Jump Start # 3028
1 Corinthians 1:23 “but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness.”
My adult life I have preached. I am a preacher. Years ago, another preacher was bragging on me from the pulpit. He was pouring it on, too much to my liking. He said that I could have killed it in the business world. He said I would have climbed high and fast. But I didn’t. I preached. And, just why do I preach?
It is good to remind ourselves of these lessons. We preachers do not run the church. That’s not our role. We do not write budget proposals. We do not organize people. We preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s what we do. Why?
First, there is no other message that will save us. Good health, good exercise, good nutrition, good habits, good finances—there’s a place for all of that. But a person can have all of those and still lose their soul. Nothing does more good for us, for our families, for our communities and for the world than the salvation of our soul. Our insides and our outsides change when we obey the Gospel of Christ. Attitudes improve. Goodness abounds. Hope is resurrected. And, all of this transcends death and lasts into eternity.
Second, there is no other message that Satan fears more than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When tempted, Jesus presented the word of God before Satan. He fled. He will run when he faces God’s word. He cannot overcome the Bible. The truth. The facts. The power. The joy. The hope. The promises. It will crush Satan. We preach and the more we preach the more Satan is on the run.
Third, there is no other message that reveals what is coming. The “experts” have their theories, but they don’t know. Environmental disasters. Asteroids crashing to the earth. Nuclear wars. Famines. Aliens. All kinds of ideas. Only one knows, and that is the Lord. And, He has told us what is coming. He has told us where we are going. He has told us what to do. The future is not a mystery. We are not in the dark. With God’s word we know. No other message can tell us, only God’s word.
Fourth, no other message can truly help us through the storms of life. Sure, there are self-help tips for disasters and ways to prepare, but the faith that will keep us strong, going, content and righteous, is God’s word. The foolish man’s house collapsed because he did not believe. Our homes, our marriages, our hopes, collapse when the storms come and we have no faith. The message of the Lord reminds us that God is still upon the throne. It reminds us that troubles come and go, but He remains. It reminds us that God is greater than any storm we can face.
We preach the Gospel. We do not preach politics. Politics can not save us. Our hope is not in the White House, the state house, the court house or even the church house. Our hope is in the Lord. We do not preach our agendas. We do not preach our opinions. We do not preach what our culture wants. We do not preach about ourselves. We preach the saving message of Jesus Christ.
This message will knock the shine off of your shoes some days. It will step on your toes. It will sting you, but you need that to change. That message will bring a tear to your eyes. It will remind you what your Savior went through just for you. That message will heal a broken heart. The tears of sorrow can dry when we hear that message of Jesus Christ. It can lift the discourage. It can chase worry and doubt out of our hearts and homes.
The preachers of the Gospel have never been famous, honored nor special. They are simply servants of Jesus Christ. Young men need to think about preaching. It’s the greatest work that anyone can ever do. Don’t change the message of Christ. Don’t make it more appealing by softening it’s message. Don’t try to make the message of Jesus fit in with the world. Don’t be ashamed of what God has said.
Go into all the world and preach. What beautiful words those are. What an honor it is to do this!
Roger