Under the Gunn

The Best Preacher

“For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren … that there are contentions among you.” —1 Corinthians 1:11

It was over preachers that these brethren were arguing. And the question in dispute was who was the best preacher of the time. Some contended that Paul was the best, some said Apollos, and some claimed Peter. We frequently hear in our time similar contentions as to the relative merits of preachers.

The best sermons are not those preached in pulpits. Benjamin Franklin said, “None preaches better than the ant, and she says nothing.” Example is more forceful than precept. People look at my life six days in the week to see what I mean by what I preach on the seventh. The best sermons are good and noble lives.

St. Francis once said to a brother, “Come, let us go out and preach.” They walked out, and St. Francis gave bread to the poor and smiles to all but did not speak a word. When they came home, his brother said, “But we did not preach.” “Yes,” said St. Francis, “for men have looked at us. We preach by our looks and acts.”

Horace Mann points out, “Christ never wrote a tract, but He went about doing good.” Pulpit preaching may be beneficial, but the preaching we do through our lives and deeds is far more effective. “I am satisfied that we are less convinced by what we hear than by what we see,” wrote Herodotus. Said William Ellery Channing, “Precept is instruction written in sand, the tide flows over it and the record is gone. Example is graven on the rock, and the lesson is not soon lost.”

He who attracts others to the better life and leads the way by example, whether clergyman or layman, is—the best preacher!