Who Dares to Preach

    In one of my all-time favorite novels, Jayber Crow, the title character believes he’s received the lofty call to preach the Gospel. Unfortunately, Jayber’s idea of preaching is limited to “spending a lot of time reading and living in a town with shady streets and being well-loved and admired by the congregation.” When he inevitably finds out how flawed his conception of preaching is, he quits his ministry before it even begins and pivots to a career in barbering.

    I think Jayber’s initial conception of preaching, while almost laughably shallow, might be the dominant one in our culture. Many today think preaching is a cushy lifestyle – all preachers do is sit around, read books (or in today’s world, watch YouTube), and then get up and give a sermon once (or maybe twice) on Sunday.

    The Biblical view of preaching is altogether different. Preaching isn’t about “reading books” or “being admired”; instead, it's about proclaiming the Word of God. Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1, “I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and because of His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word.” James 3:1 states, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” The language used by Paul and James indicates this is a serious matter; to be a spokesman for God is a solemn charge.

    If we’re honest with ourselves, this fact should give us serious pause. By what authority do we claim to speak for the living God? How can finite, lowly humans profess to be the mouthpiece for an infinite, almighty God? Do we really have the nerve to take this task upon ourselves? Who dares to preach?

    Whenever Old Testament prophets are confronted with the divine call to preach, they are almost always terrified. Think about Moses, when God appears in the burning bush on Mount Sinai and tells him to bring the Israelites out of Egypt. Moses  comes up with every excuse in the book to avoid God’s task; eventually, he just cries, “Oh Lord, please send someone else!” (Ex. 4:13). Think about Isaiah when he sees the vision of the seraphim and hears the voice of God. He cries, “'Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (Isa. 6:5). Or consider Jeremiah, who exclaims, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”

    But there’s another side to the initial hesitancy of Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. Once they begin their prophetic role, all three are seized with an unshakable conviction in the power of God. If we keep reading in Isaiah 6, after Isaiah’s outcry in verse 5, God asks, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah’s response is immediate: “Here I am! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). It’s almost as if knowing his inadequacy and dependence on God made Isaiah more eager to proclaim God’s word boldly. Jeremiah, in the face of persecution, exclaims, “If I say, ‘I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,’ there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot” (Jer. 20:9). In the face of all they had seen and heard, how could Isaiah and Jeremiah not preach?

    The New Testament authors think in similar terms. The apostle Paul writes, “For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship” (1 Cor. 9:16b-17). When confronted by the Sanhedrin, Peter and John insist, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19b-20).

    This begs the question: What did the apostles see and hear that created such a calling to preach? Peter answers: “The name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:10-12). The apostles were witnesses of the crucified and risen Savior. After seeing that, how can you not preach?

    The same goes for us. If YHWH God really took the form of a man – if YHWH God really died and rose from the grave – how dare we remain silent? How dare we not preach? We are weak and finite humans, true. But, in preaching, we speak on behalf of a good and powerful God – a God who has died to reconcile the universe to himself.

    I want to be a preacher, not to read books (although I do love to read), not to “live in a town with shady streets” (although that does sound cool), but because the Gospel is worth it. The message of the Gospel demands preachers. Of course, this is a task entrusted to all Christians (Matt. 28:19-20). How can we be silent? Who dares not to preach?

View Full Content Source:
https://www.southsideonline.org/articles/2026/06/28/who-dares-to-preach