The "Easy Sell" of Text-Driven Preaching

If you draw attention away from the text, then you draw attention away from Christ

—Steven Smith, "The Preacher's Spirit" in Southwestern News (Summer 2009), 27.

Dr. Smith bases this statement on the conviction that

1. God is revealed in Christ
2. Christ is revealed in the Scriptures
3. Therefore, your ministry should be text-driven

On the implications of such a commitment, he writes

So it's an easy sell. It's clear enough at least. The problem is not really with the sales pitch; it's the price tag. The cost of faithful exposition is a life-trajectory of challenging, soul-searching, gut-wrenching, and rewarding years in the study--high front-end investment with the greatest yield coming at the end . . .

All it demands is everything. Like I said, it's an easy sell.

—Smith, "An Easy Sell: How to Talk a 25-Year-Old Into Giving the Rest of his Life to Text-Driven Preaching." In Southwestern News (Summer 2009), 64.

Dr. Smith's charge echoes Paul's:

Preach the Word!