The Alarming Effects of Poor Preaching

Recently I read a book by J. Ellsworth Kalas entitled, Preaching in an Age of Distraction (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2014). The following quote so grabbed my attention that I decided to reproduce it here in its entirety without further comment. Please read Kalas's words prayerfully and carefully, and if you're a preacher, please join me in searching our hearts and ridding our ministries of poor preaching.

"I have bet most of my life on preaching, and my mind hasn't changed. Yes, I do have some caveats. I tell my preaching students that they have no greater enemy than the poor preacher, because poor preaching makes poor listeners, and poor listeners in turn make for still more poor (or discouraged) preachers. Poor preaching lowers the expectations of the people who come, and it drives out those individuals who hunger for something better. Poor preaching discredits the product it represents. It's dreadful to think of anything that makes the Cross commonplace or that reduces the grace of God to a byword.

"By poor preaching I mean preaching that is insincere or that is carelessly prepared (which, in truth, is another expression of insincerity). By poor preaching I mean that which is without a gospel--that is, without the good news of Christ that brings salvation. By poor preaching I mean preaching that is short on love for God and for the human race. By poor preaching I mean preaching that is not doctrinally sound. By poor preaching I mean preaching that is not winsome and persuasive. By poor preaching I mean preaching that does not bring salvation to sinners and growth in Christ to believers" (pages 132-33).

O Father, deliver us from the snare of poor preaching and teach us to preach your Word with the integrity, dignity, and power due your Name!

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