"Why don't pastors preach from the Old Testament?"
The question came from the chairman of the pulpit committee of a large and growing church. In their search for a new pastor, they had interviewed the top tier of candidates, only to discover a disconcerting fact. "None of them preach from the Old Testament," the chairman said. "So far we have interviewed fifteen men and none of them preach from the Old Testament. Why is that?" he wondered.
I was a bit baffled by the question, and after considering it, I concluded that the fifteen men meant that they never preach an extended series from the Old Testament. It's hard for me to believe that a pastor would decide to skip over 75% of the Bible. Perhaps the sample was askew. I have no idea who the fifteen men were, or what age they were, or where they were trained. And I confess that I had never heard of a church asking a prospective candidate, "Do you preach from the Old Testament?"
But it does raise other questions. Is it true that evangelical pastors ignore the Old Testament in their preaching? If so, is this a recent trend? And more to the point, if it is true, why don't pastors preach from the Old Testament?
Here are the thoughts that came to me:
I assume that the Christian pastor will spend the majority of his time preaching from the New Testament. That's understandable. But to ignore 75 percent of the Bible is to rob your congregation of the riches of God's Word.
In the end, I don't know if this is an aberration or an actual trend. If it's true that our pastors don't preach the Old Testament, it can't be a good thing.
Is it true that pastors today don’t preach from the Old Testament? If so, why?
You can reach the author at ray@keepbelieving.com. Click here to sign up for the free weekly email sermon.
Dr. Ray Pritchard is the president of Keep Believing Ministries and author of And When You Pray. He has ministered extensively overseas and is a frequent conference speaker and guest on Christian radio and television talk shows. He has authored over 27 books, including Credo, The Healing Power of Forgiveness, An Anchor for the Soul, and Why Did This Happen to Me?