How do I know if God was glorified and if He did a work in my soul through a particular message from a preacher? Well....did I come away marveling at the preacher, or marveling at God? As a result of the message, am I enthralled with the man or with the Lord? Who stands out more in my mind and in my heart? Who have I been more inspired to talk about to others.....the Lord, or the preacher?
We live in a day of superstar pastors and superstar preachers. That is not to say that every pastor who preaches to large crowds is trying to impress people with his personality and his own flare. Far from it. There have been many pastors in recent years who preach to thousands of people but who are not seeking to place the spotlight on themselves. These men are excellent preachers and are simply doing what God has called and gifted them to do. They sincerely try to keep their "personal impressiveness" out of the way of what God is doing. That ability to keep the focus away from us does not come natural to us. By nature, many of us human beings enjoy the limelight and we learn over time how to perform to make it shine even brighter upon us.
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