Dr. John MacArthur On Preaching

 

There is certainly no shortage of preachers today who are all emotion and no content...


 I have often said that if a man is unable to be passionate about the Word of God, he has no business preaching. If someone can stand in the pulpit and manage to make the Word of the living God sound dry and dull, that person ought to sit down and let someone else preach.

This is true even if he possesses top academic credentials; one's educational achievements alone cannot qualify that person to preach. Mere logic without the fire of passion is far from the biblical ideal for preaching.

In fact, I'm convinced that even in the most sound and solid Bible churches today, much of what is labeled preaching is not that at all. Turn off the overhead, eliminate the Power-Point presentation, stop passing out the fill-in-the-blank outlines, and let the man of God proclaim the truth with genuine, heartfelt fervor, energized by the Spirit's unction. That is preaching.

This is no argument against training or preparation. Good preaching occurs when the well-trained mind-filled with knowledge, skilled at clarity, motivated by love for the truth, and energized by the Holy Spirit-speaks powerfully to people. The true preacher is never content with informing his people about a few academic matters. He wants to overwhelm them with clear and powerful exposition of the Word so that they feel the impact of God's truth at the most fundamental level.*

 *Alex Montoya. Preaching with Passion (Kindle Locations 16-24). Kindle Edition.