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treats. When I was younger in the Lord and ignorant of many Bible truths, I was captivated by many who claimed to be a preacher and absorbed everything they said. I was blinded by emotion. Fortu- nately, now that I am older and hopefully a little wiser, my enthusiasm has dimin- ished to a degree. Why, you may ask? Because after a few years of listening, watching, and studying some preachers, analyzing their methods and motivation for preaching, I realized much too often they preach to impress people more than to minister to people. It has become all about them. ey appear more in love with the act of preaching than with the purpose of preaching. e self-centered ego of man and the powerful in uence of the esh seem to get preachers o tract. Sel sh desires or ambition cause them to rebel against authority. When we have the need to be thought of as gifted, smart, and powerful by our peers, we lose site of the mission, to bring people to Jesus.
Christ said more than once, before one could follow Him he had to “deny him- self”. Deny the desire of his esh. Paul said believers should make themselves of No reputation (Phil 2:7) and be a humble servant: traits man’s proud ego shuns. I’m convinced the largest enemy a preach- er has is not the devil or the world, it is our own vain, proud and self-gratifying “ esh”. Personally, I have much more dif- culty trying to hold my “ esh” in check than I do dealing with the devil or the world. I am my own greatest enemy and every morning when I look into my mir- ror, there I am staring back at me. Our ego and pride cause us to compete and compare. My church is larger. I have more members. I prefer the working class. ey pay more tithes. e lust of the esh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life cause us to not be able to submit to authority. How do we determine the winner of this great competition? Do we consider the souls saved, lives changed, bible doctrines or denominational bylaws? Many preach-
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ers harbor competitive, adversarial spirits throughout their ministry. Preaching is not a competitive sport, it is the means God has established to save those who are lost and edify those who are saved.
Corinthians 5:17 reads, “ erefore, if any- one is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.” God cre- ates life, grants repentance and gives faith. Man is totally unable by himself to do these things that are necessary to enter the king- dom of heaven. Ephesians 1:4-6 reads, “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be ad- opted as His sons through Christ Jesus, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.” Salvation is by God’s will and pleasure for His glory. John 6:37-39, 44-45 tells us “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven nottodomywillbuttodothewillofHim who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up at the last day. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘ ey will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.”
My message to the world is about the redeeming, unconditional love of Jesus Christ. And I charge all who are called to exchange phoniness for holiness – while teaching that righteousness is deeply rooted in genuine love.
LueLLa redFern
Executive Director of the Esther Women of In uence, shown with her husband, Bishop Redfern II
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