Preach it!

Ever wonder why we have 'preachers'? Men and women, proclaiming the message of hope found in Christ Jesus - some share the message with regularity, while others are called upon at various intervals, but all 'preach' the message with clarity, certainty, and credibility. The truth is that God chose 'preaching' as the way to bring the message of salvation to a lost and hurting world - to a people with hurts, hang-ups, and habits that needed a way to find healing, deliverance, and stability in their lives. God chose what others may consider kind of silly as his means to deliver this message and he quite often chooses those who have been all bound up in their own issues to become the best of 'preachers'!

The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It’s written, I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head, I’ll expose so-called experts as crackpots. So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.  (1 Corinthians 1:18 MSG)

God chose preaching and in so doing, he chose preachers. Herein is something quite remarkable - God chooses to use words to help us understand his ways. He chooses examples given in illustration as a means of grasping our deliverance. Should it surprise us that he left us with 'words' to help guide our decisions? While there could have been many other things that would serve as a means of declaring who and what God is and has done for his creation, he knows perfectly well that we connect through words. We find meaning in them and they help us to experience things at a different level.

We can get very well educated by the study of words and miss the whole meaning of the message! The truth is that we need those in our lives who will consistently bring those words to life before us until we finally grasp the meaning! We need 'preachers' of the Word and we need their consistency. We need their illustrations and we need their honesty in sharing their own struggles with the discovery of the truths they have learned in their own lives. The Word of God is not up for anyone's own interpretation, but we do need those who are willing to prepare to bring it forth in a skilled manner.

All our fancy wisdom pales in comparison to one simple message of hope spoken from a life genuinely changed by the Word of God. It seems like we are 'hard' on preachers at times. We find fault with their sermons not having enough 'variety' and some even change churches because they are 'tired of the same old message'. Let me just caution us here - the message is never old! The message is always consistent and it is always powerful when it is delivered under the anointing of God's Spirit. The foolishness of 'the same old message' is that it is the only message that is really needed! There is but ONE God, ONE way to restored relationship with him, and ONE path to 'enlightenment' - Christ Jesus. It might seem like an odd way to get that message out to us, but God chose preaching. Just sayin!

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