Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. (1 Thessalonians 2:9)
The Greek word that is most often translated as ‘preach’ is κηρύσσω – kérussó (Strong’s 2784). The word in the Koine has an uncertain origin but the definition is ‘to be or act like a herald’ or ‘to proclaim’.
The role of a herald has changed with time. Coming to the English language from the Old French heraut from the Frankish via herewald, literally ‘war-ruler’, in other words a martial or commander, it has three distinct contemporary meanings:
- A messenger
- A harbinger
- A steward (of heraldry -a rank/position at the College of Arms)
All three meanings are relevant to the ‘preacher’ of the Gospel, who is entrusted (stewardship) with a message of the coming of the Kingdom of God.
In the same passage to the one above Paul says:
…we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. (v4)
But there is another meaning, especially given to the verb ‘to herald’ and this is ‘sing the praises of’, and this is surely what all Christians, joy-filled with the fruit of the spirit wish to do? However, sadly this is often not the case.
Nowadays, the idea that a Christian should ‘preach the Gospel’, in other words, proclaim the good news of Jesus to those not in faith that he is the Christ, has become frowned upon. In conjures images of street corner evangelists ranting at passing ‘sinners’, or the ‘churched’ smugly speaking of their salvation behind walls of hypocrisy or, yet again, a salesman arguing people into believing akin to door-to-door hawkers.
It has led to many Christian organisations involved in social action ministry, such as those running night shelters, to discourage volunteers from speaking about Jesus – some even require a signed commitment to not proactively mention the Gospel.
What has gone wrong? To paraphrase Peter (Acts 5:3), how has Satan so filled the hearts of Christians? How is it that Christians feel confident enough to defy God and disobey the Great Commission?
Go into all the world and proclaim (kérussó) the gospel to the whole creation. (Mark 16:15)
It seems that Christians need to reclaim this word ‘preach’ and rescue it from the insinuations of the evil one. It is not:
- convicting people of their sin and telling them they are bound for hell, apart from stating the obvious, that is not ‘good news’, judgement lies not with any only with Jesus, and conviction of sin comes through the Holy Spirit.
- talking down to people from a position of self-righteousness; while lives are transformed in Christ, the sinful nature is ever-present.
- a slick presentation, a hectoring declamation or a well-honed argument. Faith in Jesus Christ is through a blessing, it cannot be found in reason.
Preaching should be heralding; that is, speaking joyfully of Jesus, singing his praises; telling people of how people are transformed in Christ, and how they can be also, through faith.
Tell them this that Jesus says this:
‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.’ (Revelation 3:20)
The best witnesses to Christ not only demonstrate love but speak of its origin, which is Jesus; perhaps the Great Commission was given as command because Jesus knew that it would be challenging. We have the experience of Paul to show that ‘heralding’ can arouse people to opposition.
It is understandable to fear persecution, even though the follower of Christ is blessed in such circumstance (Matthew 5:11), but the usual excuses for not sharing one’s faith are not acceptable. If we say simply that believing in Jesus will bring life in abundance, we cannot ‘put people off’ or be offensive. Of course, people can choose to reject you along with your message, and they can take offence, but this is their choice. If the witness speaks from love about hope and declares that Jesus is the source of that hope, then the herald will have done his work faithfully.
God Breathed Words 
Wonderfully put my friend. Our ‘success’ as Christians is in our obedience to His Word and not through the acceptance of others.
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Reblogged this on From guestwriters and commented:
Too many people who call themselves Christian do forget who Jesus really was and which tasks he had given to his followers. Today true Christians still should follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and should proclaim the hopeful message of the coming Kingdom.
Real Christians should be heralds of the Gospel, eager to tell the people about the Good News, of salvation and about the hope for mankind given by the Grace of God.
As forerunner or herald Christians should be portent or indicators of something important or calamitous about to occur, perhaps an omen in the eyes of many, but for others an insurmountable event to look forward even when it might bring lots of suffering and an incredible violence. therefore we should warn the people of that last and third world war which is insuperable.
By sharing the agape love and bringing more people to see that Jesus is the way to God and the way to life, the Christian herald shall be able to make many stronger and secured against the coming disaster. Out of love for others we should tell others about the love of God, about what Jesus has done, but also about the return of Jesus and what to expect of that time of his return.
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Of course, it is also important the Gospel we preach is true to the Word:
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. (1 Corinthians 15:1-8)
And that the source is the Holy Spirit, whom Christ leaves with us as his helper – again from Paul:
I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. (Galatians 1:11-12)
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