Where are the Beautiful Preachers?
I don’t say this enough, but those who preach the good news are the most beautiful people on earth.
Just imagine how different your life would be if someone hadn’t told you the good news of God’s grace. I was raised as a PK (a Pastor’s Kid), so it was inevitable that I heard the gospel early. But some people live their whole lives without hearing the good news. How sad is that?
If you know that God provides salvation, healing, and deliverance, it is because someone was kind enough to tell you. How grateful we are that someone brought us the good news of the God who loves us, accepts us and makes us his own.
How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” (Romans 10:15)
“How beautiful” is an expression that means “How welcome” or “Thank God you came!” I imagine this was the reaction that Peter experienced at the house of Cornelius (Acts 10:44–45) or Paul got in the house of the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:31–34).
Maybe you have seen this reaction in others. Maybe you told someone the good news and they said, “Thank you, I really needed to hear that.” In that moment, you were a beautiful preacher.
Beautiful good news preachers
Imagine a world full of beautiful preachers. Imagine behind every pulpit there is a beautiful preacher preaching good news of good things. Imagine every time you sit next to a believer on a plane, you hear about the kindness of God. Imagine on every street corner or social media feed there are people proclaiming God’s grace.
It’s hard to imagine, right?
So here’s my question: Considering all the Christians in the world, why aren’t there more beautiful preachers? The answer is in the verse:
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!
A beautiful preacher brings good news of good things. They do not bring bad news of bad things. They do not preach condemnation, damnation, and judgment.
“Good things” are the blessings of God that are revealed in the gospel: his unconditional love, radical acceptance, the complete forgiveness of all our sins, the gift of righteousness, peace, joy, intimacy, fruitfulness, and eternal life. These are the good things proclaimed by beautiful preachers.
Ugly bad news preachers
There was a time in my life when I thought that people would not appreciate the good news unless I first told them the bad news. So I became a bad news preacher. I preached bad things like guilt and condemnation. Then I realized something – the world does not need more bad news.
Jesus said, “Preach the good news in every nation.” He did not say, “But preach the bad news first.”
Now I tell people the good news of God’s good things. I tell people how much God cares for them and what he has done for them. I tell them about the love of God revealed in Jesus.
Some people get upset when I do this. They say, “You’re not telling them the whole picture.” “You haven’t mentioned sin, guilt, or punishment.” “You’ve said nothing about hell and judgment.”
I want to reply, “Those are bad things. They are not good things.” Instead, I usually say, “There’s no bad news in the good news” and leave it at that.
So, two takeaways:
First, take care who you listen to. Beware the ugly feet of those who preach condemnation, damnation, and judgment. It’s true that Jesus occasionally spoke of judgment to self-righteous people who thought they knew God’s heart better than he did. But most of the time, Jesus revealed grace. He preached good news of good things to people who were hurting.
Second, if you want to be a more beautiful preacher – one who bears the fragrance of Christ – make two lists. Make a list of good things (all the blessings of God that are ours in Christ) and a list of bad things. Then, when you talk to people, only use the first list.
“But Paul, how will people know about sin and guilt if I don’t tell them?”
They already know. Most people know they are not perfect. Most people live with constant reminders of their weaknesses and flaws. They don’t need you to tell them they are broken. They need to hear that God loves them just as they are, that he accepts them, and that he can heal them and make them whole.
Whether you are on a pulpit or a plane, whether you have a platform or a page, tell people the good news of good things.
Do that, and you will be a beautiful preacher.
—
Did you know we have recently added 100,000 more words to The Grace Commentary? The Grace Commentary is your go-to resource for grace-based Bible study. Add it to your home screen today.
Did you know there are nearly 1,000 FREE articles about grace here on E2R?
Escape to Reality 
Bingo. Where are the beautiful preachers of good news? Boy, you were right on point today? We have been from church to church to church looking for good news but have not found it! We just were slapped on the hand by the most recent church we attended for posting good news gospel posts on social media that did not support the pastor’s drive and demand to reach this “holiness” level cuz in his opinion, then and only then, could God dwell with us! We are feeling so defeated and discouraged right now! We honestly cannot find a true gospel church (grace church) here in WA state (and we’ve looked at the two that are supposed to be-they aren’t). But this message was encouraging to my heart this morning. Thank you!
Thank you for the comment, Heidi. I know a lot of people share your discouragement. I wonder if you have seen my article, “How to find a grace Bible church.”
Thank you for sharing that link. I believe there are two on his list in Washington (or anywhere near us); it’s so discouraging. We’ve listened to sermons via YouTube at both, and they seemed pretty heavy on “behavior is what it’s all about.” Because it seems to be so outside the box to be a heavy on grace, one can internally doubt the beauty of the grace of God is as good as we believe, because it isn’t what mainstream Christianity believes. You feel like,” we must have something wrong if we don’t align with the mainstream.” We certainly feel alone and isolated. But we are determined to stand firm, even if we have to stand alone. That is not an easy thing to say. 😦
Wow! Amazing.
Thanks for your encouragement to be a Beautiful Preacher, and for the reminder to be grateful for the Beautiful Preachers who have touched my life – you are one of them
Thank you Paul, I really needed to hear that”.💕
In an otherwise very good and encouraging article by Dr. Ellis, he states that beautiful preachers should not preach condemnation, guilt, and damnation. I wholeheartedly agree.
However, I respectfully disagree with his statement of not giving out the bad news. We live in a broken world of evil, suffering, and pain. Christianity is on a rescue mission to give out the Good News of the Gospel. The beautiful preacher needs to tell a lost unbeliever the bad news of sin, Satan, and hell, and that Jesus came to rescue the lost person to eternal life with Him in heaven. That person must be told what he will be SAVED FROM, before the Good News tells him what he will be SAVED TO, when he accepts and receives the saving grace of Jesus.
A beautiful preacher must speak the whole TRUTH of God’s word in LOVE, as _____ so well demonstrated in his evangelistic missions. There is, however, no place for a critical, condemning, judgmental, or holier than thou attitude in presenting the WHOLE STORY of God’s redemptive plan.
Your second paragraph contradicts your first. You can’t preach sin and hell without preaching guilt, condemnation and judgment. You can’t preach bad news and call it good news. Yes, many great evangelists were preachers of condemnation and judgment and I used to do it myself. But that’s not how Jesus and the Apostles preached the gospel.
I always appreciate Dr. Ellis’s comments, and I did not intend to convey any contradictions to my statements. I believe beautiful preachers can warn unbelievers of the impending dangers of sin and hell (bad news) and still NOT have an attitude that produces guilt, condemnation, and judgment… If the beautiful preachers, who are ambassadors of Jesus and children of God, do not warn and explain the bad news/Good News and the rescue plan available in Jesus, who is going to do it?
As I say in the article, people already know they are broken, imperfect and lost. Who tells them? The world, the devil, the law, their consciences, their teachers, their bosses, the six o’clock news, their addictions, their rap sheets, and sometimes their pastors. Why do we need to add our voices to this constant chorus of criticism and condemnation?
Jesus said, “Preach the good news.” We should do what Jesus says. Darkness is everywhere, but we can shine a light.
Thank you for your encouraging words, Paul. I absolutely and completely love this paragraph regarding the “bad things”:
It is hard enough to not look at what we think are our flaws when we KNOW the truth…..how much more difficult when we don’t. Telling people the GOOD NEWS of God’s love is such a blessing and so much easier than starting with how messed up they are.