Preach The Word Series

Introduction

When you think of the church’s priority, what comes to mind?

We live in a day in which there is a lot of confusion over this question. Many churches are a reflection of our society which has become satiated with entertainment.

Neil Postman, in his profound book titled, Amusing Ourselves to Death, wrote, “Toward the end of the nineteenth century… the Age of Exposition began to pass, and the early signs of its replacement could be discerned. Its replacement was to be the Age of Show Business.”

In show business, truth is irrelevant; what matters is whether we are entertained. Substance counts for little; style is everything. In the words of Marshall McLuhan, the medium is the message. And unfortunately, that kind of thinking now rules the church as surely as it does the world.

One of the most bizarre examples of a well-known church being confused about its role in the world came from a May 13, 1991 article in The Wall Street Journal. The article described the church’s attempt “to perk up attendance at Sunday evening services.” The church “staged a wrestling match, featuring church employees. To train for the event, 10 game employees got lessons from Tugboat Taylor, a former professional wrestler, in pulling hair, kicking shins, and tossing bodies around without doing real harm.”

No harm was done to the staff members, perhaps, but what kind of damage was being done to the church of Jesus?

That wrestling match is not an obscure example from an eccentric church on the fringe. It took place in the Sunday evening service of one of America’s five largest churches. Similar examples could be drawn from other leading churches supposedly in the mainstream of evangelical orthodoxy.

Some maintain that if biblical principles are presented, the medium doesn’t matter. That’s nonsense. If an entertainment medium is the key to winning people to Christ and building them up in the faith, why not go all out? Why not have a real carnival? Why not have a tattooed acrobat on a high wire who could juggle chainsaws and shout Bible verses while a trick dog balanced on his head? That would draw a crowd. And the content of the message would still be biblical! It’s a bizarre scenario, but one that illustrates how the medium could cheapen and corrupt the message.

Sadly, that’s not very different from what is being done in some churches. There seems to be almost no limit to what modern church leaders will do to entice people who are not interested in the church. Too many have bought the notion that the church must win the lost and build up the faithful by offering an alternative form of entertainment. I could go on with many similar examples, but I must stop.

So, what should be the church’s priority? Well, a church may do many good things, but I would like to highlight one. This priority comes from the apostle Paul who was writing to young Timothy and giving him instructions for the priority he was to focus on.

Scripture

Listen to Paul’s instruction in 2 Timothy 4:1-2:

1 I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:1-2)

Lesson

Today, I want to focus on the priority of preaching in the church of Jesus Christ. My purpose today is not to do an exposition of these verses, but simply to focus our attention briefly on the phrase in verse 2a: “Preach the word.”

Most pastors want to see their churches grow. Some pastors are committed to the priority of preaching the word of God. However, I am also aware that other pastors are tempted to try something new and snazzy and different.

Years ago I read a book by David Eby titled, Power Preaching for Church Growth. Pastor Eby was the pastor of North City PCA in San Diego at the time. He noted that from 1972 to 1996 there were 334 books written on church growth. He said:

The astounding thing is that books on church growth say so little about preaching…. Instead of finding mounds of sparkling nuggets on the role and priority of preaching in church growth, I have panned only a handful of low-grade gold dust—a brief comment here, a passing assertion there, with an anecdote or illustration occasionally. Experts writing to fill the eager ears of pastors and church leaders with advice on how churches grow, apparently consider preaching to be of secondary importance in the process.

So I bring this message today to exhort us to continue focusing on the priority of preaching.