We do not preach ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4:5 (NIV)
The reason we don’t preach ourselves is very simple: We cannot change a single life. Think of an unbelieving person you have been praying for. Are you able to change his or her life? No. So what do we do? We proclaim Jesus as Lord.
It’s disturbing when professing Christians talk a lot about God, but hardly ever about Jesus. Maybe you’ve had the experience of picking up a book in a Christian bookstore. You browse through it and read remarkable stories of lives that have been transformed from radical dysfunction.
As you skim the pages, you keep reading things like, “I felt God’s presence,” and “I asked God into my life,” but you cannot find a single reference to Jesus Christ. You have no doubt that the change in these folks’ lives was real. But was it Christian?
It is a great tragedy that in our time it is possible to attend a Christian church and hear little or nothing in the preaching about Jesus Christ; to attend Sunday school and learn Bible stories, but not to know that they are all there to teach us about Jesus Christ.
Satan is comfortable when churches talk generally about “having God in your life.” That plays right into his strategy of saying that all religions get you to the same place, and it keeps people blind to the unique glory of Jesus Christ.
Paul says, “Our ministry is to exalt Jesus Christ, to lift him up as Savior, Lord, and God.” Why? Because we can’t change the world. Only Christ can do that. That is why we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord.
Reflect on the words that you are saying when you share with an unbeliever. Do you lean toward proclaiming yourself or exalting Jesus as Lord?