“Normal preaching should be evangelistic preaching. Ordinarily, ‘edificational’ preaching is more oriented to behavior (”you must obey Christ in this way and this way”) while ‘evangelistic’ preaching is usually oriented toward belief (”you must believe in Christ in this way and this way”). But this misses the unity of the human soul. … Therefore, any failure in behavior in Christians is due to unbelief. The antidote to unbelief is a fresh telling of the gospel. So, if a sermon is Christ-centered in its exposition and application, and if it is oriented toward a) dismantling the unbelief systems of the human heart, and toward b) re-explaining and using the gospel on the unbelief – then it will be highly illuminating to non-Christians even when it is aimed primarily to Christians. Preaching that cannot both edify and evangelize at once is choosing behavior over belief or belief over behavior.”
Tim Keller
He returns!
ReplyDeleteI like this message from Keller. Treat the disease (unbelief) not the symptoms (bad behavior).
You know I like me some Keller!!!
ReplyDeleteMM
This is what I try to do in my preaching. I am still learning how.
ReplyDeleteMRM