Why I Preach

Last night I was at the church while the music team was practicing and a lady and her daughters came into the church to use the bathroom. She seemed to look familiar to me but I couldn't place where I had seen her until she called me "the Preacher." Yes, she had visited the church a couple months ago. I wish I could remember everybody, but that will never happen.

Anyways, I still have never gotten use to being called "the Preacher." Probably never will. I always have considered myself more of a pastor than a preacher--but that's another post and a bit of semantics I guess. But a big part of being a pastor is preaching and right now I am reading a book on how to do it better. I'm actually re-reading it. Don't say I need to read it three times.

"Communicating for a Change" is written by Andy Stanley who, if I had to choose someone, would probably be the pastor I most like to listen to. He isn't flamboyant, but he is passionate. He isn't extreme, but he has a burden to see the Holy Spirit change people and he preaches like it.

In the book he talks about having a goal when preaching. Some preachers preach with the goal to "teach the Bible to people." Others "teach people the Bible." I agree with him that both of these goals are insufficient--their main emphasis is information transfer. Our goal as preachers has to be much more than that. The goal Andy, and I, have in mind when preaching is this: "to teach people how to live a life that reflects the values, principles, and truths of the Bible." That's why I preach, and why sometimes I'm even called "the Preacher."