The Greatest Salesman
1. How would you define preaching?
Preaching is more than uttering words in front of an audience or being rhetorically persuasive about your understanding and perspective about the God in a church setting. Preaching is a responsibility of integrity and faith of the Scripture exhibited through eloquent imagination and dutiful sincerity. To whittle the complexity of preaching down to a simple understanding, I would proclaim that it is merely the art of persuasion. Being called to a life of preaching identifies in a person that God would like to use your life circumstances to convince others about Him. An excellent example of this point is found in a text that would have contributed well to this courses recommended reading. The Greatest Salesman …show more content…
in the World by Og Mandino contends that the apostle Paul is the greatest salesman in the world. The apostle Paul traveled the world to convince the world who had never heard of or known about Jesus Christ that not only did He exist but that was the Messiah. Sending extraordinary individuals out into the world would become a repetitive pattern used by God when calling people to preach about him and His word. He still today chooses the unlikely individuals with whom he has transformed to be the shepherds and leaders of his people. This point is not refuting that God can only use a person who was at one point indifferent about their walk with Him. Rather I am using to support the argument that preaching is simply the art of persuasion one of God’s common tools in calling people to a life of preaching. Additional to the persuasive art of preaching is the responsibility of being faithful to the text and being delicate with those who will listen to the words of a sermon. Speaking is different from preaching because as a speaker there is freedom to include personal opinions and agendas. Whereas with preaching there is a very detailed outline known as the Bible from which we contrive a manuscript that incorporates practical points for our listening audience. Preaching requires that we tell God’s truth to His people by first embodying it and later relating that to the listener. By embodying God’s truth, we are better able to be faithful to it because through the process of embodiment we will have lived and struggled with it in a way that we understand how to persuade other persons what God is doing and would like to do in their lives.
2. What do you identify as indispensable to preaching and its purpose?
Preaching is a culmination of acquired skills and practices. Gaining the necessary skills for this tsk and call require time and patience. Many people often assume that preachers are simply Christian speakers who can at their will ramble off scripture and form sermons on a whim. This assumption is however false as the knowledge of scripture and being able to critically think this through the theological principles found in it take time. From this thought, an indispensable aspect to preaching and its purpose is knowledge. Knowledge is necessary for sound preaching because the fragility of the information that is being shared. Merely reading the words of the Bible is not adequate when it comes to matters of life and death. While one may be able to deduce from those words relatively sound wisdom it the knowledge found in deep contemplative study that allows preaching to be effective. To this point, I want to add that education and knowledge in this instance are two separate things. One may attain degrees that state they have participated in theological study though without in depth knowledge of scripture, preaching can be fraudulent and lackluster. Along with knowledge, another indispensable aspect to preaching and its purpose if accountability. Briefly mentioning potentially fraudulent preaching before is where our next point is highlighted. Journeying through life as a Christian requires work and is challenging to tackle without the help of others. Likewise, journeying through ministry can present some of life’s most difficult challenges. Going through any of those challenges alone is capable of breaking a person’s spirit in a way that seems restorable. Further, feelings of loneliness or feelings of freedom can lead to preaching that is destructive to the building of the kingdom of God. To eliminate the potential for wayward preaching, I believe it is necessary that every minister find an accountability partner or have someone who they are accountable to. The benefit of accountability is integrity. With integrity one can continue preaching the word of God in good faith that they are represent God in a way that is pleasing to Him.
3. What is the Gospel?
The Gospel is many things to the body of Christ as it is the centerpiece of our faith and lifeblood for our hope.
On the surface, many will understand and articulate the Gospel to be the good news found in the first four books of the new testament. While these books have traditionally received the title of the Gospel because it tells the story of Jesus Christ, I understand the Gospel to be the larger metanarrative of the Bible. I would articulate the Gospel to be the unfinished love story between Creator and creation. The Gospel begins long before the biography of Jesus Christ but also includes the forty and two generations that existed before him.
Rather than minimize the Gospel as the life and death of our Savior we should understand the larger story. The Gospel found in the first four books of the New Testament tell only of Jesus’ birth, life, and death. While it is certainly good news that Jesus was born for us, he lived with us, and later died for us, it is also good news to know that God had been faithful to Jesus’ ancestors long before he arrived. It is likewise good news to know that Jesus was sent into a dying world to redeem it for its intended …show more content…
purpose.
