Monday is a good day to take stock, take a deep breath and recommit ourselves to God’s work.  That doesn’t just mean being willing to ever preach again, although for some that might be a good step on a Monday morning!  It means recommitting to really do the work of biblical preaching, rather than just going through the motions.  A couple of quotes from Philip Ryken’s chapter “Preaching that Reforms” in Preach the Word:

If we are living in an age of relativism and narcissism, what are the implications for preaching?  Obviously, Bible teaching will be out of favor.  As sinners, we generally do not like to have our selfishness exposed; but this is one of the primary purposes of preaching the Bible.  In a post-Christian culture, the last thing people want to hear is the truth about their self-centeredness.  What preaching there is, therefore, tends to be therapeutic rather than prophetic.  It aims to make people feel better about who they are rather than to challenge them to become, by God’s grace, what they are not. (p192)

How tempting it is to preach messages that are therapeutic, rather than prophetic.  It’s hard to choose to preach the Word when its message is uncomfortable, unpopular, “unsophisticated” or somehow might offend somebody.  Later in the chapter, Ryken addresses the issue of evangelism:

This kind of proclamation requires boldness, a virtue that is sadly lacking in the contemporary church.  One of the reasons evangelicalism is in decline is because Christians have lost their nerve.  In these post-Christian times, we tend to be a subculture rather than a counterculture. (p198 )

I am not encouraging insensitive brash proclamation, or unnecessarily offensive preaching.  I am just taking stock of my own ministry again this morning and renewing my vision to preach the Word.  It’s the greatest privilege, but it demands an appropriate level of boldness too.  Let’s set our sights on our Lord afresh in order to renew our vision of Him, His Word, His building of His church, His mission to the world … and our privilege of participation in that.