The Making of a Preacher -Prep

Preaching the Unsearchable Riches of Christ

As a child, the refusal to take life seriously was pretty easy for Matthew Marks. His dad took care of all of the "hard stuff." The little dark figure of Lazarus Watyudid was relatively easy to dismiss as "just somebody I don't know." He could always hide behind his dad for added security.

The lost of his dad made Matt begin to see just how vulnerable he was, but he soon turned his attention to girls. Being distracted by girls required very little effort because, "after all, they're easy on the eyes." Matt had many "girlfriends" during his teen years, but of these were merely "cute little flirts," some, who didn't seem to mind sharing a little peck of a kiss from time to time. Necking with girls did seem to deaden the pain of the loss of his dad at times.

During his times "hanging out" with various and sundry girls, Lazarus didn't seem to be around. Maybe he was playing matchmaker because everybody knows that one of the quickest way to make a Christian in general (and a preacher in specific) to fall from grace in the eyes of the public is to make him or her compromise morally. Rarely does the payload dump on the servant of The Lord, immediately. Lazarus and his friends all know, it's best to wait until the Christian becomes famous and influential, then you can make your quarry take a nose-dive into his own offensive-smelling stuff with interest. The collateral damage will create an extreme payoff of investment for the Kingdom of Darkness.

As Lazarus would often instruct his students, "Let your pigeon get away with moral compromise time and again. Let him think there are no consequences. Be like the casino owner, who lets the compulsive gambler win hand after hand or roll after roll, when the house's money is thin, then 'pull the rug out from under him' and 'take him to the cleaners.' Only in your case keep extreme records of every time a 'good man' is morally bad. When he gets too big, and you've got one of our guys waiting in the wings, then slam your pigeon to the ground, and laugh when he cries. You will have done your job."

As I said Matt loved the fairer sex, but one day he met Artista. She had charisma in every way, physically, mentally/emotionally and spiritually. He started to think that "This is the one for me!" They dated nearly two years. He proposed. She accepted. They were married about three months before her twentieth birthday.

The honeymoon period of maybe a couple of years was intense. Matt couldn't imagine looking at another woman until internet sidebar ads flashed some amazing "honeys" before his eyes. Soon his resistance failed. Short-term pleasure. Long-term guilt. "I'm doing this all by myself. Where are you, Lazarus? This seems like your work." "I'm all around you, Preacher Boy. No worries," Laz chuckled under his breath.

Matt enjoyed his dalliances into "personal pleasure," until the day that Artista reviewed his computer History Log. The scene wasn't pleasant. No longer could he hide. His promises to change were sincere in his mind, but the clutches of Lazarus Watyudid were still firmly digging into his mind. This "on again/off again" cycle of deep sin, then repentance to walk the straight & narrow, back to sin & then repentance was wearing the commitment of the marriage very thin.

As a last-ditch effort, Matt & Artista contacted a deliverance ministry and booked themselves into a weekend retreat to deal with these unwanted "riders."

Life is world's better after that weekend. Moral expressions in the Christian life increase. Moral temptations become "a bad taste in the mouth." Life is good for many years after that weekend of victory.

All of that changed when Artista contracted a terminal illness, passing away shortly before Easter that year.

After a few days of grief, who should show up again but Lazarus Watyudid, hoping to find a renewed receptivity.

Alone and vulnerable, Matt said, "Yes!" to his nemesis once again, spiraling downwards, morally, mentally/emotionally and spiritually, until The Lord stepped in with His climax of breakdowns for the purpose of restoring his servant to the place of usefulness. This is the ultimate point of the whole story. The world needs to learn this one thing. "For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." (Romans 11:29, KJV) In layman's terms this means that when The Lord chooses a man to "preach the unsearchable riches of Christ," (Ephesians 3:8, KJV) he will ultimately "preach the unsearchable riches of Christ," whether he likes it or not. (Remember Jonah?) The Lord may take his preacher through the crucible of public shame like he did Jim Bakker, but when it is time to write the book, I Was Wrong, then you know that The Lord still intends to speak His Message through that preacher.

God calls preachers. Preachers do not call themselves.