ArticleBlog | The way it’s always been: Getting real about preaching
The way it’s always been: Getting real about preaching
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 11.03.16
CS Lewis often spoke of that subtle contemporary disease: chronological snobbery. This is the presumption that compared to our forebears, we know better and deeper (about more or less anything). Related to this is the prevalent assumption that today’s challenges are unique (and therefore history and ancestors have little to teach us).
But ours is hardly the first generation to have to handle the potential obsolescence of biblical preaching. This is not to deny the legitimate questions about communicating to postmoderns. It is merely a reminder there was never a time when biblical preaching was acceptable!
The apostle Paul surely pre-empts many of today’s complaints headon. But while he acknowledges the challenges, the surprise is how little they fazed him. 1 Corinthians 1:17–25 helps explain why.
Just as tinted sunglasses colour the view, so, Paul claims, does spiritual status colour our view of Christ’s mission. His words are stark and (to modern sensitivities) bullish. Those ‘who are perishing’ (1:18) will find the cross foolishness (in other words, it is stupidity, verging on insanity). Well of course – Christ’s death seems the ultimate expression of futility.
