A new song for preachers and those of us who are not

I preached my first message at the age of 14 years. As I went through my teenage years I had increasing opportunities to speak, as can happen in the open brethren setting. For me being raised in this environment was an incredible heritage of teaching, love of God’s Word, respect for the Lord’s Table and opportunity to grow and develop my gift in preaching and teaching.

Initially, these opportunities presented themselves more in the evening gospel service where I learned to cut my teeth in public preaching. By its very nature, this preaching was evangelistic. I modelled myself on a strong evangelistic preacher well known in Auckland at the time, and internationally, and devoured any tapes I could find.

The preacher I esteemed so highly gave a no holds barred kind of preaching. He made very clear the essential biblical truths of judgment and hell, and God blessed his ministry with a lot of fruit. I honour him for his faithful preaching of the gospel.

Various churches around Auckland opened up their teaching platform and invited me to share at the much honoured morning service after celebrating the Lord’s Supper. As they did so, I found that while I loved to preach (and still do), the Lord had especially equipped me in teaching and exhortation. This was a more comfortable fit.

What I did not appreciate for some time, however, was that I had taken with me into my new season of teaching ministry (a gift intended to edify, or literally, build up the body of Christ) some of the harshness with which I used to preach the gospel. There was a certain edge to my ministry which continued even into the first years of pastoring my own church.

A new song

One day I was sitting in the study of a retired pastor, and the lights went on. He made the comment that the gift of teaching and exhortation was an enormous privilege, as it was a divine opportunity through me to encourage the people of God. “But one who prophesies is helping others grow in the Lord, encouraging and comforting them” (1 Corinthians 14:3, New Living).

My friend and mentor went on to say – most people don’t need a challenge; they get that all week long, in their work life and in their home life. What they needed more than anything was someone who would stand before them and infuse into them courage (the meaning of the word encourage) to go out the door, pick themselves up again with God’s grace, and in His strength get up to face another six days of challenge mixed as it so often is with onslaught from the enemy.

Michael Crawford expresses it well when he sings:

Somebody’s got nowhere else to go
Somebody needs a little hope
Not too far from here…use me Lord
To wipe away the tears
‘Cause somebody’s crying
Not too far from here
Somebody’s troubled and confused
Somebody’s got nothing left to lose
Not too far from here

Somebody’s forgotten how to trust
And somebody’s dying for love
Not too far from here

It may be a stranger’s face
But I’m praying for Your grace
To move in me (the preacher) and take away the fear
‘Cause somebody’s hurting
Not too far from here…
Give me Your strength and compassion
When somebody finds
The road of life too steep
Not too far from here…”

Michael Crawford
     Album: On eagles's wings

My pastor friend hit the spot with his comments that day. When I teach nowadays, I will still share a challenge when the Lord directs me, but I am more conscious of the diet balance of my ministry. If I have not laced every message with some word of deep encouragement, I suspect I am wide of the mark. We have tucked John 3:16 away tightly in our hearts, but how many of us have taken to heart the following verse: “God sent not His Son into the world to condemn…” Are our sermons gracing sermons or condemning sermons? Is the tenor of our life toward gracing conversations or condemning conversations?

I have become more aware that with almost any text in Scripture, I can choose between one of two tracks. I can pick up 1 Peter 5:7 for instance: “Casting your cares upon Him for He cares for you.” As I prepare my message, I can shape it into a message on the sin of worry, as I have done in the past, or I can choose to draw a compelling picture of God’s matchless invitation to a new way of living, leaning hard into Him and depositing all my care in exchange for His rest and peace.

I cannot help but wonder if the Lord isn’t seeking to get all His precious servants in tune. Let’s pursue preaching that opens heaven’s gates.

I remember reading Dr Aubrey Malphurs of Dallas Theological Seminary. He put it something like this: positive preaching is sustaining, it gives energy; negative preaching drains energy from its hearers. We do not want to create a situation where people leave the service every week having felt tongue lashed or “Bible whipped.” It is only the insecure shepherd who will attack the sheep.

I found it profoundly interesting some years later to hear the preacher on whom I had modelled a lot of my earlier preaching and speaking, making the comment that on reflection after many years of evangelistic preaching, looking back over it all, there had not been a lot of mercy there. I cannot help but wonder if the Lord isn’t seeking to get all His precious servants in tune. Let’s pursue preaching that opens heaven’s gates.

Sometimes, it’s as simple as trading in the old song for the new song, words that are uniquely our Lord’s but in a lesser sense He also modelled for us when He said:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and He has anointed me to be hope for the poor (or hopeless), healing for the brokenhearted, and new eyes for the blind, and to preach to prisoners (those in chains and powerless), ‘You are set free!’... the time of God’s great acceptance has begun.
Luke 4:18 The Passion, brackets mine

I have “bought into” the new song. As I look towards each new Sunday (whether I’m looking at structure, message content, my own heart attitude) — I ask myself, how do I want people to leave today? The answer will mostly be uplifted. Every time I am with someone going through crisis, do they leave our conversation having felt uplifted?

We do well to remember the lasting outcome of Pentecost was gladness of heart (Acts 2:41,46). A repeated refrain in the history of the book of Acts was that of Paul and Silas, or Timothy or Barnabas, or Luke or Apollos remaining in a certain place for a while in order that the believers might be strengthened or encouraged. Let us all follow in their track.