“I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head, I’ll expose so-called experts as crackpots.”
So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb—preaching (kerygma), of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation. - The Message -
As people of
faith, we understand, and accept the fact, that unbelievers think faith in
Christ is “just silly”. What makes
perfect sense to us seems stupid to them. We understand, as well, it seemed senseless
to us until the Holy Spirit of God shook some sense into us. We take no credit
for that gracious "shaking". On the other hand…stubborn
unbelievers have to own their own decision to reject Christ along with the
consequences of their decision.
And, God
actually designed it this way…as a mystery.
Paul told
Timothy (1 Tim 3:14-16) “This Christian life is a great mystery, far
exceeding our understanding, but some things are clear enough.” Why would God design his plan so mysteriously when
the stakes are so high? And why would God intend to use something as unconvincing
as preaching to unravel that mystery?
We should know
that “preaching”
(Kerygma) in this case is not a verb…it’s a noun. Technically
a gerund, I believe (verbs that function as nouns). As in…“preaching is my favorite pastime”. When Paul says “God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered dumb—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation” We shouldn’t think in terms of our pastor, in the pulpit, on Sunday morning. We must think in terms of some mysterious presence that contains the message of Christ in such powerful form that it can actually bring people to faith. As Paul stated in the 1st Chapter of Romans “I am not ashamed of the message because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes”.
So, what does this mean for us? St Francis of
Assisi once said “Preach (be) the Gospel at all times, and when necessary,
use words”. His
implication is clear: We “are” sermons.
If I am a believer, I am a preacher
because the mysterious essence that is the message of salvation dwells in me. Every
activity, then, ought to reflect the message of Christ. You and I are “Kerygma”. Sometimes it’s even expressed
in words.
I understand…many evenings we have to say “today was a sermon I shouldn’t have preached”.
There are times when we must admit we should have put in more time preparing.
Mostly because, it is the sermon of my life that is going to bring people to
salvation with, or without, words.
So the great mystery seems to be this: Our very presence
with unbelievers is capable of turning them to Christ. I can’t explain it but I’ve
experienced it. In fact, “the fewer words
the better” is my experience. We’ve been told “actions speak louder than words”. I think this is because the authenticity
of the presence of Christ in us is most clearly seen by a transformed life.
Occasionally we may be asked to explain what it means.
What’s most exciting is by God’s design we are all soul-winners…simply
by “being”. NOw that makes sense. Are we ready?
Live boldly out there today…
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