How can the evangelical church be so enamored of resources and yet be so impoverished?
Much of the problem is that people are not reading the right books. Even ministers who know better than most, are guilty of reading only popular and accessible works. Books that only consist of ready-made fodder for their sermons. Countless times have I heard a minister see some novel idea in a book and share with his ministry support group, "That'll Preach?"
Well, I have not only heard such nonsense, but I also used to apply such nonsense in sermons. That is why about fifteen to twenty years ago God convicted me of the morass of humanism in my written sermons, and because of the deep shame to which I was exposed, I had the lot thrown into the garbage. Yes, years’ and years’ worth of toil and labor in amassing quotes and insights from all the popular writers to illustrate a point, borrow a concept to proclaim, or occasionally, reproduce almost verbatim sermon materials from others has been gladly rescinded.
Does that mean we no longer should read and prepare? No, no, no! Of course, we must be students, and good ones at that. However, we need to spend more time getting our material from Bible books in their entirety rather than scouring the latest gold medallion award bestseller from our fast-marketed distributors. God's word is still the first and last word on all matters Christian.
It has become once again necessary to sound forth the herald's cry: “Sola Scriptura.” Also needed is the cry: “Tota Scriptura.” All Scripture. We need it all. When was the last time you heard a sermon on Leviticus? Job? Or Amos? More than likely your spiritual diet consists of sermons on John (several on 3:16, no doubt!), Philippians, Mark, and Colossians. The authorities are likely to be Charles Swindoll, J. Vernon McGee, Warren Wiersbe, and Max Lucado rather than any deep exegesis of these texts by solid scholars.
Do your pastor a favor. Buy him a set of John Calvin's commentaries or John Owen's works. It may be a little more than you had in mind to spend to encourage him in the ministry, but it will repay dividends now. And consider the myriad blessings that you will secure for the hereafter. Get him classic works by strong and unapologetic theologians. Get him classical straightforward writers like Gottschalk of Orbais, Johannes Maccovius, Amandus Polanus, John Gill, A.W. Pink, and Goerge Ella. By the way, tell him to get rid of his golf clubs while you are at it, and tell him Paul would never rest until all his countrymen were exposed to the gospel. Buy him a new Bible at the beginning of the year and challenge him to wear it out before the year’s end.
Our business as pastors is to study deeply and preach passionately. For some it may mean the revolutionary step of trashing some sacred cows in our sermons fully alliterated and filed neatly on our desktop computer for ready reference. Let your sermons be shaped by the great expositors and theologians who have stood the test of time.
I challenge all pastors to step into the pulpit with nothing more than a Bible, a heart full of passion, and a studied mind full of spiritual meat ready to share and see the flock grow. If that does not strengthen the church, nothing will So, stop saying at the hearing every corny cliché, “That’ll Preach!”
Theodore Zachariades, PhD.
