Is the church preaching Christ or marketing Christ?

What about this blog got your attention? I assume the title had something to do with it. What are your initial thoughts before moving any further? Are you initially in agreement that the Scripture is being neglected or do you feel compelled to make a case against the idea? As you guessed by the title, I believe the Scripture is being neglected but not in a haphazard accidental kind of way. I believe the Scripture is being purposely avoided by people and more increasingly by the day. I realize I maybe opening a can for some, but hopefully what I express here will be worth some intelligible thought and careful consideration.

Let be known that what I speak of here is not something I am personally unaware of or haven’t experienced. I am guilty of neglecting the Scripture myself but as I have matured as a minister over the span of 17+ years, the Lord has seen it fit to grow me through many mistakes. One of these grievous errors was preaching my own word on Sundays instead of delivering a solid biblical message that originated from the divine Text. This is a clever hoodwink that many ministers, me included have fallen prey to and many still do. In fact, they have chosen the hoodwink over the biblical preaching model.

Scripture is avoided in the pulpit, in the home, in the schools, and so-called Christians seem to be perfectly okay with it and they let it slide by with no accountability. It appears that many in the church are willing to take anything labeled a sermon at face value and have no interest in examining the message and bringing it under the scrutiny of Scripture. Why does this happen? How do preachers who fail to study the Word get away with “winging it” on Sunday? How have we found ourselves in this place where the Scripture is no longer investigated, and the Holy ground not cultivated for the precious riches it contains? Consider the following five culprits that have contributed to where we are.

The preacher prioritizes his own ideas above the Text.

When I started in ministry, I did this all the time but didn’t fully understand what was going on. Most of what drove my sermon attempts were the remarks of news pundits, the conversations between me and others, or struggles I had learned about in the congregation or elsewhere. Many have bought into this as an acceptable form of the “Spirit’s leading” when in reality my messages were birthed out of my own emotions, my own thoughts after which I would find a Scripture to support what I wanted to say. This is a problem.

The congregation prioritizes the preacher’s own ideas above the Text.

This is the inevitable result of the above issue. By the time the Sunday message is over, the congregation as bought into the preacher’s views instead of the Biblical view. How often have messages become about the preacher and congregations leave knowing him better instead of knowing God better? It happens more often than we care to admit.

Preachers are seeking to become celebrities.

Preacher’s aspire to be popular. Somewhere along the way, in their “exchange of the truth of God for a lie,” the preacher has decided to do whatever will cater to the culture and has found justification as a result of worldly thinking. The Bible should frame the thinking of the preacher, NOT the people, but for many this would prove catastrophic to what they have been taught and the agenda they actively pursue.

Congregations are seeking celebrities instead of preachers.

Congregations cannot be let off the hook. We are all equally responsible. The church as a whole, is culpable in the matter. People love celebrities. They love the charisma, the motivation, the look, it all has an appeal greater than the Scripture that has been laid bare before them and the cycle continues. Celebrities say and do what people want and the people readily drink every ounce of the proverbial Kool-Aid.

The church is more about the Christian than Christ and His Word.

If my primary role every Sunday is to deliver a message designed to cater to the hearer, I have done them no service at all. The power of God, knowing God, and helping people to see the Scripture above their problems, now we are getting somewhere. The preaching is not about the problems people encounter in their lives every day. The preaching is about knowing God in His Word resulting in strong lean Christians who are less focused on themselves regardless of their problems and look to God always for their Living Hope to be reinforced.

Consider this Scripture located in 2 Timothy 4:2-3, “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”

This is worth our consideration. Does this text paint a popular picture? It is time to get back to sound doctrine. Many are being led astray from the pulpit. I encourage us all to pray and ask the Lord to bring us back under the power of His Word in all things. Please feel free to leave a comment below. What is your take on the matter?