PREACHERS SHOULD BE PURISTS

By definition, a purist is “a person who advocates the strictest application of the principles or standards in any field, or who insists on purity in language, style, etc."

A purist is someone who believes that there is a right way to do a thing and a wrong way to do it.  They don’t believe in, nor will they tolerate, even the suggestion of revision, abridgement or adaptation. They are people who “meddle not with them who are given to change,” and who are convinced, that, most always,  in their particular areas of labor, “The old is better” (Prov. 24:21; Luke 5:39).

Shakespeareans are purists. They would find any improvision or playing fast and loose otherwise with the works of William Shakespeare to be a ridiculous proposition and something almost if not altogether criminal. Constitutionalists are purists in their belief that the Constitution is a dead document, not a living one that is still growing and subject to change. Constitutionalists are originalists who believe the Constitution should be interpreted and understood according to the original intent of the Founding Fathers who framed it. Purists can be found in almost every field of endeavor. 

But purists are getting harder and harder to find in one field where they ought to be completely dominant. That field is preaching. A purist in this field is a man who believes that to “preach the Word” means to preach as much of God’s word, and as little of man’s words, as possible when preaching. We understand that God uses the different personalities of men to His own glory, and that the Holy Spirit may lead men to bring out humor, an use certain illustrations as they preach. But the amount of this compared to the amount of Scriptural content in so many sermons today, makes one wonder how much preaching is Holy Spirit driven today, and how much of it is of human contrivance and driven strictly by human imagination.

Preachers who are purists stick with the Scriptures as much as possible. Their fear of God prevents them from substituting what they want to say for what God wants said when they are preaching. They don’t talk about having “winged it” of how much “fun” they had when preaching. They aren’t interested in being clever, getting laughs or in any way calling attention to themselves. They are intense, and intentional concerning their duty to God and to man to “preach the Word.” And they ought to be.

People are not helped by preachers with merely an interesting entertaining delivery or by“presentations” that are Scripture-lite and flesh-heavy. People are helped by the Word of God. It is their “necessary food” a “lamp to their feet and a light to their path” and the “sword of the Spirit” indispensable to there day to day victory over the world, the flesh and the devil (Job 23:12; Ps. 119:105; Eph.  6:17). 

Jeremiah 6:16 says “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls." “I’m afraid that there are a great many preachers today who need to take this to heart. Sadly far too many, where biblical standards for preaching are concerned, have said, “We will not walk therein.”

I say it as kindly as I can, but also sincerely — Preachers who aren’t purists ought to get out of pulpits and stay out of them. Preachers should judge themselves according to how much of a purist they are when it comes to their preaching. See 1 Cor. 2:15; 11:31; James 3:1.