Preaching has been dishonored by many things over the centuries since the church began with that well-known sermon recorded in Acts 2. It has been used as a political tool. It has been used to “show off” the intelligence and skill of preachers looking for notoriety or sometimes to teach any preposterous theory of religion that one might dream up. Some have used it to simply criticize and condemn or to control others. It has also been used as a highly honored position and a highly paid profession that does done more to honor a man than to do the Lord’s work. And, how can we fail to mention the problem of the immoral lives of some of those who preach. Is it any surprise then that preaching is often not respected in the eyes of man? The devil has used these perversions of preaching to deaden the influence of the very instrument that God chose to save the world.
1 Corinthians 1:21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe.
Also we see in Romans 1:16-17:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17 For therein is revealed the righteousness of God from faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by faith.
Yes, the Devil through all these centuries has been chipping away at the credibility of that which God chose to get the saving message out to those for whom Christ shed his blood and died. He knows that if he can destroy the credibility of preaching, he can do much to interfere with the communication of the saving message and prevent people from making the necessary changes in their lives to have a relationship with God and become like God. (See 2 Peter 1:4 “…partakers of the divine nature.”)
The Devil has also been working on another front to obscure the saving message. This method of the Devil is really very old, but is very evident today. Some are emphasizing the “toning down” of preaching. It is said that if we deemphasize certain parts of God’s word that might bother some people, that we can attract more people. Even in the Old Testament, in Isaiah 30:10 we see this tendency:
who say to the seers, “Do not see,” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right; speak to us smooth things, prophesy illusions,
In contrast to this, the Spirit revealed to Paul the following:
preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4
While we should never use preaching to only criticize and condemn, neither should we eliminate parts of the message to avoid offending those who are practicing things that are hurtful to them and to others. A message that doesn’t disturb sinful individuals will not change them either! Not speaking specifically about the sin and evil that is destroying peoples lives, makes preaching irrelevant to daily life, and renders it unable to change people in a way that would make it possible for them to become like God and have a relationship with Him. Preach the “the whole counsel of God!” Acts 20:26-27