Leadership Journal

How does our preaching affect the attitudes of those who listen?

The Bible is not a tyrannical, religious book. The Bible teaches us how to take on Jesus' nature. When we preach the invigorating, life-giving power of God's Word, obedience is a delight, a wonderful celebration of a new nature within.

If, however, we use the Bible merely to teach the knowledge of good and evil, we can make people mean. We end up with people who appear very good, but they are angry because they fail, hide it, and then blame others. They do everything Adam and Eve did in the Garden. Just as they had to choose between the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so must we who preach.

How can a preacher lead people to the Tree of Life?

We can only give what we have ourselves. We who preach must be full of the innocence, freedom, and joy that comes from life Himself. When we do that, others discover life through our preaching, rather than discovering rules and regulations.

Christian obedience is not merely "This is the Law. Now obey it," rather, "This is God's desire for us. Now discover God himself, so you have the power to walk in obedience, joy, and victory."

How would a life-giving pastor preach "be holy for I am holy" differently from a preacher who burdens people with this verse?

They may say a lot of the same things, but the spirit would be different.

The knowledge-of-good-and-evil sermon says, "God is holy, and you had better be holy, or he will spew you out of his mouth. You had better stop it because bad things will happen to you, and it will be God getting your attention. So live a holy life, because you are dealing with a God that will not tolerate your foolishness."

A life-giving sermon would say, "God wants us to be holy as he is holy. Therefore, let him abide in you, and you abide in him, drinking of him through prayer. Meditate on the Word, and let the Scriptures breathe his life into you. Let the power and life and will of God grow in you, so that as you walk through your day, you can walk in his holiness."

Now, both of those are true. God is wonderful and terrible. But you can say what I said in the first instance in a life-giving way and still encourage people to pray and fast, love their wives, treat their employees wonderfully, give money away, and volunteer at the soup kitchen. All our preaching can be life-giving.

Copyright © 2002 by the author or Christianity Today International/Leadership Journal.
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