Those who preach the 'gospel' as though it were fiction

Found this on Sermonillustrations.com

There is a tale told of that great English actor Macready. An eminent preacher once said to him: "I wish you would explain to me something." "Well, what is it? I don't know that I can explain anything to a preacher."

"What is the reason for the difference between you and me? You are appearing before crowds night after night with fiction, and the crowds come wherever you go. I am preaching the essential and unchangeable truth, and I am not getting any crowd at all."

Macready's answer was this: "This is quite simple. I can tell you the difference between us. I present my fiction as though it were truth; you present your truth as though it were fiction.

Don't think I need to say more!!

Comments

00 said…
Wow....that was very powerful, and too often very true. In a few days I'll be leaving to go to the Bahamas on a mission trip. Basically we'll be sharing the Gospel with everyone that will listen to us...this is something that I'll definitely be keeping in mind while I'm there.
March 14, 2008 at 6:03 PM
Doorman-Priest said…
How does that work then Neil?
March 14, 2008 at 7:21 PM
Question of Identity said…
Rhea
I will be praying that God blesses your mission and that you are bold in your presentation of the gospel. Colossians 4: 2-6 is a fantastic passage for those about to go on mission - you will know it well, but as a part of my prayer I will quote it here:

Devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Pray that I may claim it clearly, as I should. Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

God bless your work Rhea and drop us a line to say how you are getting on.

Neil
March 15, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Question of Identity said…
Doorman priest:

Paul says 'I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is THE power of God for THE salvation of EVERYONE who believes'

Unfortunately there are too many people in church leadership who want to water the gospel down: who want to question the truth of even the death and resurrection of Christ,of his miracles and many aspects of his life; who talk about the gospel as if it is a means of salvation, not THE way of salvation; who think that it is ok to habitually live in a way that the Bible so clearly says is displeasing and dishonoring to GOD.

A vicar once came to be leader of a church that I was involved with and would habitually question the truth of the Bible (a disciple of Bishop Spong in America), would habitually swear and get involved in sexual inuendo (unbeknown to him made rude comments to one person who had been sexually abused - but even if he didn't know it was no excuse). All he could do was 'entertain' there was no standing up for the truth of the gospel in his preaching. The trouble with entertainment is that it doesn't help when disaster strikes and in no sense can it bring the lost back to God. I left that church, but wasn't surprised that he had to retire early with a bad heart condition.

It seems that such people are quite clearly ashamed of the gospel and will be preaching without any conviction. We need preachers and evangelists who preach with the conviction that the Bible is complete for salvation and THE ABSOLUTE TRUTH!
March 15, 2008 at 10:34 AM
Doorman-Priest said…
Thanks, I get you now. Do you come across many Christians who are embarassed by the Gospel?
March 15, 2008 at 4:36 PM
00 said…
Thanks a lot, Neil. We leave VERY early in the morning on Wednesday (we have to leave before 2am in order to get to the airport in time). I should have internet access while there (some), so I'll try to update my blog with any uber-exciting news...and once I'm back in America, I'm sure that I'll have loads more to share. Thank you so much for your prayers!
March 15, 2008 at 11:27 PM
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