Clayton King - Are We Saying Anything?

The following is a recent blog by Clayton King.

"We just returned from a mini-vacation to Orlando, FL where we spent over 30 hours in 3 days visiting the Disney parks, as well as ministering to the wonderful people at Hope International Church.  So as usual, I am at home wide awake while the rest of my family sleeps soundly.  At least they can.  I resort to my usual late night addiction…religious programming.

Some of it is fantastic, some of it is entertaining, and some of it is void of any redeeming quality.  What struck me moments ago about the particular preacher was the fact that HE WASN’T SAYING ANYTHING.  It was all cliche, tired and worn out phrasing, re-packaging of trite and cute Christian slogans, word plays, and clever quips about stomping the devil, charging the gates of hell, sewing financial seed for increase and destiny…you get the idea.  It was just an exercise in wasting time, because the words were hollow and empty.  

I am not against TV preachers.  Who knows?  One day I may use mass media to preach (I have preached on TBN and currently preach on one of the biggest Christian radio stations in the country).  But if I do use it, I will attempt, by the grace of God, to preach!  Not to dawdle and play.  Not to revert back to the one-liners that get the crowd going.  Not to even play on the emotions or nostalgia of the audience in order to hype them up to a frenzied crescendo.  As a minister, whether we are preaching to 80 people in a small country church or 8 million on prime time TV, for the love of God, we MUST say something with substance!!!

With the Bible at our disposal and the testimony of the redeemed behind us, we should preach and teach with conviction, and the subject and object of every message MUST be Jesus Christ, slaughtered and raised from the dead for the glory of God and the forgiveness of our sins.  This is the gospel, and it must permeate and saturate all that we say and do.  No matter how funny my jokes are, or how loud and convinced we may be while in the pulpit or blogging from a laptop, I want to leave you with this question; are we really saying anything?  Really?

If we are not making a big deal out of the gospel, then we are wasting time.  It is your right to waste time if you want to.  But unless I am up late and nothing else is on, I don’t have to waste my time listening to or reading it.  We have a message to share and a medium to use in order to share it.  I admonish you…say something worth saying.  Be creative, be funny, be compelling, but be true to the message of the gospel; Jesus has died, Jesus has risen, Jesus is coming again."