Indeed, we live in times when some even assert that ‘the day of preaching is over’, that it is ‘a dying art, an outmoded form of communication.’ That is an indictable confession and deceptive opinionating. I would affirm most vehemently, as you strongly insist, that preaching is indispensable to Christianity and the establishing of sound churches. As Dr. John Stott has rightly said, “Christianity is, in its very essence, a religion of the Word of God.” Sadly these days our pulpits are plagued with all manner of novel innovations, while true expository preaching has been discarded. Such regrettable substitutions for the Word of God may amuse and entertain but never save or change the hearers.

Of course, expository preaching is going to prove most demanding for the preacher. Maybe this is one of the reasons why many preachers shy away from this method of preaching; it appears easier to be a mere ‘topical’ preacher. I say, ‘appears,’ because we need to be possessed of the conviction that true expository preaching alone makes for logical, more satisfying, and resourceful preaching. After all, if anything is worthwhile in life it is going to demand labour and application, diligence and resolve. Maybe preachers ought to reflect on the words of Henry Ward Beecher (“Yale Lectures on Preaching,” 1874) -“No trade requires so long an apprenticeship as preaching, for it is the living force of a human soul, brought to bear on human souls for the sake of their transformation. If a man takes years in acquiring the art of shaping clay into beautiful vases, how much longer ought he to spend in acquiring the art of moulding and shaping that delicate and subtle, yet eternal thing that we call the human soul. No time should be counted too long in preparing men for that task.”

Thanks, Phil, for the warning!

I guess they can be likened to the frog that’s placed in a pot of lukewarm water that rises 1 degree every few minutes or so, until it becomes so relaxed in the warmer water that it does not realize it is slowly being boiled to death. I wish that metaphor would be more profoundly recognized today in America.