Preaching Towards Maturity

John Schroeder of Blogotional responds to some discussion relating to an earlier post, in his latest. The discussion uncovered the dynamic "tension" (in a constructive sense) between how we can preach the Wisdom Literature (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job) "in a way that leads believers towards maturity, but also avoids legalistic moralism and accounts for the fact that Christ has come?"

I am very new to attempting to teach or preach anything, but already I can see the outlines of this dynamic tension. I especially appreciated John's thoughfulness and wisdom on this point, as he concludes:

The "Grand Unified Field Theory" of Christianity is the Holy Spirit. He ties together the seemingly contradictory strings of grace and the law. So, if I am preaching on Proverbs, I will invoke the Holy Spirit in prayer at the beginning and end of each sermon. I will ask the Holy Spirit to specifically indwell us all and to unify the tension. I would avoid the common, but meaningful, "May the words of my mouth and meditations of our hearts...," and say, "Holy Spirit, keep us ever mindful that you call us to grace and behavior. Create in us the proper balance between the lessons of Proverbs and the grace of the cross."

But most of all, I would preach boldly on Proverbs. It needs to be done.

I am grateful for experienced practioners such as John, to help us younger in ministry to benefit from his experience.

Rad the whole thing.