Preach Christ — Not Motivation. Not Money

Koda, a popular Ghanaian musician of blessed memory in his song Nsem Pii bemoaned what  preaching has become on many pulpits in Ghana. Preaching has become akin to listening to a business lecture, seminar or motivational speaker. You are likely to hear about financial breakthrough, building a financial empire more than of Christ. Koda captured this well

Fifteen ways to be successful, thirteen ways to make much money, but the one way to make to heaven, preacher man, you don’t preach about it…Listen, last Sunday I heard you preach; I must confess, I was confused, was that church or GIMPA?”¹

These words captures perfectly what has happened in many church pulpits across the country. Christ and his gospel are totally absent. If the church will have any lasting impact on society, we must go back to the preaching of the gospel which is the power of God to salvation: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

All preaching must have one agenda, point people to the Lord Jesus Christ, his death on the cross and resurrection for the salvation of sinners through faith. That is the gospel. Charles Spurgeon, decrying the absence of Christ and the gospel in his day, called to preachers in his day to go about this one important duty: Preach Christ.

The motto of all true servants of God must be, ‘We preach Christ; and him crucified.’ A sermon without Christ in it is like a loaf of bread without any flour in it. No Christ in your sermon, sir? Then go home, and never preach again until you have something worth preaching.²

Now this is not true because Spurgeon said it or because Koda sang about it. It t is true because it is a biblical pattern. Jesus in his own ministry pointed people to himself. In the popular road to Emmaus conversation, he pointed the two disciples to all that has been written about him (Luke 24:17;44). When he commissioned his disciples to preach, the content of their message was to witness about him (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8).

This biblical pattern of preaching Christ and him crucified  was strongly reinforced for me during one of my personal devotions. I was reading through Acts and came to a point where Paul and Barnabas were given an opportunity to encourage the believers in the synagogue. In his address, Paul recounted God’s work in redemptive history from Israel’s captivity in Egypt, through the reign of judges, to the reign of Saul, up to David and then concluded everything on the work of Jesus Christ on the cross (Acts 13:16-39).

That immediately reminded me of other places I have previously noted this pattern. The apostle Peter also addressing the people on the day of Pentecost recounted redemptive history and pointing to the fulfilment of everything in Christ (Acts 2:14-40).

Finally, this pattern was also present in Stephen’s trial during his speech which will eventually lead to his martydom. He also recounted redemptive history and brought everything to a close as having been fulfilled in Christ (Acts 7:2-52).

This is the pattern of biblical preaching. Jesus Christ and him crucified (1Corinthians 2:2). He must be the focus of the church’s message. Preaching is not primarily about drawing moral lessons and teaching people about how to succeed at life. Though there is a place for these in the life of the church, the primary message of the church is the gospel of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection for the salvation of sinners through faith.

Notes

1 Koda, Nsem Pii, https://open.spotify.com/track/2tiHYDY9xncTYnmZThaBJa?si=VUNBIr-dTEm9Mxwig8EdXA

2 Justin Taylor, “Preach Christ or Go Home—And Other Spurgeon Quotes on Christless Preaching”, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/preach-christ-or-go-home-and-other-classic-spurgeon-quotes-on-christless-preaching/