Gracepoint Church, Peabody
I heard about a preacher who was experiencing a problem in the area of his preaching. More specifically, there was no response to his messages. So he asked a preaching professor from the local Bible college to come and listen to a few of his sermons, after which they’d meet and discuss the evaluation. The professor came for two months, then set up a sit-down chat with the beleaguered preacher.
“So, what do you think the problem is?” asked the anxious pastor.
“Frankly,” began the wise old professor, “your sermons are well done … except for the conclusions.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it really doesn’t do you any good to work so hard on a sermon and then end it by saying, ‘But then again, what do I know.’”
Christians must strike a balance between confidence and conceit when it comes to expressing our faith. We should be bold and courageous, but humble enough to know that matters of opinion should be handled with care.
However, there are essentials that we can believe with unwavering confidence, and we should never apologize for that. The essentials of our faith are clear and knowable.