Good Preacher, Sermon

This morning I heard one of the nicest compliments a preacher can hear.

An individual, who has been a preacher himself, told me that I was the only preacher he's heard who NEVER took a Bible passage out of context to suit my own purposes.

That's high praise for a preacher's integrity, as it's something that you could easily do on accident. If a police officer got out of a ticket because of his position, you can usually see that as a minor offense that doesn't necessarily reflect on his integrity (unless he abuses this over and over again).

But misusing a scripture as you're passionately trying to make an argument is an error much easier to commit. I'm sure I probably have made that mistake more than once but for a careful, intelligent listener to offer that praise… I'm flattered beyond words.

A preacher often hears nice compliments and platitudes – my all-time favorite is, "good preacher, sermon" – but this one really humbled me.

Thank you.