"The preacher who stands before his people and roundly denounces the sins of others, and yet fails to confront his hearers with their own greed, lust, hard-heartedness, and pride, is not bold, no matter how loudly he may thunder. It is relatively easy for a preacher to let fly the salvos of Scripture against the communists, the Roman Catholics, the homosexuals, the drunks, or the secular humanists -- most of whom are probably absent from his Sunday services. But how many will clearly and boldly address in relevant and challenging ways the evils of broken relationships between members of the church, poisonous envy among church leaders, generally tolerated compromises with worldliness among the affluent sheep who believe they have earned it, or the chronic laziness of the poor man who likes to think of himself as a victim?" (Wagner, Tongues Aflame, p. 45).
Preaching, of course, is not a soundbite; it is not polished rhetoric; its effect does not rest on the irresistible logic of the preacher's argumentation, but on the irresistible grace of the preacher's God-Ian campell. 4-9-09 on preaching.!!!
James,
An excellent quote that reveals a major hole in modern evangelical preaching.
I would also add the need for personal transparency to the discussion. We are not bold in our preaching unless we are willing to confess our sin (publicly) as we are calling our people to holiness. If we miss this point we are guilty of being pharisaic.
Posted by: David Curtis | Friday, April 10, 2009 at 12:17 PM