Plain Preaching

Paul says this in 1 Cor 2:1–5:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Corinth was known as a city that loved its rhetoric; the finesse, eloquence and polish of its public speakers. As a Greek city, it also loved philosophy and knowledge. Coming into town as a missionary Paul could have adopted such practices to have wooed the crowds, but he didn’t. Instead he preached rather plainly, or rather than what the world wanted to hear, he preached Christ crucified. Didn’t he shoot himself in the foot by this practice? Not at all, by speaking the truth plainly he allowed room for the Holy Spirit to move through his message in power so their faith didn’t rest on Paul but on the Lord.

Today, amongst liberal and evangelical preachers, there has long been a trend to be like the culture in preaching style: use lots of jokes, entertain, be a motivational speaker, conceal the hard truths like hell or sex, all to win over their audiences. Not a few disenchanted Christians have expressed their disgust with me over this trend. Now being winsome as a preacher is good; but to conform to the expectations of a culture is exhausting, and unless you’re a natural jokster, untrue to who you are. Most of all, however, it gets in the way of preaching the plain truth, expounding Scripture, telling people about Jesus. Ultimately it doesn't nourish souls with the truth. In preaching, the preacher must decrease so Christ might increase.
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Related: A Painful Preacher of the Truth