Kenton C. Anderson - Integrative Preaching: A Comprehensive Model for Transformational Proclamation

Preaching is a particularly confident way of speaking. When a football coach says that he is preaching defense to his team, he is speaking in an especially authoritative mode, welcome on the practice field, though less so elsewhere. A players job depends on the pleasure of his coach. His is not to question why. His is to defend or die. The player must presume the coachs authority if he wants to keep his job. Coaches can preach. Others might better hold their tongue.

The places where we welcome preaching are few and seldom. A parent, perhaps, could preach to a child until a certain age. A deeply trusted friend could adopt the role of preacher, though perhaps in sparing measure. A pastor preaches as the function of his or her calling, which is a complicated matter.

There was a time when preaching was in voguewhen people were willing to grant authority to the man of the cloth who spoke for God among the people. There was a time when people were comfortable submitting to authority. That time is not today. No one is going to grant you privilege because you are a preacher. No social or financial benefit is going to come your way. You may have to pay relational capital instead of gaining it. To read this book and put its principles into practice might require of you a kind of courage. The day when preaching brought a sense of cultural privilege is long past.

In fact, many will see preaching as unwelcome, and sometimes even rude. Polite society agrees that we must not speak of things that demand or divide. Preaching is just too confidentarrogant even. Our subject too threatening. Our conclusions too demanding. Friends dont let friends attend to sermons.

And yet here we are, you and I, sharing thoughts around this theme of preaching. The Bible is clear, and our calling is unshaken. We must preach the Word, despite the constant opposition we will have to deal with. We remember that Paul told Timothy to expect a time when people would not put up with what we have to saythat they would turn their heads instead to those whose words would soothe the itching of their ears. We understand that this is the way of things, and we would not expect it to be any different.

There are those who have an ear for this. We understand that preachers travel narrow roads, but we understand that those pathways lead to special places. We believe we preach in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and that we will be accountable for what we have to say. If we can keep our head and do the work of our callings, we will find that there are those God has especially prepared to respond to what we have to sayto what he has to say.