Attractive Preaching

Pastor Duck's Weekly Column

Taiwan Church News 2661, March 2, 2003

Translated by David Alexander

If someone were to go about uttering empty falsehoods, saying "I will preach to you of wine and strong drink," such a one would be the preacher for this people!   (Micah 2:11)

   Some bibles are bigger than others.  There are 19 books of Old Testament "Apocrypha" which do not appear in the Bibles used in most Protestant denominations, though they are considered "second rate scripture" by many Roman Catholics.  Much of their contents are about persecution of believers, and mighty works of God.  That is because they were written at a time when the people of Israel were undergoing great persecution from Greeks. The stories of the persecuted people being rescued by God, who destroyed the oppressors, really appealed to the people who received them.

   Different preaching is appealing to different eras and social conditions of people.  We can remember a time in Taiwan's recent history when some churches were preaching about human rights, and others about the right of the government to make all of the decisions.

   The Old Testament prophets struggled to call their people away from sinful affluence and back to the purity of their earlier agricultural and nomadic ancestors' existence.  Most often, people didn't listen.

   Micah the prophet got angry at the "good religious people" who refused to hear his sermons.  He told them, "If someone were to go about uttering empty falsehoods, saying 'I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,' such a one would be the preacher for this people!"

   What kind of preaching do you suppose would be most welcome in Taiwan today? Is it the kind that we need?   What kind of preaching is needed?  Who will do it?

Prayer: Send us preachers, O Lord, who will tell us what we NEED to hear, not what we WANT to hear.  AMEN