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Online links to scriptures (New International Version [NIV] unless otherwise stated) are shown in blue
| Greek (Western) |
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 Under the Greek mindset, preaching is the primary way of conveying God's Word to people, both saved and unsaved.
The traditional form of preaching that we know today was introduced by the Roman Catholic Church, from the time Constantine accepted Christianity in the 4th century AD. Then, and for more than 1000 years thereafter, the people did not have access to the Scriptures and were reliant upon the Priests of the church to proclaim the Scriptures to them.
However, this Greek/Roman mindset and pattern continued through the Reformation and remains with us today. Our whole Christian setup, from buildings, to preachers, to worship services, is based on the foundation of the sermon.
Buildings: Countless billions of dollars have been spent on building structures primarily designed as auditoriums for God's word to be proclaimed from a pulpit up the front.
Preachers: The first role of a minister, pastor, or priest, is to prepare and present sermons, to preach to the people in their congregation.
Worship: Worship services are nearly always centered round the preaching of the word.
Only this week, a pastor told me that accepted Theological College teaching is that it takes 7 years from the commencement of a pastorate, for the pastor to have had time to influence his congregation's way of thinking through his preaching.
Obviously, looking at churches worldwide, the current, sermon based system, is ineffective in bringing in new believers, and in turning current believers into disciples.
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| Eastern (Hebrew) |
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 In traditional Jewish ways, the primary means of bringing spiritual understanding is through interactive teaching.
The specific way of learning was by way of discussion - the asking and answering of questions. Jesus as a 12 year old could read and talk to the senior Rabbis of the day in the Temple.....
Luke 2:45-7
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 Jesus, as a Rabbi, was primarily a teacher. In the Jewish way of the time He, in particular, taught a small group of 12 disciples, whom He sent out to preach to non-believers.....
Matthew 10:5-7
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For both Jesus and Paul there are 5 times as many mentions of them teaching as preaching, at a time when there were relatively few believers.
The best quoted justification of preaching in the New Testament was the night before Paul left Troas.....
Acts 20:7
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He spoke for that long as he was leaving, and it had deadly consequences that resulted in a miracle!
Acts 20:9-10
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 Today, most sleepers are in seats and wake up at the end of the sermon! Been there, done that! LOL!
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 There is no specialised ministry gift of preaching mentioned in the New Testament.....
Ephesians 4:11-13
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 The only 'preacher' identified in the Bible was Noah. He also preached, unsuccessfully, to the unconverted. Paul too, preached to the unconverted, but he taught the believers.
Presently, we seek to place preaching primarily in the domain of the pastor. However, it rightly belongs to the evangelist, and then only when addressing large groups of people. Person to person evangelism though, is generally found to produce more fruitful, long term results today.
Disciples are not created through preaching, but by teaching and mentoring new believers through the challenges of everyday life, in order to build up an ongoing faith in Jesus.
Matthew 28:19-20
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| SOME SPIRITUAL IMPLICATIONS FOR TODAY |
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1. While preaching is designed to reach the unconverted, teaching is the means to help those already churched grow in God.
2. Teaching should be interactive, in order for the participants to receive the full benefit.
3. Mentoring new converts is an essential part of the discipleship process.
4. Obviously, this has huge implications for the current way things are done in the church.
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| <i>NEXT WEEK:</i> THINKING GREEK OR HEBREW continues..... |
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 ..... looking at EDUCATION (I) v EXPERIENCE (WE)
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| A NOTE FROM DAVID |
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 While I will lose friends saying this, preaching is basically an ineffective method of communicating with people. In ordinary life we don't like being 'preached at', do we!
In church however, we accept it, as it fulfills our 'religious obligation' as both preacher and people. The preacher puts much time into preparation, while the people put in minimal effort listening to him.
True discipleship and teaching are interactive, requiring participation by all. This is how the early church primarily operated.
Something to think about?
IMAGES AND ART: Jerusalem
Mount of Olives
Dominus Flevit Church
Built in 1955 to commemorate the Lord's weeping over Jerusalem, Dominus Flevit features a beautiful view of the city through its distinct chapel window. Excavations during construction of the church uncovered a number of ossuaries (bone boxes) from the time of Jesus with numerous inscriptions.
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So until next week.......
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD!
His servant and yours
Learn more about us at...
www.wwj.org.nz/about.php
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A DAVID'S DOODLING
1315. A disciple walks the walk, not just talks the talk.
David Tait
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Check
out the WWJ website for….
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