Understanding the Gospel as wider than the first four books of the New Testament is not limited to what comes before those books but also what comes after them. Knowing that Jesus is on his way back for his love is additional good news. The portrait of a damsel awaiting the rescue of her prince comes to mind. I do not, however, want to paint the Bible as a fairytale because unlike a damsel we are working diligently to prepare for the arrival of our King. The good news that comes after the four beginning books of the New Testament is that we as God’s creation have begun that work. Some of that work has been completed by men and women who traveled tirelessly around the world to introduce to them the story of Jesus Christ. By way of their introduction, another chapter of our love story was written. We today are continuing in their footsteps by preaching and teaching the good news, or the Gospel, that our Creator sent His only son to die for us, and though He is away preparing a place for us in his Father’s house, our love is coming back for us soon.
4. How do you understand the role of Scripture in preaching?
As mentioned throughout this paper, preaching without the basis of scripture is simply preaching. Previously, I likened the Bible to be a very detailed outlined from which ministers contrive their manuscripts for preaching. Revealing the truth of God would prove to be quite challenging without incorporating the facts given to us by God in the Bible though it is often accomplished by Christian motivational speakers.
Christian Motivational speakers can offer words based on their life experience entangled with clichés about living your best life but do not always refer to or teach scripture in the way that was prescribed to us by Paul.
In 1Timothy 4:1,2 Paul writes, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” Here Paul states that we should be in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ. Paul realizes that there are many distractions and many obstacles and many temptations to make this seem less important than it is. He leads into his command with the five introductory intensifiers. Moreover, then says, "PREACH THE WORD." Further in 2 Timothy 3:16,17 Paul writes, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." This verse is immediately followed by the command, "I charge you to preach the Word." It thus fits to say that the Word to be preached is first the Scriptures that Timothy grew up on, the Old Testament. Preaching then requires that we utilize the
scriptures.
Rather than follow the model of Christian motivational speakers, as preachers, it is vital and utterly necessary to understand the role of Scripture for preaching is foundational. Without the scripture, we are not faithful ambassadors to God. Finally, in doing so, we will be preachers who follow the example and the words of our brother the Apostle Paul who has given us the charge to preach the word in the presence of God and Jesus Christ. We will do so by using the words in scripture as our basis and not as our support.
Preaching is more than uttering words in front of an audience or being rhetorically persuasive about your understanding and perspective about the God in a church setting. Preaching is a responsibility of integrity and faith of the Scripture exhibited through eloquent imagination and dutiful sincerity. To whittle the complexity of preaching down to a simple understanding, I would proclaim that it is merely the art of persuasion. Being called to a life of preaching identifies in a person that God would like to use your life circumstances to convince others about Him. An excellent example of this point is found in a text that would have contributed well to this courses recommended reading. The Greatest Salesman …show more content…
in the World by Og Mandino contends that the apostle Paul is the greatest salesman in the world. The apostle Paul traveled the world to convince the world who had never heard of or known about Jesus Christ that not only did He exist but that was the Messiah. Sending extraordinary individuals out into the world would become a repetitive pattern used by God when calling people to preach about him and His word. He still today chooses the unlikely individuals with whom he has transformed to be the shepherds and leaders of his people. This point is not refuting that God can only use a person who was at one point indifferent about their walk with Him. Rather I am using to support the argument that preaching is simply the art of persuasion one of God’s common tools in calling people to a life of preaching. Additional to the persuasive art of preaching is the responsibility of being faithful to the text and being delicate with those who will listen to the words of a sermon. Speaking is different from preaching because as a speaker there is freedom to include personal opinions and agendas. Whereas with preaching there is a very detailed outline known as the Bible from which we contrive a manuscript that incorporates practical points for our listening audience. Preaching requires that we tell God’s truth to His people by first embodying it and later relating that to the listener. By embodying God’s truth, we are better able to be faithful to it because through the process of embodiment we will have lived and struggled with it in a way that we understand how to persuade other persons what God is doing and would like to do in their lives.
