E.M. Bounds once wrote:
“The preacher’s sharpest and strongest preaching should be to himself. His most difficult, delicate, laborious, and thorough work must be with himself… It is not great talents nor great learning nor great preachers that God needs, but men great in holiness, great in faith, great in love, great in fidelity, great for God-men always preaching by holy sermons in the pulpit, by holy lives out of it. These can mold a generation for God.”
Like A.W. Tozer, E.M. Bounds offers deep, rich spiritual insights into the Christian journey as one who draws people closer to an intimate relationship with God. The nature of teaching, discipling, and drawing others closer to Jesus demands that we live what we preach. That we speak not out of what we know as much as what we own–the spiritual lessons, insights, and discoveries that we’ve paid a price for.
Bounds writes that the preacher’s “most difficult, delicate, laborious, and thorough work” should be with himself…but I can’t help but think that it’s God who is really the one at work. Shaping us to be who he created us to be. Delicately removing the obstacles that stand in the way. Thoroughly providing and caring for us.
When we submit ourselves to God, we are submitting ourselves to all that God wants to do. And that means sometimes when we stand up to preach, teach, exhort, and gently remind, we’ll find the words we offer come out of both what God has done and what he is yet to do.
May we not just practice the faith what we preach, may we preach the faith that we practice….and the treasures we learn along the way.
*Photo courtesy of here
I can certainly attest to this sentiment; so true!
Would this be considered “personal holiness”? I’m having a hard time explaining just what that means.
Each and every time I am asked to stand in the pulpit and deliver the message that God has put in my heart for that moment is a privilege all on it’s own. To share only experience is to leave out the foundation of Scripture, but to share only text with no context is lifeless.
The blending of the two with the Spirit of God at work in us and through us brings to life the type on the page in ways that connect us to the Scripture and changes lives in the process.
The question I always ask myself when preparing is, “Do I want to see information transfer or life transformation?” When the answer is life transformation it comes only when transformation starts in the preacher.
Here, here. I totally agree. It’s not about what is coming out of our mouths as much as what we live matches. If they don’t match then what’s the point of our witnessing or even being Christlike. And it also reminds me that people that are watching us are always looking at us through a microscope and we are to look at others through binoculars (backwards). I say just be real. And if you’re leading they will want to follow more if you’re real.
I love the binocular/microscope comparison—oh so true!