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Biblical preaching was God-centered, sin-exposing, self-convicting and life-challenging-- the direct opposite of today's light, informal sermons that Christianize self-help and entertain better than they convict. 

There are so many illustrations in today's market-sensitive sermons that the hearer forgets the biblical truth that is being illustrated; so many personal anecdotes that they hearer knows the pastor better than she knows Christ; so many human-interest stories that listening to the sermon is easier than reading the Sunday paper; so practical that there is hardly anything to practice.

No wonder nominal Christians leave church feeling upbeat. Their self-esteem is safely intact. Their minds and hearts have been sparked and soothed with sound-bite theology, Christian maxims and a few practical pointers dealing with self-esteem, kids or work. But the question remains: has the Word of God been effectively and faithfully proclaimed, penetrating comfort zones and the veneer of self-satisfaction with the truth of Jesus Christ? 

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Douglas D. Webster

Copied from John F. MacArhut's "Ashamed of the Gospel" - pg. 121