Preaching and Preachers: Chapter 1, The Primacy of Preaching

What is the job of the church? What should we be doing? Preaching and Preachers, chapter 1, The Primacy of Preaching, Lloyd-Jones makes the Scriptural case that the primary task of the church is preaching.

"…the work of preaching is the highest and greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called." And that "…the most urgent need in the Christian church today is true preaching; and as it is the greatest and most urgent need in the Church, it is obviously the greatest need of the world also."

But, if this is true, why has preaching suffered a downward spiral in so many churches? Why is there a decline in great preaching? Lloyd Jones says the problem is threefold:

1.       Decline in the belief of the authority of Scripture

2.       Men want to be 'pulpiteers' rather than preachers

3.       Men don't understand what a sermon is.

Great preaching, or great speaking for that matter, depends on great themes. He says that as preachers relinquish confidence when men drift from the authority of the Bible, they forfeit power in their preaching. They begin to "suggest" rather than proclaim. Style is more important than substance, and sermon is a dirty word. I've noticed this among the big-named evangelicals giving "talks" at their conferences. Sermons might offend and preaching is foolish, so they'll "talk".  He also pointed to "personal counseling" as a result of bad preaching. That people believe that they need  more personal attention and that their problems cannot be dealt with from the pulpit. What I think he means, is that people think that their problems are so unique that a sermon could never address their problems. For example, they are not covetous, but their desire for things has its root in some story from their childhood and how much they were hugged as a toddler. Whereas a sermon on covetousness and a call to repentance would not make the people unique snowflakes, but categorize them as sinners among sinners. Thus, the rise of personal counseling for their unique and special "issues". Sometimes (often?) the answer is: You are sinning. Stop it.

The second section of the chapter deals with the positive; preaching must be the most important thing. Not politics, not social justice, not trending topics, but preaching. He provides many examples of Jesus leaving crowds who wanted their needs fulfilled, but going to the next place to preach and teach. His miracles were signs, but not the primary purpose. He moves from our Lord's example to the apostles example in the book of Acts, showing that preaching was their mission and anything else was a distraction that would sidetrack them. The same is throughout the history of God's people.

"What is it that always heralds the dawn of a Reformation or Revival? It is renewed preaching."