Ineffective Preaching (Part II)

Christianity at its heart, is about surrender.

It’s about surrendering our lives wholly to God. It’s about more of Jesus, less of ourselves.

Therefore, every sermon we preach should lead to this. It should lead to a person wanting to draw closer to God and give more of himself to Him.

Behavior-centered preaching trivializes this. It makes people believe that by changing behaviors, we can be more ‘holy’. Become more mature Christians.

Don’t curse. Don’t gamble. Pray for 1 hour a day. Be kind. Learn to praise people more.

The thing is, in the same way you don’t have to spend 1 year in class to learn Walking 101; you just walk. You don’t have to spend another year in Eating 101 to eat; you just eat. It’s inherent to us.

In the same way, all the behaviors or fruits of the Spirit are a result of being with God; A result of more of Jesus in our lives.

Things like giving, serving, caring; all of them are a result of more of God working through us in our lives.

The problem with behavior centered preaching is that we start to use our own strength to do all that. And the thing is, if we do use our own strength, how different are we from unbelievers? We’re still trying to earn our way to Heaven.

We change our behaviors, become someone we’re not and a few years later, we wonder why it’s so hard to be Christian. Of course it’s hard to keep up: you’re never supposed to use your own strength.

That’s why we should be extremely careful about our behaviorial centered preaching. It’s seriously pointless. You just make people strive to have an image that people consider ‘maturity’. How many Christians you have met already are tired out; tired out living off people’s expectations and trying to keep an image that isn’t really them?

In God’s eyes, you have merely moved them backwards.

If you want your members to be more sanctified, there’s just one thing you have to do: bring them closer to God. Lead them into the presence of God. Teach them to focus their lives only on God; not even on doctrine, but on God.

You might say,” But my members are doing this and this; it’s so unchristian…”. To make them stop it just based on that; you have done nothing. You have not changed their hearts, merely their behaviors. You try to make them people pleasers, not God pleasers.

Bring them near to Jesus and God will change them for you. God will change their hearts.