Reminder on how not to preach

Jeff Voegtlin has written an excellent little essay on how easy it is to preach the opposite of what a biblical text actually means. Jeff gives an example of just such a sermon he heard years ago:

All I remember now is that the whole message was NOT biblical. Oh yes, it was moralistic. Yes, it contained many truths. Yes, it probably convicted some. But it was NOT biblical

It's possible to take the words of a biblical passage and use them to prove exactly the opposite of what the Bible says. Why do preachers do such a thing? Jeff has an idea:

Too many preachers know already what they are going to preach when they go to open their Bibles. Rather, let us have preachers who open their Bibles to see what God would have them deliver to His people.

Amen.