By Angus Harley

God is merciful: he will honor the preaching of his Gospel, even if it is done by men with impure motives (Phil.1:15-18). God will also honor teaching and sermons that are helpful in the Christian walk, yet are very light on biblical teaching and are giving us but glimpses of the Christ. These sermons like to give us ways and means to lead our best life for Christ, how we might love more deeply, be more committed, overcome our weaknesses and addictions, and so on. Most contemporary-styled assemblies use that type of preaching. It is ‘Christ lite’, not deep, is pragmatic, and always, always, always, super-positive.

But if these assemblies just hit the pause button, they would see that God’s word, the NT in particular, is focused on Jesus. The Gospel is about him and how he saves. God sent his Son. The Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. The apostles preached Christ and him crucified. Today, however, I heard yet another sermon from the Gospels that was, like the many previous sermons on the Gospels, very much so an upbeat, contemporary, ‘how to’ sermon that was ‘Christ lite’. How does one preach from the Gospels concerning being merciful to others without calling upon the examples of Christ? Isn’t he our template and exemplar? Is it possible to preach the parable of the Good Samaritan without utilizing the figure of the ultimate ‘Samaritan’, Jesus Christ? Can we speak about the Gospels message about loving God and our neighbors without the context of the Father giving the Son for a sinful world to receive eternal life (John 3:16)? Similarly, how can we preach about God’s plan for us, from the Gospels, without understanding the plan of God, as taught in those Gospels, centers on Jesus’ cross? And in terms of the pragmatic relevance of that same plan, can we say any better than Jesus himself, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matt.16:24)?

Turn, then, to any NT epistle. They all focus on Christ in some way, shape, or form, not, of course, as intensely as the Gospels, but still profoundly. Every chapter in Ephesians, for example, is tied into the Christ and his Gospel. Paul’s example of the godly male behavior of a husband, for example, is reflective of Christ’s sacrificial love (Eph.5:22ff.). On the flipside, Peter lays down the example of Jesus’ meekness for wives to follow (1 Pet.2:21-3:6). The epistles give some principles concerning ‘how to’ get things done. But always the controlling concept is that of Christ’s sacrificial love and his Lordship over his assembly. God’s plan for us, according to the epistles, is entirely centered on the Gospel and the gathering of the saints of God to himself, in Christ (Eph.1:11; Heb.11:16, 39-40; 12:22-23).

Now, if you are a preacher and you do the contemporary style of preaching, let me give you a tip from your own book. Contemporary songs are, when speaking of God, excessively Christ-centric (the Father and the Spirit are definitely playing second and third fiddle). Why not take some of this focus on Jesus and pour it into your sermons?  

I know, preachers can overdo the ‘Christ-centeredness’ theme. Some older commentaries see Christ in the fat of the OT sacrifices. Or there are the sermons that must always preach the actual death on Christ on the cross. Nor am I suggesting that in speaking about practical matters the preacher must make every sentence about Jesus. I’m not saying go to that extent, for the epistles do not. But do challenge your preaching to be Christ-honoring, brothers, as the epistles. For there is something beautiful in seeing him, of hearing about him, rather than hearing a hundred times over ‘We…we…we…we’. Then the sermons will sound more in tune with God’s will, as opposed to sounding similar to many a secular ‘how to’, empowerment, talk with some Christian garnishing.