A Preacher Joke and Points to Follow by Chris White

“..faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.” Romans 10:17

Then there’s the one about the minister who set out to preach a rousing sermon on the subject of temperance.  As the sermon came to its close he cried out with great emphasis, “If I had all the beer in the world right now I’d take it and pour it in the river!”  With even greater emphasis he added, “And if I had all the wine in the world, I’d take it and dump it into the river!”  Finally shaking his fist and pounding the pulpit he said, “And if I had all the whiskey and rum in the world, without the slightest hesitation I would pour it all into the river!”  As the minister wiped the sweat from his brow and took his seat, the church’s song leader immediately rose with his hymnal and said “As our closing song this morning turn to hymn #247 and let’s all sing We Shall Gather at the River….”  Have you ever noticed that preacher jokes have a common theme?  The preacher is always sanctimonious and then betrays himself with his own inconsistencies or he preaches fervently about something and the congregation or parishioner does just the opposite.  What’s funny about this is it is 100% true.  Personally I dread ever talking about any victories I have over sin because the minute I do, I always fall flat on my face the next day.  But what about a congregation who hears the Word preached every Sunday?  It seems to me that if we believe one way and then live another, our Christianity is also a joke.  Here’s three thoughts I’ve had about listening to the Word and being more active about personal application:

1. Come with a mind that what is preached is God’s teaching for you specifically today.  Though a sermon preached is a group learning experience, God has you there to listen for a specific reason.  I believe the Spirit of God uses whatever is preached to teach the individual.  In fact I have had people come up and tell me what I shared really was what they needed to hear and then they would repeat back to me a point I never even made.  I just smile.  The Lord is doing His work.
2. Resist the inner thought “wow, I wish so-and-so was hearing this right now, if they heard it maybe they would straighten up their life!”  More often than not the splinter we see in someone else’s eye is a log in our eye we don’t want to face or acknowledge.  That thought is a signal that the point being made in the sermon is cutting too close to home.  “So-and-so” isn’t there and you are.  God is speaking to you.
3. Make it a habit to be reading at home the passage being studied on Sunday and think about it during the week.  What we think about the most has a profound effect on what we do and that is why the Word teaches us to ruminate or meditate on it continually.

I hope these thoughts are helpful.  If you have some others to add, email them to me and I’ll pass them on in another article.