Leadership Journal

In the October 15, 1956 inaugural issue of Christianity Today, founder Billy Graham authored an article, "Biblical Authority in Evangelism." Over 50 years later, Leadership's Angie Ward interviewed five respected American preachers about what's changed, if anything, in light of today's culture. We offer excerpts from Graham's original article, along with comments by these leaders. Their insights help us understand our world so we can better touch our culture with the gospel.

Billy Graham:No one who once heard Jesus could ever again be the same. What was the secret of this Master Teacher? How did He hold these crowds spellbound?

"When Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine; for he taught them as one having authority" (Matt. 7:28, 29). Is not this authoritative note part of the secret of the earthly ministry of Christ? The great prophets of the past had also spoken with authority. The impact of their preaching cannot be traced simply to an authoritative technique. Nor was it based on confidence merely in the rightness of their own speculations. Their secret is traceable to nothing less than the confidence that they were the mediators of Divine revelation.

What makes a preacher or preaching authoritative?

Mohler: I do see the preacher as one with authority, but it's not his own authority. There is a certain authority vested in the teaching office in the church. The authority is not that of the teacher, but that of the Scripture which is to be taught. That distinction is often lost on some in the congregation.

Buchanan: The Presbyterian view is that there is authority given in God's word when it is conveyed by the preacher. People do for preaching what they do for no one else: sit for 20 minutes and listen. Why? There is some authority granted there. It comes from the context of the gathered community sitting in front of the Word. We insist that people need a bit of education before they step up and do this. We wouldn't hand someone a scalpel and say, "Go ahead and operate." Presbyterians are big on theological education but also on internships, residencies, learning by watching. We learn by being taught by wise mentors, watching it, then stepping on the ice and doing it.

Tchividjian: The authority of a preacher has both an "inside-out" dynamic and an "outside-in" dynamic. God anoints particular people as carriers of his truth. The ones God anoints—what theologians used to call unction—preach with an authority that is clearly "out of this world." In this sense, authority flows from inside-out. But since God's Word (the Bible), not my words, carry ultimate authority, then authority, in this sense, flows from the outside-in. In both cases, though, it is God's authority that gives the preacher an authoritative message.

Anderson: The Word of God is the baseline of authority, but then the Spirit of God is the conduit through which that authority is wielded. The Spirit of God works in the preacher who speaks the Word.

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