"Nothing quite like it"

Jim Martin at A Place for the God-Hungry has written an outstanding post on preaching. Jim tells of the special, personal nature of preaching, and of the trust and expectation congregations put in their preachers in allowing them to speak to the depths of their beings in proclaiming the Word:

They trust that you are a person of integrity. They know you are not perfect. Many of them know that you don't need to be on that pedestal even if they have placed you there. Yet, they have every right to trust that you are not living a double life. That you are not involved in something immoral or unethical during the week and then hold the Word of God before them on Sunday. This moment is far too personal but even more importantly, far too holy for such behavior.

Forget the silly caricatures on television. Forget those images of the benign, spineless minister who is either irrelevant or immoral. I can take you to some real preachers. The kind who every week come into assemblies, brush off the dust of the world, and who dare to look into the eyes of real live human beings. Human beings who have sinned. Human beings who hurt. Human beings who need to be taken to the cross once again. These preachers open the word of God and for a few moments something mysterious takes place.

There is nothing quite like it

Amen. Preachers, if you're discouraged right now in your work, I recommend you read Jim's whole post.