” Through the preached Word and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, God actually speaks to His people.
Dr. John Buchanan answered:
We need to be very careful about that. So many people have abused this, preachers need to be very careful before claiming they are God’s mouthpiece. I think the preacher needs to be suggestive and not declarative. There are times in history when people (like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther King) were called with some authority to say, “This is wrong.” But we need to be cautious. One of our central doctrines is that we all fall short of the glory of God. Sin touches all of us. Our call is to study, pray, discern the word, then convey it to people.
The key issue here is his proposal that preaching should be “suggestive and not declarative.” While the preacher must be modest concerning himself, his own abilities, and his inherent inadequacies, the preacher must not be merely suggestive in the pulpit. The “suggestive and not declarative” approach well defines most liberal Protestant preaching, but I think it also explains the decline of those churches and denominations. The earlier loss of confidence in the authority of the Bible inevitably leads to a declining authority of the pulpit.”
Truly we need to uphold Scripture as the authority. Let the man fade into the background as the clay pot that he is (See 2Cor 4:7), and let the Word of God stand upon its own power through expository preaching. This preaching will be honored by God.
What thinkest thou?
Just musing…
