October 17, 2024
RICHMOND, HILL, Ga. – Pastors have a responsibility not only to preach biblical truth but also to call on people to respond to that truth, a respected Southern Baptist writer and seminary professor told Georgia Baptists on Monday.
“There’s a tendency sometimes to think that if we’re educating people about the Bible, that that’s what expositional preaching is,” said Jim Shaddix, author of Decisional Preaching and co-author of Power in the Pulpit and Progress in the Pulpit. “There’s a tendency, I think, with some guys not to go to the next step of calling on people to respond to the truth of God’s word. That would be like proposing to a girl by telling her how much you love her and what a wonderful life you could have together but never saying the words: ‘Will you marry me?’ That happens a lot in preaching.”
Shaddix, who teaches at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary where he holds the W.A. Criswell Chair of Expository Preaching, challenged Georgia Baptist pastors gathered at Richmond Hill Baptist Church outside of Savannah to preach expository messages that lead to spiritual decisions.
“We have to call for a verdict in our preaching,” he said. “We have to call people to say ‘yes’ to the truth of God’s word. Expositional preaching isn’t just about the transference of biblical knowledge.”
The message resonated with Eddie Johnson, pastor at Macedonia Baptist Church in Thomaston, Ga., who said he’s glad he made the 2 1/2-hour drive from Macon to hear it.
“I’d do it again,” he said. “I think it’s something every preacher needs to hear because we may not be as intentional as we should be. As Dr. Shaddix said, we should be prepping for the invitation even in the introduction.”
Brian Parker, pastor of Kingsland Baptist Church in southeast Georgia, said Shaddix was shared crucial information and inspiration to about 50 pastors who attended Re:Tool.
“He provided theological groundings and practical helps to make sure we’re at the top of our game as pastors and preachers,” Parker said. “There were things there that everyone of us needs to hear, regardless of the size of our church and regardless of how long we’ve been in pastoral work.”
Shaddix was speaking at the first of three Re:Tool conferences being sponsored by the Georgia Baptist Mission Board’s pastor wellness team. The other two will be at First Baptist Church of Fairburn on August 15 and at Beech Haven Church in Athens on August 16.
For Shaddix, preaching is not an exercise to be taken lightly. “Preaching,” he once said in a blog post, “is an otherworldly enterprise. It’s the primary way that the Heavenly Voice reaches human ears.
Shaddix told pastors on Monday that expositional preachers must compel people to respond to the truth of God’s word by calling them to say “yes” to whatever truth is being exposed.
“The public altar call that calls people to give an immediate public expression of their decision is a viable approach, a viable means of doing this,” he said. “We just need to do it with integrity, to do it in a way that honors the Lord and honors the heart-decisions that people are making.”
