But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. (2 Corinthians 4:2, ESV)

The motive, message, and method of preaching should never be shrouded in mystery. There are those who equate complexity and ambiguity with profundity. Preaching is telling people about all that God has revealed in the Christian faith, that is, in the Bible. And nothing about this needs to be confusing. As Paul reminds the Corinthians, “We do not write you anything you cannot read or understand” (1:13).

Indeed, Peter notes that some things in Paul’s letters are hard to understand, but he says “some things,” not most things or all things, and he says “hard to understand,” and not impossible to understand. He writes that “ignorant and unstable” people distort them to their own destruction. Since Christians do not need to be ignorant and unstable, and since Christians have received the same Holy Spirit that the apostles received, it is possible for a believer to, at least in principle, grasp all that the Scripture teaches. And there is no reason why our preaching should obscure the plain truth of divine revelation.

True Christian preaching, therefore, ought to be honest, clear, and easy to understand. This is the foundation to any legitimate homiletic theory. And by this conception of preaching, every believer should be able to communicate the gospel to his neighbors. There are indeed tactics that could manipulate the audience or exploit the personalities and backgrounds of the hearers so that one may gain influence over them. But once there is any element of deception, the whole exercise is no longer working toward its proper goal.

We do not want people to just call themselves Christians – that is not what we are after at all; rather, we want people to be changed in their hearts, to believe something new and wonderful, and to become Christians, to call themselves such because they are such. We wish to present to the Lord Jesus genuine and intelligent disciples, people who understand the Christian faith and believe that it is true, and that it is the only way to salvation and the only way to live.

For the same reason, we reject violence as a means to make disciples or to silence our opponents. This is not because violence is wrong in itself. There is some confusion about this that muddies many discussions on religion and society. Now and then Christians are challenged by their opponents regarding the apparent atrocities that the Old Testament saints committed against other nations. Why do Christians endorse this behavior in the ancient people, and if they do endorse it, why do they say it is unacceptable for the propagation of the gospel?

If Christians take up the groundless assumption that violence is wrong in itself, then they leave themselves open to all kinds of criticisms against the Old Testament saints, against the death penalty, against self-defense, against corporal punishment in parenting, and so on. But all criticisms against the Christian faith are defective, and this one is no exception. God told the Old Testament saints to kill the people so they can seize the promised land, and not to spread their faith. It was performed by a nation at war with other nations, and not by the church as a spiritual entity or by individual believers acting on their own. God had decided to expel the idol-worshiping heathens – their false religions were the true atrocities – and he fulfilled his promise concerning the land by granting victory to Israel. Later, God expelled the Jews themselves, and now Christians are God’s people, and we do not fight for a land because our kingdom is spiritual.

The violence of the Old Testament saints is in this sense unrelated to the Christian agenda. Likewise, when we execute a criminal, it is not an attempt to convert his soul by that act, as if we wish to threaten him into the faith. It is a separate issue from gospel preaching. We want people to believe in their hearts, and not merely put on an appearance. Thus the use of violence is not only against God’s command, but it is also powerless to obtain the result that we seek. The same applies to the use of tricks and gimmicks, flatteries and appeals to men’s sinful desires. Either you want the wrong thing, or you will not get what you want by any other method than plain speech.

We set forth the message of the gospel as a matter of truth and error, and of righteousness and wickedness. Thus we drive it into men’s minds that this is about right and wrong. We appeal to their conscience, and not to their wallets, or their appetites and sensuous desires. The propagation of the gospel is not a matter of oratory finesse, of politic maneuvering, of cultural relevance or social standing. It is a plain expression of truth that we deliver before God and toward men – unadulterated with ambition and unencumbered with human philosophy. This work is open to all believers. Any Christian can tell someone about the Lord Jesus Christ in strong and honest language, and expect the Holy Spirit to come in great power and conviction.