People don't always
respond well to my sermons
It probably wouldn't
surprise you to hear that people don't always respond well
to my sermons. I was in a major Midwestern city last
month, preaching to a large group of people, when a man
shouted out in disagreement.
It was a short interruption, but it made a startling impact
on the audience. I think some of them were disappointed
because they respect and love the word of God, others were
embarrassed because I was a guest in their city. Afterwards,
several people wanted to know my thoughts about the
interruption.
In fact, people frequently ask me about how I deal with
opposition and criticism - not just of an individual sermon,
but of ministry in general.
It's something every preacher faces almost as soon as he
enters ministry. You don't always get hecklers shouting
during your preaching, but if you speak with clarity or
conviction, you will get feedback from people who want to
"correct" your doctrine, urge you to tone it down, adopt
their favorite fanciful interpretation of a text, or
something similar.
Saddest of all are those who simply hate the gospel and
transfer their hostility to the messenger. Jesus Himself
said it would be this way. "If the world hates you, you know
that it has hated Me before it hated you"- (John 15: 18).
Such response cuts people off from the only way of
salvation, the ultimate and eternal tragedy.
I realized very early in ministry that I can either be
faithful to God's Word, or adjust my preaching to broaden my
appeal and suit the critics-but not both. I honestly don't
give much thought to how people respond to me, positive or
negative. Spiritually speaking, effective ministry is not a
matter of how many people listen to one's sermons, how
popular one's books are, or if one has a strong appeal to a
wide variety of groups.
Obviously, I care deeply about men and women's souls, and I
long to see them come to embrace Christ and grow in His
Word. But what we must not do is allow response and
results-or lack of response and results-to shape our message
or determine what we will or won't say. Ultimately, the only
response we're interested in is the response that only God
can orchestrate. All we can control is effort-the outcome is
His territory.
When I preach, I'm just a conduit for the Word of God.
There's nothing special about the preacher's personality
that makes the truth more potent or effective. If He chose
to, God could use a donkey to communicate His message (Num.
22:28). The only thing that matters is that the message be
clear and accurate-so that is where I focus all my energies.
People don't come to faith in the Lord just because they
like the preacher or the preaching. Only the truth convicts
sinners and brings. them to faith in Christ. The value of
ministry is not measured by the size of the audience, but by
how faithfully and accurately the truth of God's Word is
communicated.
John MacArthur Jr. - "Grace to You" letter
