Currently, I am reflecting on a book of biographies I am just about to finish reading. It is 'God's Generals - The Revivalists' and it details the amazing lives and ministries of some key men of God from the early 1700's onwards. One chapter is about George Whitefield, who was a remarkable man and preached in the UK and America at the same time as the Wesley's.
Whitefield was, by all accounts, a remarkable preacher and a pioneer in evangelism. He was the first in his time to preach in the fields, something which the Wesleys and others then went on to copy. He had been ordained at 22 and quickly became known across Londan as the 'boy preacher'. However, it was not long before pulpits were closed to him because of his affiliations with 'methodism'. His passion for the lost would not deter him from preaching so he preached wherever he could. He began travelling up and down the country finding suitable feilds to preach in. As his fame grew the crowds gathered to hear him would be vast, the most conservative estimate of some crowds was 10,000, while other claimed it was 30,000.
When crowds came to see Whitefield what they saw was a small, round faced, cross eyed man but what they heard was one who 'preached like a lion'. Whitefield grew up wityh a love of the theatre. he read plays as a teenager, learning the lines and practising his delivery. he learned how to project hs voice so that he could be heard over vast distances. His sermons where dramatic, entertaining but always convicted people of their need of the free grace of God. Someone once said that they would give £100 to just be able to say 'oh' like Whitefield! As Whitefield preached the power of God would fall on those who were searching for Christ and hundred's would be saved. People would be crying out, falling to the floor and weeping hysterically as the presence of God filled their lives.
His journals and the journals of others of his day tell of how crowds would gather hours before Whiteield was to preach. One writer tells of how he was going to hear Whitefield and as he approached the twon all he could see what what looked like fog over the town. As he got nearer he realised it was dust from the countless feet and horses hooves of those gathering to hear Whitefield.
We live in an age when the spoken word seems to have become overlooked. I was reading a column in the Independant the other week that looked at our current politicians and asked where are the great orators. Were are the people who can capture our imagination by the power of speech. Have we become so tied to soundbites and Twittering that we have forgotten how to use the spoken word. Some people say that preaching is coming to an end, that new media will overtake preaching. Yet even now as people become immersed in new forms of communication what I see are people who are also desperate to hear a real person speak (aren't you tired of automated telephone answering systems!!). The Church mustn't give up on preaching as some would have us do. Of course we need to adapt our style to the current age and the current need, pretty much as Whitefiled did, but we need to preach boldly, courageously and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
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