From the ministry of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:1-3), we learn many important lessons regarding the power of preaching.
1. Preaching can happen anytime and anywhere
John “came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.” Why there? That seems to be an inconvenient place. In order for people to hear the message, they would have to travel, and sometimes great distances. Would it not be better to go to the city and preach there first, like the apostle Paul did? Maybe. But not for John the Baptist. He proves the point that preaching can be effective in any context. Let us never confine the proclamation of the Kingdom to a wooden pultpit! Take preaching to the streets, the nursing homes, the funeral homes, the homes of family and neighbors, and as you go.
2. Preaching is primarily a hearlding of the nearness of the Kingdom of God
The message John preached was simply, “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The Kingdom of Heaven (or of God) is the global, everlasting community of regenerate individuals who gladly submit to the authority of King Jesus. It is the stone that crushes the statue, which represents the kingdoms of man, in Daniel 2:44-45. It is a Kingdom that will never end.
When people preach, they are primarily hearlding the message about this great Kingdom. When people teach, they are unfolding the realities of this Kingdom carefully, and showing people how to live within it well. When people pastor, they are exercising spiritual oversight for people who willingly submit to the authority of the local church through membership. A pastor, therefore, is more than a preacher, though the announcement aspect of his ministry is crucial. But a pastor must also be a teacher and a shepherd.
That said, all Christians have the right to be hearlds of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ, and therefore, should preach (in this sense) wherever they are. This does not mean the formal preparation and presentation of a sermon, as often done by pastors and evangelists, but it simply means making the announcement that God’s Kingdom has come close, and therefore, people should repent of their sin and turn to God.
3. Preaching does not require the preacher to understand every detail of theology
No preacher alive today has every theological duck in a row. Neither did John the Baptist. After he had baptized Jesus, he was thrown into prison where he began to doubt that Jesus was the Messiah afterall (Matthew 11:2-3). His understanding of the Messiah’s program was shortsighted, and Jesus was not acting as he thought the Messiah should. But even though John was mistaken here (and perhaps if he was part of Essene community, he was mistaken in other ways as well), that did not automatically disqualify him from preaching.
The announcement of the Kingdom of God is a simple message that can be hearalded faithfully, even by those who lack clear and full understanding of all the teachings of the Bible. I am grateful for this as a preacher, since I feel like an ant trying to understand an elephant. How can a puny piece of dust like me exhaustively understand the nature and program of an eternal being? I can’t and neither can you.
What we can do, and must do, as preachers of the Kingdom, is go to the Scriptures and study diligently, and learn as much accurate theology as we can. This is what John did. He was not content with his lack of knowledge. He sent messengers to Jesus to ask Him, “Are you really the Messiah we’ve been waiting for, or should we keep looking for someone else?” John wanted to know the truth, and he wanted to know really bad! Some preachers today make the horrible and heretical error of saying, “Well, since we are limited in knowledge, we should just forget theology and learning altogether, and just simply preach.” This is not what John the Baptist did. He was diligently seeking the truth. But his shortsightedness did not automatically disqualify him from being a herald of the Kingdom.
4. Preaching always calls for a response
John’s message about the Kingdom was not calling for people to passively wait on the Kingdom to come. No, he was passionately moving the people to do something. He wanted them to turn away from the sin and begin living the lives God intends for us to live through the power of the Messiah. He called people to “repent!”
Preaching malfunctions if it does not call people to respond. Paul Revere’s ride would have been worthless if people had not gotten out of bed and prepared themselves for the coming British! The reality of the coming of Christ’s Kingdom ought to always move us into action! James says, “And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don’t obey, you are only fooling yourself. For if you just listen and don’t obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like” (NLT).
John the Baptist was an amazing preacher of the Kingdom, and we learn much about the power of preaching from his example.
Happy New Year!