PREACHING AND TEACHING GOD'S WAY -- Devotional for August 18, from "Good Seeds"

Because the Preacher was wise, he taught the people everything he knew. He used proverbs to nail down important truths, which he collected and classified for easy reference. This Preacher was not only a wise man, but also a good teacher, not just spouting facts, but presenting truth in an interesting manner. His teaching served as a goad to spur his listeners to action. (Ecclesiastes 12:9-11)

Solomon was a man with his feet in two different worlds: his vocation was King, but his avocation was “Wisdom Czar.” It’s interesting that his first responsibility, ruling Israel, was not his first love; he much preferred to dabble in his hobby of collecting, creating and compiling tidbits of practical wisdom, which became the Bible book of Proverbs. But there’s a sad note here: though known as the wisest man who ever lived, he sometimes failed to put that wisdom into practice in the most crucial areas of his life. Oh he was a wise and good king, to be sure, and Israel knew only peace, prosperity and popularity among the nations during his rule, but when Rehoboam succeeded the throne, it seems Daddy didn’t prove to be the role model his son needed to sustain the nation, especially in the ways of God (I Kings 12). Solomon’s life is a proverb for us all: Beware the tendency to fall and fail in the area of your greatest strength. Solomon had great genius, and found great joy, in collecting and creating these little microcosms of good advice for wise living. Though a king, he preferred the moniker of “Preacher.” If he could have written his own tombstone epitaph, it might have sounded something like this: “Here lies Solomon, son of David, Preacher of truth, Collector of proverbs, and Wisdom-Librarian of Israel.” And then he would have written what we find in Ecclesiastes 12:9-11. He wrote autobiographically and, because he was the king, permitted himself to speak a bit arrogantly, too. But in these words he succinctly describes not only his own job description, but that of any preacher or teacher worth his salt. It has five parts: 1) His focus is warm bodies, not cold facts: a teacher is a people person; 2) He is not stingy with truth: “Woe unto me if I share not God’s wisdom!” It is a teacher’s legitimate compulsion to teach, for as long as he has breath; 3) He knows how to find the root-truth and then to compact it into a marketable seed containing in kernel form all its related nuances and applications; 4) he makes learning fun and exciting, using stories and colorful metaphors; 5) he knows his teaching is all for naught if it doesn’t result in the re-training of behavior: we don’t just fill heads, we touch hearts and put hands to work! I have this passage on display right next to my computer screen, to remind me, while preparing for teaching and preaching, why I do it, and how to do it God’s way.