It does not take a rocket scientist to see that preaching has fallen on hard times. Of course this should be of no surprise to anyone who reads their bible. Paul warned Timothy with the following:" For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths." (2 Timothy 4:3, ESV)
Paul was not writing about the unsaved or unconverted, or the Non-Christan. He was writing about Christians in local churches. We sure see this today. I was thinking about this recently and I wrote down some reasons:
- There has been an increasing loss of belief and commitment to the authority of Scripture. People are no longer convinced that Scripture is sufficient for every aspect of their life
- The misunderstanding of what is called or termed as "worship" Preaching is limited at best and eliminated at worst for the so called "worship" portion of the service.
- A growing attention, involvement, and commitment to that which is mystical, ceremonial, or ritual. The emergent church has been a prime instigator of these things.
- The introduction of "entertainment" into the services of the local church. The gathering of the body is no place for motorcycle tricks, zip-lines, rodeos, and or anything else that usurps the preaching, praying, and participation in the worship of our Holy and majestic God.
- A growing fascination and integration with psychology and the philosophies of this wicked and evil world
- A lack of mortification of sin and a growing love for sin
- The growing propensity to fear man more than we fear God
It's a pity that preaching is not what it used to be, but there ARE some good preaching around still.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.