# quotes/articles on unimportance of preaching



## Scott (Nov 8, 2005)

Is anyone aware of any quotes/articles by people who suggest that public preaching in the church is unimportant? I envision this probably in the context of there are so many substitutes, such as books, taped sermons/teaching, internet chat rooms, and the like.

[Edited on 11-8-2005 by Scott]


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## Herald (Nov 8, 2005)

Scott - I would not expect that opinion to be prevelant in evangelical or Reformed circles. The only exception may be the Plymouth Brethren.


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## Scott (Nov 8, 2005)

You are right. I am giving an adult Sunday School lesson on 1 Timothy 4 this Sunday and I was going to highlight how important preaching and teaching are. I wanted to contrast the Bible's view with some quotes from modern sources who don't see these things as important. Some people are leaving churches and think they can substitute public preaching and teaching with books, chat rooms, and the like.


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## C. Matthew McMahon (Nov 8, 2005)

Harrold Camping of Family Radio says the church is finished. Preaching, then, becomes relatively unimportant overall. Do a search on him and you'll find much.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Nov 8, 2005)

I hear the expression "Not a sermon -- just a thought" a lot. Lon Solomon of the McLean Bible Church (megachurch) of McLean, Virginia uses that tag line on his radio commercials and I hear it said by others as well usually in the context of outreach that attempts to avoid a clear declaration of the gospel so that the unchurched won't be offended.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Nov 8, 2005)

Perhaps it is also worthwhile to consider how ministers use the pulpit to talk but not necessarily to preach. Many "sermons" are really pep talks or at most topical studies. Expository preaching is not what most want to hear. See Alistair Begg's What Happened to Expository Preaching?


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## Contra_Mundum (Nov 8, 2005)

> _Originally posted by webmaster_
> Harrold Camping of Family Radio says the church is finished. Preaching, then, becomes relatively unimportant overall. Do a search on him and you'll find much.


http://www.familyradioiswrong.com


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## gwine (Nov 8, 2005)

My mom always said that if the minister couldn't say what needed to be said in 20 minutes or less, there was something wrong with him. 

You can quote her if you want. She is PC-USA, so that might explain some of her thinking.


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## Robin (Nov 9, 2005)

Rick Warren thinks preaching in public is vital...


*What is the Purpose of Preaching?* 

By Rick Warren

Adapted from the Purpose Driven Preaching Conference.

Many preachers believe the purpose of preaching is to explain the Bible, or to interpret the text, or to help people understand God´s Word. But these all fall short of what it really is.

Paul gives us God´s purpose for preaching in Ephesians 4:11-13 (NIV):

"œChrist gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God´s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." 

Why did God give prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers? To produce Christ-like people. That´s the purpose of preaching: to help people become like Jesus. 

How does this happen? Through application. The only way lives are changed is through the application of God´s Word. The lack of application in preaching and teaching is, I believe, the number one problem with preaching in America. 

Too many sermons are nothing more than lectures on biblical backgrounds or obscure Greek and Hebrew words. As a result, people walk into a church and walk out, but their lives remain unchanged. 

Application-less preaching produces Christians who act no differently than non-believers. They divorce at the same rate as unbelievers. In fact, the latest study said that Christians actually divorce at a greater rate than non-believers. 

We have Christian singles and Christian teenagers sleeping together. 

No one acts different than the world. Why? Application-less preaching! We´re teaching knowledge; we´re teaching doctrine; we´re teaching reproof and correction; but we´re not getting to the reason for it all by teaching application. 

God has promised in his Word in Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV): "œMy word "¦ shall not return to me void." If it does return void, it´s not the message. It´s the way we communicate it. 

Why aren´t more sermons built on application? 

We assume that people will make the necessary connection. We say, "œThey´ll get it. I´ll just teach it, interpret it for them. They´ll make the application in their own lives." But they won´t. 
We leave it to the Holy Spirit. We say, "œI teach the Word, and I leave the application to the Holy Spirit." Not good enough. You are the Holy Spirit´s tool. He will speak through you, but you must make the application. 
Personal application is convicting and it makes people feel uncomfortable. 
We haven´t applied it in our own lives. 
It takes more time and effort and preparation. We spend so much time interpreting the text that we run out of time, and then application gets the short end of the stick in our preparation. 
We´re afraid of being simplistic. We don't want to be life-oriented preachers because we think it´s the doctrinal preachers who are deep and loved and respected and honored and venerated. The life-application preachers are considered shallow and wimpy and cheap and sold-out. 
We don´t apply the Scripture because we´ve never been taught how to do it. There are lots of books on how to interpret the Bible, but almost no books on application. 
We haven´t realized the importance of application. Application is not something that you tack on to the end of the message. It is the message if you´re preaching to change lives and to make people like Christ.
Application answers two questions: 

So what? 
What now? 
If your preaching doesn´t ever answer these two questions, you haven´t applied the Bible to the lives of your listeners. 

-Purpose DrivenÂ®-


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