The Importance of Preaching
August 3, 2003
Dear Friends,
Most believers would agree that we have an obligation to preach the Gospel. Perhaps a little more controversial would be the question of what the ramifications are if we chose not to follow this imperative. There are two schools of thought.
The first school teaches that there is really no impact in a believer choosing not to preach except for the lost opportunity. In other words, if we choose not to share the Gospel with others, if God wants these individuals, He will get them some other way. Many times you will see this idea coupled with an indifferent attitude toward the prospects of preaching. Paramount in this point of view is the idea that God does not need us in order to bring about His will.
The second point of view is that if we fail to live up to our obligation to preach, some people, who otherwise might have come to know Christ, will never know the Gospel and will be lost. It is not that God “needs” us in order to accomplish His will, it is that He has chosen us as his vehicle for the proclamation of the Gospel. The emphasis on this point of view is the enormous responsibility to preach.
I subscribe to the latter point of view and I would like to tell you why. Let’s think on a very natural level first. Let’s say that we had a believing farmer friend who had a large field in which he wanted to grow wheat. Instead of tilling, planting and tending the field, he believes that God will bring about this increase. He sits on his hands, so to speak, for the entire planting and growing season and waits for his bountiful harvest. What would we expect to find in this brother’s field during the harvest? Doesn’t God have the power to make this happen? I am sure we would all agree that God does have the power to bring about a bountiful harvest from this field and that He doesn’t really need us to make this happen. Yet, I am also sure we would all agree that we would expect this particular field to yield little or nothing.
The point is that God has ordained us as the vehicle to preach. He didn’t need to do that, but He did. He doesn’t have to continue to do that, but He does. The analogy of planting a field is entirely appropriate as that is one of the major analogies to preaching in the Bible.
Because God has ordained us to preach, can we glory in this? The Bible provides the answer. “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” (1 Cor. 3:5,6) Think back to our natural example of the field. We can till, plant and tend to our heart’s content, yet any farmer will tell you that they are dependent on so many other factors outside of their control such as weather and disease. God must bring the increase in the natural sense and God must bring the increase of our preaching. However, the extremely important point we hope to drive home is that we are a link in this process that, if removed, stops the process. If we fail to preach, God’s will in the ultimate sense (His Kingdom on earth filled with a people who have responded to His message of Hope) will not be affected. Yet, when we speak of the specific individuals who will be there, our individual preaching has everything to do with the composition of the people who will be in that Kingdom.
“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Rom. 10:14-15)
Have a great week!
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