Substance
Hungry people want substance!
Soup should not just be flavored water. There should be something in it. Give me some chunks of meat and other items of substance if you claim to feed me. A bowl of flavored broth is a drink not a meal. Granted, I am probably describing more of a stew than a soup, but when I sit down to eat, I want something of substance.
As a child of God, you should be feeding others. Your children, friends, co-workers, and anyone else you influence need to be fed truth from God. Unfortunately, most of us are probably guilty of watering things down so much that a person might not get anything out of it.
Lost souls need substance. When you teach people the things of God, they need substance. Anyone can blather about religion, but you must be prepared to present life-changing substance. This means you must study and have solid content to what you say.
Do you have a message to share?
During a military coup in King David’s day, his general needed to make a huge announcement to the king. The general selected a young man named Cushi to send the message from the scene of battle. After Cushi takes off running, another eager messenger named Ahimaaz begs the general to let him run, too. General Joab scoffs and says, “Why? You have no message to deliver!”
Ahimaaz begged, “Please, I want to go, too!”
“Go,” his boss responded, “run!”
Ahimaaz took off in a hurry. He ran so fast, he passed Cushi along the way. Soon, he was in the presence of the king. This was the big chance he had been waiting for. He fell down and greeted the king. David asked what news he brought.
Ahimaaz suddenly realized he had nothing to say. “Well, when I left the scene of battle, y’know, there was a lot of noise and stuff. Did you ever realize how loud a battle can get? I mean, it’s a big deal out there. And so, there was a lot going on and I was totally like, ‘Wow!’ Y’know, man? And so, like, it’s um going pretty good.”
“Step aside,” David ordered. Just then the Cushi came up. He informed the king they had won the war. (See II Samuel 18:21-33.)
How to get the message
Meaningful preaching and evangelism is full of content. You cannot win the world by hurrying out to the lost and rambling on with something like, “You know I want you to have a good life and things and like there is a better life possible and we should all get along and we totally need to get focused on what’s important and be, like, better people, y’know?” A person can ramble on for 30 minutes like that and say nothing!
What content do we need to be able to change people’s lives? The Bible! “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (II Timothy 3:16-17). The substance and content to your message is God’s Word.
People are hungry for content
When I preach and teach, I cannot just have a lot of emotion and hype. There has to be substance to what I say. Many church-goers today do not live any differently from non-believers. They sit and hear sermons which lack meaty substance from God’s Word. Many preachers have just become motivational speakers and churches just self-help centers.
In contrast, the Apostle Peter preached to a crowd and three thousand were added to the church that day. He didn’t get up and ramble about “stuff and things.” He gave clear and well-studied evidence that Jesus was both Lord and Christ.
Then, when people responded to the message, Peter didn’t bluff his way through that either. He had solid content! Most so-called churches today lack this simple content: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
Don’t water down the message, find the substance, and feed this hungry world.