Live your theology.

If you were to like the preaching of the Word to baseball, then Pastors are pitchers, are they not?  All true and faithful pastors deliver (pun possibly intended) the good news, but their style varies from man to man.  Some are able to buckle the knees of their hearers with the curve ball that is an emotive and masterfully told story. Others dazzle with change-ups drawn from insightful jokes or witticisms. Others still are able to abruptly change the direction of their message by pointing out an overlooked or unexpected reality within the text just as a hurler’s slider breaks away from the hitter (or towards him if you bat left as I do).

Now – you may realize simply be reading the above metaphors that I am not one of those masterful pitchers, er pastors, with all of those lovely pitches at his disposal.  For a time, this bothered me (especially as one interning under so capable a Pastor as  GW Fisher).

But – everyone who preaches the Word faithfully has a pitch that none are able to hit.  The Word of God … “is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12).

The Word of God is enhanced and emphasized when paired with the curve balls and change-ups of a skillful preacher – but it is more than enough on its own.  Preach the Word faithfully.  The Word of God is that fastball of such high velocity that none are able to master it.