Question #65 of the Heidelberg Catechism asks, "From where does this (saving) faith come?" Answer: "The Holy Spirit produces it in our hearts by the preaching of the holy gospel." In other words, the primary tool used by the Holy Spirit to create this faith is none other than the preaching of the Word.

For all of its clarity, however, our Catechism has taken a severe beating, even among those calling themselves Reformed. In many churches in North America, preaching has been tossed aside like some useless relic, making way for drama, music, personal testimonies, and an assortment of liturgical innovations. Writing in Preaching with Confidence, the late James Daane laments the loss of confidence in preaching among contemporary evangelical Christians:

This loss of belief in the need for preaching and its power has occurred even among those who confess the highest respect for Scripture. Evangelicals who combine a strict view of the inspiration of the Bible with a low view of preaching fail to perceive the mysteriously powerful creative nature of the Word of God ... The truth the pulpit proclaims is mysteri­ous and powerful. Unless those called to preach sense the unique nature of their message, they are not likely to retain any confidence that preaching is really worthwhile.

But how did we lose this confidence?

The reformers had no reservations about the power of preaching. When judged by modern standards, their asser­tions may sound arrogant and extreme. Martin Luther, for example, went so far as to insist that "the preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God." Writing in his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin stated,

For among the many excellent gifts with which God has adorned the human race, it is a singular privilege that he deigns to consecrate to himself the mouths and tongues of men in order that his voice may resound in them.

This loss of confidence can be attributed to the prevalent opinion that preaching simply doesn't do anything. Modern critics argue that monodirectional (i.e., one way) communication (such as preaching) can reinforce attitudes and beliefs that are already held, but it can only rarely effect change in people's lives. In other words, preaching must give way to dialogue or small group discussion as a more effective means of presenting the gospel of salvation.

Seen from this perspec­tive, we can't help but conclude that both Jesus and the disciples were greatly mistaken when they proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom through the very ineffec­tive means of preaching. However, the basic flaw in the arguments leveled against preaching stems from the mistaken notion that preaching is essentially no different than a marketing exer­cise.

So what do the Scriptures say about the power of preaching? For starters, consider the following claim by the apostle Peter in his first epistle:

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because 'All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever.' Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.1 Peter 1:22-25

Interestingly enough, many Christians seem to think that the criticisms leveled against preaching are a modern devel­opment. But nothing could be further from the truth. The Corinthian church of the first century, nestled in the heart of pagan Greek culture with its famous schools of philosophy and rhetoric, also questioned the power of preaching. The Apostle Paul did not cut an impressive figure; his sermons lacked the impassioned eloquence of the roaming philoso­phers; his personality proved less than magnetic. Yet Paul's response to these Greekified Christians rings just as true for believers in the age of mega-churches and flash-in-the-pan televangelists:

And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testi­mony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.1 Corinthians 2:1-5

When our world echoes Pilate's slithering question, "What is truth?" God grant that we have the loving boldness to stand alongside the apostle Paul with the reply, "Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" (1 Corinthians 9:16).