If we believe in preaching then we will give our best to preaching.  We will gladly give the hours and the effort needed to preach the Word of God clearly, accurately, engagingly and hopefully effectively.  We will spend money on helpful resources.  We will look to grow as a preacher, be open to constructive feedback and looking for helpful input.  If we believe in preaching then we will give our best to preaching.  But there is something else to mention.

If we believe in preaching we will not only give the best we can to others, but we will submit ourselves to healthy preaching too.  Not as an exercise to learn preaching skills.  Not as an academic endeavor to learn about a new area of Scripture or theology.  Not for our sake as preachers, but for our sake as believers.  If we believe in preaching then we will sit under good preaching for the health of our souls.

Perhaps you only preach periodically, so most weeks you sit as a listener.  Great.  But what if you preach regularly?  It is easy to let the schedule fill and rely only on our sermon preparation for our spiritual benefit.  Certainly when we preach we probably get more from the message than our listeners do.  That’s only natural if the process is good.  But somehow it just seems healthy to carve out half an hour or so to sit as a listener to the end result of another’s preparatory work.

We live in a day of unprecedented opportunity.  I am currently choosing to sit under the preaching of a friend.  It is a series in a church you probably never heard of, but it is healthy, helpful, solid biblical preaching.  I need it.  We all do.  If we believe in preaching, we will not only give, but also look to receive.