Preaching A Message Which Is Relevant To The Life Of Our Hearers

If evangelical preaching is to make a significant impact on today’s world, it dare not rest content with giving theological lectures. ...The preacher dare not place himself far above the people, preaching a message which goes over the heads of the people. The preacher, no less than his hearers, must sit under the Word of God. If he is to preach a message which is relevant to the life of his hearers he must first find in Scripture a Word that is relevant to his own life. This involves much more than being an academic theologian who seeks intellectual stimulation from his study of the Bible. The preacher is not to remain a stranger to the people. He dare not speak as a theologian, proud of his education yet detached from his hearers’ life-situation. The preacher is to be a friend to his hearers. He lives among them. He meets them in the streets and at the shops. He visits them in hospital and at home. He teaches their children at school. He hears about and shares the joys and concerns of the community in which he lives. Within this very human context the pulpit must not become an ivory tower of irrelevance. Though not merely human - he is an ‘ambassador for Christ’, bringing to his hearers ‘the message of reconciliation’ (2 Cor. 5:19-20) - the preacher must not ignore the very human context in which the word of God is to be preached. In preaching from the Scriptures he proclaims a word which transforms the present and not merely a word that belongs to the past. The preacher who is sensitive to the pastoral relationships which exists between himself and the people will not preach messages which could be preached anywhere and at anytime. He takes account of the particular situation into which he is called to preach God’s word. He seeks to hear and to speak the word which God wants to speak to this people at this time.
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This post is an excerpt from my article on The Use of the Bible in Evangelical Preaching Today.