2 Corinthians 4:1-6 is a zenith of apostolic instruction on true preaching.

Pastors would do well to memorize 4:5, where Paul says, “What we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.”

HERALDING GOD’S WORD

The verb here for “proclaim” is κηρύσσω, which describes the tone of preaching as “heralding.” If you’ve rightly understood that encountering God’s word through preaching a battle of cosmic proportions, it won’t surprise you to know that “heralding” is military language.

A herald is in times of war what an ambassador is in times of peace . . . The herald would go into enemy territory ahead of an advancing army to warn the enemy of certain destruction unless they accepted the proffered terms for peace. A gospel herald stands with God’s word in hand and proclaims, “Hear ye! Hear ye! Jesus Christ is Lord. All who swear allegiance to his throne will receive eternal life.”

We preachers must ask our unbelieving hearers, “What will you do with this announcement that Jesus is Lord?” Satan wants to blind their eyes in unbelief  and rebellion (2 Cor. 4:4), to keep them as part of His army. But the gospel, the good news of life, is contained in those four words of 4:5: Jesus Christ is Lord. And thus we herald the King who lived perfectly, died sacrificially, rose victoriously, and now reigns supremely. We cry out for them to cry out to Him in faith and repentance. The two eyes of faith and repentance are the only way they will ever see the Son in all his glory. And so we call them to swear allegiance through their seeing of Him.

PREACHING IS WINDOW WASHING

Brother pastor, do not miss the negation contained in 4:5, “. . . what we proclaim is not ourselves,” but Jesus Christ. If you want to be a faithful preacher, rid yourself of notions to use the preaching of God’s word as an occasion to herald yourself. It is dangerous to put much of yourself into a sermon. Sure, short illustrations from personal experience can be useful at times, but such a desire to illuminate truth can easily become an exercise in proclaiming self.

And we dare not tamper with God’s word in that way.

One helpful way of thinking about this is through the analogy of preachers as window washers. God’s word is a window that reveals the glory of Christ. When we stand behind the sacred desk we are to hold up the window of God’s word, and cry out, “Look unto Him! See Him! Behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Our job as preachers then is to scrub that window clean by the clear proclamation of Scripture (2 Cor. 4:2; cf. Col. 4:4).

Putting too much of oneself into the sermon is tantamount to scrubbing the window with clouds of mud and then covering it up with the foil of personal vanity. Our churches won’t see Christ through such dirt. Renounce such disgraceful and underhanded means and herald God’s word by “the open statement of the truth.”

Preacher, you are a window washer. Make the window plain and clear, so they might see Christ!

This post is adapted from my recent sermon, “Preach the Word,” on 2 Corinthians 4:1-6.