The Cross of Jesus and Preaching

This fall I have been invited to teach a class of 14 pastors in the art of biblical preaching. Nothing could humble me more. I am such a puppy when it comes to this issue. I am such a newcomer to this whole area. Yet, I have a strong passion for biblically-centered, culturally-relevant preaching. I feel very strongly that preaching is a very important ingredient in reaching people, ESPECIALLY postmoderns! The heralding of God's truth, in a language and style that is relevant to those who have checked out of God, church, and organized religion is a huge part of our strategy to reach people here at Hope. And you know what...it's working!

In teaching this class this fall, I have chosen to not teach techniques at first. Sure, that is important, and without proper skills, an educated, godly pastor will be a failure in the pulpit, no doubt. However, I have seen so much emphasis put on this, that the whole idea of preaching GOD has been lost! The whole concept of helping people to see God, to enjoy God, to worship God, to repent to God has been shaded over in our overuse of powerpoint, over-illustrated, over-pyschologized, over-entertained preaching these days. What young preachers need to hear is simple: PREACH GOD! PREACH THE WORD! RELY ON THE HOLY SPIRIT!

That is why I have started the first 3 weeks of this 12-week course to engage in nothing but Scripture and the reading of John Piper's "The Supremacy of God in Preaching." John was my pastor for four years, and now I consider him a colleague and a friend of our ministry. In fact, he is our neighbor, as Bethlehem Baptist is just 3 blocks away from Hope.

I love this book. It is a gift to the body of Christ, and a gift to preachers everywhere. It starts with the simple statement: People are starving for the greatness of God" (Preface, p. 9 - 1990 edition). The job of the preacher is to SHOW OFF CHRIST and to HELP THEM ENJOY HIM! That's it. Not to entertain, not to be slick, not to draw attention to them -- no, just be a hound dog that points to the game bird -- JESUS!

In one of my favorite passages in the book, John deals with what we have done to replace God in our lives and ministries. He says:

The goal of preaching is the glory of God reflected in the glad submission of his creation.

But there are two massive obstacles to the attainment of this goal: the righteousness of God and the pride of man. The righteousness of God is his unwavering zeal for the exaltation of his glory. The pride of man is his unwavering zeal for the exaltation of his glory.

What in God is righteousness, in man is sin. This is the very point of Genesis 3—sin came into the world through a temptation, and the essence of that temptation was: “You will be like God.” The effort to imitate God at this point is the essence of our corruption.

Our parents fell for it, and in them we have all fallen for it. It is now part of our nature. We take the mirror of God’s image which was intended to reflect his glory in the world, turn our back tot eh light, and fall in love with the contours of our own dark shadow, trying desperately to convince ourselves (with technological advances or management skills or athletic prowess or academic achievements or sexual exploits or counter cultural hair styles) that the dark shadow of the image on the ground in front of us is really glorious and satisfying. In our proud love affair with ourselves we pour contempt, whether we know it or not, on the worth of God’s glory.

As our pride pours contempt upon God’s glory, his righteousness obliges him to pour wrath upon our pride…

So is there any hope that preaching might attain its goal—that God be glorified in those who are satisfied in him? Can the righteousness of God ever relent in its opposition to sinners? Can the pride of man ever be broken of its own vanity and be satisfied in God’s glory? Is there a basis for such hope? Is there a ground for valid and hopeful preaching?

There is. In the cross of Christ God has undertaken to overcome both obstacles to preaching. It overcomes the objective, external obstacle of God’s righteous opposition to human pride, and it overcomes the subjective, internal obstacle of our proud opposition to God’s glory. In so doing the cross becomes the ground of the objective validity of preaching the ground of the subjective humility of preaching.

~ The Supremacy of God in Preaching, John Piper, pages 28-29 (1990 edition).

Jesus,
How much can we ever thank you for paying our penalty and for restoring the Father's glory in one prefect, ingenious act! You are AEWESOME! May my heart burn within me as you work in and through and in spite of myself. Use me for your glory and my joy in all the teaching and preaching you would allow me to do. Use these men who are taking this class to do great things in their ministries. Use my friends who are pastors as they preach you to their people. May we NEVER worship the shadow, but only you! Amen