I have a growing fear for preachers today. I’m afraid that if we’re not
careful, we’re going to end up becoming like the Pharisees. Here’s what I
mean. Preaching, when done correctly, should unburden people. As
preachers, our job is to challenge people, yes, but not to burden them.
When describing the Pharisees and what they did to the people through
their teaching, Jesus said: They tie up heavy loads
and put them on men’s shoulders (Matthew 23:4). What’s interesting is
that when we read that, we automatically despise the Pharisees and
assume they had bad motives. But if you study their history, their
motives were actually very good. What they were trying to do by creating
all of the rules they are now infamous for was make the Law applicable
to people’s lives. They’d read a command like, “Keep the Sabbath holy,”
and their concern was that everyone could actually do it. So they’d
create applications like: Items used for work can’t be touched on the
Sabbath. You shouldn’t take more than 500 steps on the Sabbath. Their
driving motivation really was to help by giving people things to do. But
in their desire to make the Bible applicable, they actually created
burdens that weighed their people down. Here’s how I think this happens
today. We do a sermon series on marriage, which in itself is great. But
then we say things like “you need to do these 15 things with your spouse
to have a great marriage.” Or we do a series on joy, and we then give
them the 7 steps to attaining it. We’re trying help, but without
realizing it, we’ve actually burdened people who were already carrying
such a heavy load. And we’ve become the group we all love to hate on –
the Pharisees. I’m not saying we shouldn’t give our people applications
or practical next steps. Of course, we should. Jesus did it many times.
But I am saying that we need to be careful. When we stand up to speak to
our churches, our goal should be to unburden them. To emulate Jesus’
teaching when He said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” And we
do that by simplifying rather than complicating. By pointing to God and
all that He has done. Not just at our people and all that they need to
do
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
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