Was Paul A Good Preacher?

Was Paul A Good Preacher?

Hmmm. I’ve often wondered how many churches would pass on hiring Paul for their pulpit minister.

• Everyone is a TV evangelist right now.

• Pick and choose what style you like, what subject matter you are interested in.

• Almost like a competition on Facebook between preachers, “Pick me!”

• And maybe when we come back together I’ll find out that my congregation found someone else they like better.

• There’s no greater critic of a preacher than himself, or another preacher. It’s been said that a preacher would rather drive a thousand miles to preach, than to walk across the street to hear another preach.

• Sounds prideful, but we have styles we like and depth that we expect from the speaker.

• With the platform of Facebook or Youtube, the audience is widespread – beyond the local audience.

• So I want to take a moment to see what the Bible tells of what it takes to be a good preacher, that our judgement of men would be righteous and our acceptance or rejection of the message would not be about the delivery but about truth.

Was Paul a good preacher according to your standard?

1) The Eloquence Standard.

A. The Ageless Cry for Charisma

• The draw of the man on the podium. His presence, his dress, and the way he can work a crowd

• We become impressed by motivational speakers because they move us to a desired end.

• Their use of voice inflexions, and of the language of the people pleases our ears. Even when the message is

not pleasant, if the charisma is right we can swallow it easier.

• It works for politicians, for entertainers, for preachers, and even those patronized as gods.

B. The Greek god, Hermes, the god of eloquence among other things.

• The Greeks loved knowledge. They loved universities, the loved speeches.

• One day Paul and Barnabas happened to be in the town of Lystra, in present day Turkey, and healed a lame

man who had never walked in his life. When they saw this great miracle performed, the residents

automatically believed that the gods had taken on flesh and had arrived among them. Acts 14:12 And they

began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

• Were the Greeks right? Were Paul and Barnabas gods? No. but it is interesting of their assignment of

names. Isn’t there an argument that Paul was not eloquent as a speaker?

C. Eloquence does not equate infallibility.

• The danger arises when we use the emotional appeal as a standard, that the masses do not consider the

element of truth in the message.

• If a preacher is popular, they might just swallow falsehood because they like the speech.

• The politician can claim anything, as long as the masses are held by his eloquence.

• Notice Acts 18:24-26 24 ¶ Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to

Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and

being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being

acquainted only with the baptism of John; 26 and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when

Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

• Apollos was known as an eloquent man. He could use the local language well, be persuasive in his

presentation. But that day in the Synagogue his message fell short, he needed to learn some more.

Eloquence does not equate infallibility.

• Paul has something to say about knowledge versus eloquence. 2Co 11:5,6 For I consider myself not in the

least inferior to the most eminent apostles. But even if I am unskilled in speech, yet I am not so in

knowledge; in fact, in every way we have made this evident to you in all things.

• Look guys, Paul says, I proved to you that I know what I am talking about. For all of those other “super –

apostles” those who are trying to be louder and gain prestige over us as the designated apostles by Jesus,

they may speak better but we have the information.

• Be careful lest you ignore the message of truth just because the presentation fell short.

D. The Enemies Accuse Paul

• Remember in Acts where the Greeks gave Paul the name of a god for his performance for Christ?

• Apparently they forgot that. Now that the message had become harder, the truth was growing teeth, all of the

sudden there was no eloquence for them to be able to swallow the message.