A veteran pastor took me to lunch yesterday.
As preachers tend to do, we spent most of the lunch talking
about preaching and preachers.
The conversation continued as he drove me back to my office.
The last preacher he brought up, as we were turning onto
Beaver Street, was the late Dr. S.M. Lockridge. Dr. Lockridge was the pastor of
the historic Calvary Baptist Church in San Diego, a well-respected preacher,
and noted denominational leader.
The veteran pastor recalled the first time he heard Dr. Lockridge
preach. It was at a Southern Baptist Convention event. He said it was the
greatest sermon on the Lordship of Jesus Christ he had ever heard. He noted
that the sermon was barely twenty minutes long. And he added one more
compliment… There were no unnecessary words in the sermon.
That final compliment grabbed my attention. No wasted words?
I have never heard any sermon given such a compliment. And I
do not know any sermon to which I could attribute that compliment, especially
my sermons!
But this is a worthy standard for preachers to strive for,
isn’t it?
There is a spiritual global warming that is slowly yet
progressively ruining the atmosphere of the church. It is the result of a great
deal of pollution that comes from the pulpit. Our preaching is littered with
too many unnecessary words.
One of my favorite proverbs is Proverbs 25:11: “A word fitly
spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.” Translation: The right
word spoken at the right time is priceless! This should be our goal in
preaching.
Of course, preaching with no unnecessary words requires hard
work. We must study diligently. We must read ourselves full. We must write and
rewrite until our message is clear. We must determine to stay on message when
we get to the pulpit. And we must pray that the Lord will use us to speak a
word fitly spoken.
Let’s join Paul who asked the saints to pray “also for me,
that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the
mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may
declare it boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:19-20).
