Tuesday is for Preaching
We are Heralds, Not Salesmen
“The message . . . is given! It has been revealed. The task of the preacher is to declare it!”
—Stuart McWilliam
What is the stance from which you preach?
I’m not talking about stage right or left, or three steps above or on the floor with your congregation, or even standing or sitting. I’m talking about the philosophical ground upon which you stand.
Do you see yourself as a herald whose primary task is to announce a message or do you see yourself as one whose primary task is to craft a communication that somehow is attractive to the audience?
This discussion should be interesting.
ChosenRebel's Blog 
This is a classic both/and though it is often presented as an either/or. The ideal sermon is an unashamed heralding of God’s word- a bold proclamation. but the best heralding is also carefully crafted to communicate to people as well as possible. Ours is a task of both content (heralding) and communication (crafting).
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It would be either/or, if the word “primary” wasn’t adjectively present on both sides of the question. ; )
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Well, to attempt to come at the question humbly and honestly…
I want to be a “herald” or speaker of the truth of the message Jesus. The “sermon” though just happens to be a “planned” time to do it. So, I do plan it and that is a matter of crafting it as understandable or comprehendable – I can’t say whether I do it as attractive or not. I honestly don’t think I do that all that well – but then I may never feel that way unless I was “attracting” hundreds or thousands and that doesn’t necessarily say whether it’s still truth or not being “heralded.”
But, self-examining, I think of it as primarily the first… as a herald of a message. But to do it as a sermon, I put the task of the “understandable” (not attractive necessarily) first – i have to understand it, “eat it” and give it back to people in a way I think they can recieve it.
Been wondering if I should think more on the “attractive” recently 🙂
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Although I wouln’t claim to always get this right in practice, my desire is that my primary purpose would be to clearly, humbly and boldly proclaim the truth of God’s Word. The power is in the gospel, besides the fact that I don’t have a ton of confidence in my own ability to craft a message that would be attractive. In fact to be quite honest during the moments before I preach most times I am still “preaching to myself” that this message is God’s and not my own, that it is much more important for God’s truth to be proclaimed than for people to think I preached a good message.
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You can shoot me and kick me because I am not a pastor and I’m shouting from the sidelines. I gave a 15 min. message once on 1st Corth 13 during a ‘kids Sunday’ and everyone listened kindly.
With those credentials I ask, where is the passion here? If we really believe we belong to Christ, and God is Sovereign, why is there not more boldness here? I know…who am I blessing or helping here, where is the grace…just a question…If I were a pastor the answer would have to be a ‘Herald’, but only if my paycheck was coming from someplace other than the congregation where I was heralding.
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