Preaching and Preachers

Preaching and Preachershad come and had gone, Rome in a sense had passed her zenith, andthere was the same kind of tiredness and weariness, with consequentturning to pleasure and amusement. The same is so true today; andso far from saying that we must have less preaching and turn moreand more to other devices and expedients, I say that we have aheaven-sent opportunity for preaching.Then let us look at a second objection. People may say, 'Surely withman as he is now, educated and sophisticated and so on, cannot allyou want to do be done equally well by reading-reading books andjournals? Cannot it be done by televisionor radio, through discussionsparticularly?' Of course reading can help and is a great help, as arethese other agencies; but I do suggest that it is time we asked thequestion as to what extent they are really helping and dealing with thesituation? I suggest that the result is a disappointing one, and I thinkI can give the reasons for this. Thefirst is that this is a wrong approachbecause it is too individualistic. The man sits on his own reading hisbook. That is too purely intellectual in its approach, it is a matter ofintellectual interest. Another thing, which I find very difficult to putinto words, but which to me is most important is that the man himselfis too much in control. What I mean is that if you do not agree withthe book you put it down, if you do not like what you are hearing onthe television you switch it off. You are an isolated individual and youare in control of the situation. Or, to put it more positively, that wholeapproach lacks the vital element of the Church.Now the Church is a missionary body, and we must recapture thisnotion that the whole Church is a part of this witness to the Gospeland its truth and its message. It is therefore most important thatpeople should come together and listen in companies in the realm ofthe Church. That has an impact in and of itself. I have often beentold this. The preacher after all is not speaking for himself, he isspeaking for the Church, he is explaining what the Church is andwhat these people are, and why they are what they are. You rememberthat the Apostle Paul in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians makesquite a point of this. It is something which we tend to neglect at the4Z