A Discerning Preacher

"And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able." - 1 Corinthians 3:1-2

I believe that Paul was a Spirit led preacher. When he preached God's Word, He was preaching exactly what God wanted him to preach and how God wanted Him to preach it. That is truly the goal for any preacher.

I've heard people criticize preachers for not preaching the "meat" of the Word. I am not saying that there is never any room for criticism like that, but I am saying that there are circumstances where that criticism carries no weight. Paul found himself in that position in Corinth.

Paul was speaking to Christians. He called them "brethren" in vs. 1. He spoke of the time he had invested preaching to them in vs. 2 where he said, "I have fed you with milk..." It's kind of nice to know that everybody Paul preached to didn't mature into super Christians after just a week or two of ministry. Paul was dealing with people just like preachers today deal with people. The spiritual maturity process takes time.

Paul had already preached to them the "milk" of the Word and he says at the end of vs. 2 that they still weren't ready for the "meat." Just because somebody has tasted the "milk," doesn't mean they're ready for the "meat." Paul literally said he "could not speak" to them as "spiritual" in vs. 1. But hadn't they already heard the milk? Yes, but that didn't mean they were spiritual. When Paul said that he "could not speak" to them as mature Christians, that does not refer to his inability to do so. He was perfectly capable of preaching to them the "meat" of God's Word through the power of the Spirit. That statement referred to the fact that the Spirit would not let him. Like I said before, Paul was most definitely a Spirit led preacher. I'm afraid that some Christians I know would have criticized Paul for not preaching the "meat" of the Word to these believers.

Believe me, there is such a thing as lazy preachers. Studying for messages is one of the hardest things I've ever done. There is a temptation to slack in that area. Every preacher is tempted in that area. Pray for your preacher.

The truth is that, to a certain degree, we determine what we're going to get from the preaching of God's Word. God knows if we need the "milk" or the "meat." God knows if we are "spiritual" or "carnal." Instead of criticizing a preacher for the content of his message or your perceived lack thereof, why not ask yourself if God gave him that message because of your spiritual condition? It's possible that He is Spirit led in his preaching, even though you may think he's not.