Preaching with Power
A preacher should preach with power, but what is that power? How does one preach with power? Think about what our desire for preachers tends to be. If you were to look at a listing where a congregation was looking for a preacher you would see several qualifications.
Brethren like for their preachers to be dynamic. Maybe they have a nice smile and look good standing in the pulpit. Maybe they are young and have a beautiful wife and kids (I know I do!). When they get up to preach they say all of the right things with great words of wisdom. It could be that right now you are thinking, “That is exactly what I want in a preacher!” These thoughts coalesce to make the quintessential preacher (at least in the minds of many). Is this what powerful preaching looks like?
While there may be some ideals here, what does make a powerful preacher? Specifically, where does one get this power? Can it be attained? Does it come from the preacher? Let’s ask a few questions to find the answer that we seek.
Does the power come from a preacher being dynamic? Think about it. Do you like dynamic preachers? Sure. Someone who communicates well is always a good thing. If you are able to hold the attention of those who are listening by engaging speech this is a great attribute. Are most preachers dynamic? Really, I think that most people would tend to agree this is not the case for most preachers. If it were a necessity for a preacher to be dynamic, it is sad to say that many would fall short in this area. Not only that, but the thought alone is subjective. The power of preaching is not in how dynamic a preacher is. How do we know? Well, we can just ask Paul his thoughts on the matter.
In 2 Corinthians 10:10, Paul writes, “For indeed they say, the letters are weighty and powerful, but the bodily presence is weak, and his speech is contemptible.” Paul evidently was a good writer (well, we have some of them and know this to be true), but as a speaker he was not desired. Would anyone deny Paul of qualifying as a powerful preacher? I do not know of anyone who would make that claim (and if they did I would want to speak to them).
Well, what makes a powerful preacher? If it is not dynamics, what is it? There has to be a tangible answer.
What about being eloquent? To differentiate eloquence would be to say that someone is a very polished speaker. While they may not be someone who is commanding of your attention like the dynamic preacher, but the eloquent preacher is a man who knows his way around with words. This also makes sense. Paul certainly had a good vocabulary, but is this what makes a powerful preacher? This too falls short.
In 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, Paul wrote, “And I, brothers, when I came to you, did not come with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Paul gives us the answer yet again. It is not dynamics that make for powerful preaching, and it is not eloquence that makes a powerful preacher. There is something more than these things.
What about a good looking man? Would people pay attention to a good looking preacher? Maybe we are heading out to left field now, but it might surprise many to know that this is part of the thought processes of many a leadership. Find the good-looking man. If good looks makes for powerful preaching then Jesus would not have been powerful. Isaiah prophesied this about our Lord in Isaiah 53:2, “For He comes up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground; He has no form nor majesty that we should see Him, nor an appearance that we should desire Him.” In other words, Jesus was not particularly handsome. I have actually heard people make the assertion that people must have followed Him in part because He must have been good looking. This just was not the case. Would you want to say Jesus was not a powerful preacher? Of course not.
Furthermore, consider what was written in Matthew 7:15, “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” It is the case that someone might deceive you anyway, but we have often heard it said, “Looks can be deceiving.” Also, “Looks aren’t everything.” These statements are true. When it comes to preachers a man might look the part, and not be anything close to a powerful preacher. There has to be something more.
What about the wisdom of a preacher? Could that be what makes a preacher a powerful preacher? Wisdom is good, but what is the source of that wisdom. That is the question. If it is man’s wisdom, the Bible has plenty of material for that topic. Proverbs 16:25 says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is the ways of death.” The wisdom of the preacher himself is not the answer. There are plenty of “preachers” (I use that term loosely) that do not prepare anything to preach, but just get up and “teach” what the Lord has “laid on their heart.” They do not get any special guidance than we do. The source for wisdom is the same for them as it is for us.
If we preach with wisdom it is not the wisdom of the preacher. Again, in 1 Corinthians 2:4-5, Paul wrote, “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” The wisdom cannot come from men to be powerful, it needs to come from the source of diving wisdom (Prov. 1:7; 2:6; James 1:5). Now, we are getting to the answer for which we’ve been looking.
How do you preach with power? Powerful preaching is only accomplished when you use the word of God as your source for power. Romans 1:16 says, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” The gospel of Christ is the power of God. This is equal to the word of God (John 17:17). Our preaching is powerful when it is filled with the scriptures. It is not the wisdom of man that gets people to heaven, it is the wisdom of God. God’s word serves its intended purpose (Isa. 55:11). Man must live by the precious word of God (Matt. 4:4), because it is the only way to reach eternal life (John 12:48).
Hebrews 4:12 reads, “For the Word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing apart of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” I have read a lot of books in my relative short lifetime, but I have never read a book quite like the Word of God. While I can read a book, this book reads me. It is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of my heart. To preach even one sermon without the power of the Word of God is like trying to play baseball without a bat. You will strike out every time.
His servant and yours,
Matt McBrayer