This morning I read a post
on social media that said something to the effect that we needed to have
Preachers that were Passionate more than Polished. I understand the sentiment
that the person was getting at, yet my thought was why do we have to settle for
either Passionate or Polished? Why can’t we have Preachers that are both
Passionate and Polished? If we think about it…was Jesus not a Polished
Preacher? Was Paul not a Polished Preacher? It is not either/or that we need,
it is both that we need! We need Preachers that are both Passionate and
Polished!
I believe we set ourselves
up for failure by making us choose between two things in an either/or situation
when God intended that we have both. Here are two more examples that most will
be able to relate to:
Teaching or Preaching – another example of this failed ideology of either/or
is about Teaching and Preaching. Some stress the importance of Teaching which
is for Education, while others stress the importance of Preaching which is for
Motivation. Again, why must we choose one or the other? Why can’t we have both?
If all we have is Teaching, we have folks that know what to do, but no
motivation to do it. If all we have is Preaching, we have folks that are
motivated to do something, but have no clue what they are to do. If we have a
balance of both we have folks that know what to do and are motivated to do it.
The Word or The Spirit – this is another example of this failed ideology of
either/or. Some folks want to stress The Word! Just give me the Word brother,
just give me the Word. All we need is the Word. There are others who stress how
much we need a move of the Spirit. We just need to allow for a move of the Holy
Spirit. We just need to have manifestations. Again, why are we choosing between
two things as if we can only have one or the other when God intended that we
have both the Teaching & Preaching of the Word accompanied by the Moving
& Manifestations of the Spirit? Just the Word, Word, Word leads to dry
Christianity. Just the Manifestations of the Spirit leads to flakey
Christianity. It is not either/or we need…it is both we need!
We need to stop this
either/or mentality in the Church! God is not making us choose! Why are we
making us choose? He intended that we be both Passionate & Polished, He
intended that we have both Teaching & Preaching of the Word, He intended
that we have the Teaching & Preaching of the Word as well as the Moving
& Manifestations of the Spirit. Let us take everything that God has for us!
