"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe." (1 Corinthians 1:18-21) We know that God's word is His power to save (Romans 1:16). That word is used to edify brethren (Acts 20:32). This being the case, how can some say that less preaching can accomplish these goals! Allow me to continue.

Pulpit Preaching. Generally speaking, what kind of preaching are brethren, requesting in our day? They want more stories, more of a positive slant, less Scripture, and shorter sermons. Modern-day preachers are judged more by sermon length than contents. Is this my personal opinion? I recently visited two churches that were preparing to hire new preachers. What was the first question out of the box? "How long do you preach?" In both cases, they were looking for men who spoke 25-30 minutes. Why? To shorten services so the members could get out earlier! Those asking these questions were the elders of the churches. Sadly, even in local work I've noticed that members grumble when the preacher speaks too long. How long is too long? Anything over 35 minutes is too long! Are they suggesting that less is better? Please understand. I'm not suggesting that preachers should just go on forever. My own sermons average between 40-45 minutes. Too long?

Gospel Meetings. When I was young, meetings lasted a week or ten days. We had morning and evening services. Also, members from local congregations attended those meetings. Most church have spring and fall meetings. For many years, they lasted from Sunday through Sunday; then they went from Sunday through Friday. Now, three days (week-end meetings) is the popular length. Again, people seem to believe that less is better. We seem to be sold on the idea that outsiders are just too busy to attend meetings. Truth be knows, it's the local church members who are too busy to attend our own meetings, let alone to support another church's meetings and be edified.

In our local area, we see the same people attending the meetings. In the local church, we can count on the same members to attend every night. We are losing our spiritual appetites for truth! We lead busy lives, but are we too busy to feed our souls and reach out to the lost in our communities? I believe we are conditioning church members to accept less. How tragic that those who have the truth think that speaking it less is better!