There is no doubt that preachers should teach what Jesus taught and do what He did, but can the preacher do what he teaches and teach what he does?
What the Church needs most today is genuine preaching. Preachers are God's servants who teach Christians His truth. Therefore, preaching is about preaching the Bible, teaching the Word of God, and conveying God's will and commands for people to obey. Preachers must preach the Word of God instead of their own words; Preachers are not preaching their own experience or promoting other people's opinions. However, in today's church we can easily find preachers who try to modify, dilute, and change God's Word through various means including using beautiful words, soft tone, humor, a relaxing air, and their own rich knowledge. Some people teach narrow-minded opinions and occasional experiences as general truth. Others preach what people like to hear. They are not teaching what Jesus taught.
When Jesus was preaching on the earth we saw that he pointed out people's sins with no respect for who the person was, whether Pharisees or scribes. Therefore, preachers should have the courage to point out and condemn people's sins. However preachers should be alert against taking the podium to attack people. It is unbearable if the preacher intends to hurt and attack people on the podium through his preaching. If he does, his podium is not a place to preach the Word of God but has become a tool for the preacher to rant about his emotions. Paul said to Timothy, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15, NIV) This is the most important principle for preachers who serve at the podium. We must be faithful in preaching God's truth and not seek to please people or become different or unique. Preachers must preach what Jesus preached, rightly teaching the Word of truth in order to meet the requirement of their position, the expectation of believers, and the Lord in us.
In addition, the preacher should do what Jesus did. A preacher may teach God's Word well but live a messy life. When he is preaching people say that he should not come down from the podium, and once he comes down people say in one accord that he should never go up again. This kind of preacher should keep in mind that God will ask him to give account on the judgment day though he may deceive people. This is why Paul warned Timothy, "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers." (1 Timothy 4:16) If the preacher practices what he teaches his preaching will build up believers' lives, bearing spiritual power and authority.
The reason why the Lord Jesus repeatedly criticized the Pharisees is that their lives did not match their teaching. The Lord said of them in Matthew 23:3-4, "So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them." They taught but did not practice their own teaching, they taught more than they practiced, or their life was not in agreement with their teachings so the Lord detested them. May the Lord keep us from walking their path. To be noted, at the end of Jesus' teachings He always required us to live out the Word. That means that preachers should not be satisfied with teaching the Word well, but make an effort to live out the Word they preach. They should preach the Word with their mouth and testify to the Word with their life. They should be the first to practice the Word and seek to be good examples for believers in matching their life with the Word.
I heard a volunteer preacher say, "Now I have less and less courage to preach the Word because when I examine myself against the Word I find that I have not lived out the Word of God in many ways. I often feel guilty." His words were honest and moved me for I could sympathize with him. How holy, kind, and great is the Lord on high we preach, but how small, little, and selfish are we. What we preach is the eternal Word of life. How profound is the truth about love, forgiveness, humility, patience, and the cross of self-sacrifice! But we are so unworthy. Nevertheless, God has entrusted the noble task of preaching the truth to us who have weaknesses and insufficiency just as Paul said that he had nothing to boast about but was obligated to preach because the task had been entrusted to him.
Many people think wrongly that if anyone has not lived out the Word of God that he talks about he should not be a preacher. Preachers are called by God to preach His Word with God-given gifts. God's calling of him does not mean that they should live out the Word first because if that were true only Jesus Christ could preach. However, it does not mean that the life of the preacher is insignificant. The point is that listeners should focus on the Word of God preachers preach instead of on their lives. When we hear the Word of God we should listen with our heart, remembering that we as God's people have the responsibility to obey His teachings. In regard to whether the preacher has lived out the Word of God, we should know that God will ask him to give account in the end and that his life style should not become our excuse for not listening to the Word of God.
As preachers, in order to meet the hope and expectation of the Lord and believers, we have to face our own weaknesses and shortcomings, make a double effort to enrich ourselves in humility and to study biblical theology, pursue spirituality, and improve our morals and knowledge of the world. At the same time we should guard against pride and self-satisfaction, be willing to examine ourselves and accept the Lord's discipline on us, and wrestle with our sins, abandoning what we should abandon and breaking down what we should break down so that what should be built up can be built up in order to shorten the distance between who we are and what the Lord requires of us, becoming a preacher who preaches what Jesus preached and does what He did.
The author is a preacher in Guangdong.
Translated by Alvin Zhou
