Someone who doesn’t attend Good Shepherd said this to me recently:
“You’ve got to believe in the guy preaching before you can believe in the God the guy talks about.”
Interesting.
Before a preacher has any credibility on his subject, he has to have credibility in his person.
Is that true?
Probably. Yet it goes almost without saying that God has long communicated his truth through pastors who were later revealed to be deeply flawed. It’s a subject Paul wrestles with in Philippians 1, ending with the declaration: “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice” (1:18).
And so do I.
But even more than that . . . I want what I say and who I am to be the same thing. Imagine the power in that.