Is there any word in English that has a more negative connotation than “preach”? Okay, I can think of a few (and no, I am not going to list them here – the internet is forever). But no one ever says “I wish someone would preach at me.” Movies that are too heavy-handed in promoting an agenda are called “preachy.” When I was a kid there was even a song by Madonna (sing it with me…”papa don’t preach…he’s been good to me”…HA! Now that is stuck in your head!).
So I will use the word tell. But I mean preach. In a less negative context. I hope.
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The signs of the times…
That’s the problem – we people of faith have gotten the connotation way wrong ourselves. I was at a Seahawks game a couple of weeks ago. As my friend and I walked through the mass of screaming, chest-beating, liberated Seattle-ites (Hawks games and WTO meetings are the only times Northwesterners are allowed to express emotion) along the side of the stadium, looking in vain for a souvenir that cost less than my house, we saw the “you’re going to hell” sign guys. To be fair, I don’t remember what their signs said, but it was something like that – maybe “trust Jesus” or “John 3:16.” But a big sign being held by a strange-looking dude. We’ve all seen these guys. We’ve even seen the more festive variety that shouts the good news at you on the way by.
And on Sundays we assign preachers to preach sermons to us. Some are more entertaining than others, but all follow a familiar format – a lone gunman lecturing the masses, firing shots of truth across our bow, occasionally hitting near the heart. The distinct advantage Sunday Preacher has over Sidewalk Preacher is the willingness of his audience – most of them chose to be there. But to the casual outside observer, both are similarly didactic – telling us what we ought to do, know, and act like.
Preaching has a bad rap on several fronts. For one thing, a lot of those we assign to the task lack the preparation or the aptitude to deliver compelling, informative orations and end up about as effective as Reverend Lovejoy on the Simpsons. On the other end, there are a lot of crazies out there who think preaching as a public contact sport will be effective in modern American culture. And in an increasingly secularized, post-modern culture, the idea of sitting down to listen to someone tell me what’s what is losing traction – we want to be heard and have our ideas on things (no matter how uninformed our opinions) given equal weight with the words of the dude upfront.
Just words…
Sometime soon I will spend some time on the irreplaceable value of gathering together and preaching / teaching in that context. Short version – it is vital. But each of us as individuals has a greater responsibility to tell others the story of Jesus. We have long relegated the task of “telling” to the professionals. But I don’t think that was Jesus’ intention.
Each of us has a unique path in life – we all have a different sphere of contact and influence. And our journey through life makes us unique. In the mosaic of people of faith, there are a million stories of how we came to believe there was a God and accepted His revelation of Himself through Jesus. Some of us came through logic, others through emotion. Some surrendered to Jesus at the top of our game, some at the bottom of the pit. And Jesus’ command was to go into the whole world and make disciples, teaching them to do do what He said. All of us.
The purpose of pastors and teachers is to equip us for such activities – they are to study and prepare and teach us what the Bible says and what it means and how to grow in our faith so we are armed with knowledge, wise from our experience, and ready to tell others who Jesus is and why we serve him. OUR words – not just the words of vocational ministers – are powerful in this regard. Many who will never set foot in a church will come in contact with us, and we may be the only voice amongst thousands they hear that speaks of the truth we have come to know.
People get ready…
We must, then, be educated. We must be seeking more and more knowledge and depth of understanding and wisdom and insight and maturity. And those gifted to the church as pastors and teachers must be focused as well – not on teaching us how to get people to come to church (many never will, many more would be more confused if they did), but teaching us how to tell our story, explain our faith, point to our Savior, demonstrate a living Jesus. As Peter puts it:
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
How can anyone believe without a preacher? How can anyone preached to receive unless the message comes from someone they know and respect (I know, there are exceptions to this, but the norm is also important)? So number four – we must – ALL of us – find a way to tell.
