a little Bible” in their “talks”? Preaching is NOT about the preacher! He needs to hide himself inside and behind the Word of God and make sure that is what is prominent in the teaching and learning associated with his preaching. “Oh, but you need to give the people what they want,” someone says. Paul warned about that in Second Timothy 4:3-4, right after giving the top priority to this young evangelist in verse 2, “Preach the word!” If you’re a preacher, preach the word! If you’re a hearer, demand “the word”!