2. What do you identify as indispensable to preaching and its purpose?
Preaching is a culmination of acquired skills and practices. Gaining the necessary skills for this tsk and call require time and patience. Many people often assume that preachers are simply Christian speakers who can at their will ramble off scripture and form sermons on a whim. This assumption is however false as the knowledge of scripture and being able to critically think this through the theological principles found in it take time. From this thought, an indispensable aspect to preaching and its purpose is knowledge. Knowledge is necessary for sound preaching because the fragility of the information that is being shared. Merely reading the words of the Bible is not adequate when it comes to matters of life and death. While one may be able to deduce from those words relatively sound wisdom it the knowledge found in deep contemplative study that allows preaching to be effective. To this point, I want to add that education and knowledge in this instance are two separate things. One may attain degrees that state they have participated in theological study though without in depth knowledge of scripture, preaching can be fraudulent and lackluster. Along with knowledge, another indispensable aspect to preaching and its purpose if accountability. Briefly mentioning potentially fraudulent preaching before is where our next point is highlighted. Journeying through life as a Christian requires work and is challenging to tackle without the help of others. Likewise, journeying through ministry can present some of life’s most difficult challenges. Going through any of those challenges alone is capable of breaking a person’s spirit in a way that seems restorable. Further, feelings of loneliness or feelings of freedom can lead to preaching that is destructive to the building of the kingdom of God. To eliminate the potential for wayward preaching, I believe it is necessary that every minister find an accountability partner or have someone who they are accountable to. The benefit of accountability is integrity. With integrity one can continue preaching the word of God in good faith that they are represent God in a way that is pleasing to Him.
3. What is the Gospel?
The Gospel is many things to the body of Christ as it is the centerpiece of our faith and lifeblood for our hope.
On the surface, many will understand and articulate the Gospel to be the good news found in the first four books of the new testament. While these books have traditionally received the title of the Gospel because it tells the story of Jesus Christ, I understand the Gospel to be the larger metanarrative of the Bible. I would articulate the Gospel to be the unfinished love story between Creator and creation. The Gospel begins long before the biography of Jesus Christ but also includes the forty and two generations that existed before him.
Rather than minimize the Gospel as the life and death of our Savior we should understand the larger story. The Gospel found in the first four books of the New Testament tell only of Jesus’ birth, life, and death. While it is certainly good news that Jesus was born for us, he lived with us, and later died for us, it is also good news to know that God had been faithful to Jesus’ ancestors long before he arrived. It is likewise good news to know that Jesus was sent into a dying world to redeem it for its intended …show more content…
purpose.
Understanding the Gospel as wider than the first four books of the New Testament is not limited to what comes before those books but also what comes after them. Knowing that Jesus is on his way back for his love is additional good news. The portrait of a damsel awaiting the rescue of her prince comes to mind. I do not, however, want to paint the Bible as a fairytale because unlike a damsel we are working diligently to prepare for the arrival of our King. The good news that comes after the four beginning books of the New Testament is that we as God’s creation have begun that work. Some of that work has been completed by men and women who traveled tirelessly around the world to introduce to them the story of Jesus Christ. By way of their introduction, another chapter of our love story was written. We today are continuing in their footsteps by preaching and teaching the good news, or the Gospel, that our Creator sent His only son to die for us, and though He is away preparing a place for us in his Father’s house, our love is coming back for us soon.
4. How do you understand the role of Scripture in preaching?
As mentioned throughout this paper, preaching without the basis of scripture is simply preaching. Previously, I likened the Bible to be a very detailed outlined from which ministers contrive their manuscripts for preaching. Revealing the truth of God would prove to be quite challenging without incorporating the facts given to us by God in the Bible though it is often accomplished by Christian motivational speakers.
Christian Motivational speakers can offer words based on their life experience entangled with clichés about living your best life but do not always refer to or teach scripture in the way that was prescribed to us by Paul.
In 1Timothy 4:1,2 Paul writes, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.” Here Paul states that we should be in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ. Paul realizes that there are many distractions and many obstacles and many temptations to make this seem less important than it is. He leads into his command with the five introductory intensifiers. Moreover, then says, "PREACH THE WORD." Further in 2 Timothy 3:16,17 Paul writes, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." This verse is immediately followed by the command, "I charge you to preach the Word." It thus fits to say that the Word to be preached is first the Scriptures that Timothy grew up on, the Old Testament. Preaching then requires that we utilize the
scriptures.
Rather than follow the model of Christian motivational speakers, as preachers, it is vital and utterly necessary to understand the role of Scripture for preaching is foundational. Without the scripture, we are not faithful ambassadors to God. Finally, in doing so, we will be preachers who follow the example and the words of our brother the Apostle Paul who has given us the charge to preach the word in the presence of God and Jesus Christ. We will do so by using the words in scripture as our basis and not as our support.