How Do You Preach?

"...preach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people."
- Mosiah 18:20

The Guide to the Scriptures defines "Preach" as such:

"To give a message that provides a better understanding of a gospel principle or doctrine."

On my mission, there would be an emphasis on the presentation, the behaviour, the speech, and the countenance of the missionary. Such an emphasis was summed up with this coined saying: "the messenger is the message."

It is a spirit of, "how you speak, how you behave, and how you look, gives a message of who you are.

An extreme case can illustrate this principle.

How would we all feel if a prophet stood at the pulpit in General Conference, dressed in board shorts and a singlet, rapping and dancing to us?

As borderline inappropriate as a hypothetical consideration it may be, all people can vary in the integrity of appearance, conversation and behaviour towards their devotion to God.

Thus, in this scripture, I would like to focus on speech.

Now, the scripture says "preach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord..."

Why only faith and repentance?

Well, consider disobeying this rule, and preaching otherwise.

What is otherwise?

If otherwise from faith and repentance, then it is not faith, or not repentance.

To preach things not of faithfulness, but to preach not faith, or against faith, is to preach against its definition.

Faith is a belief in the true things which are unseen and not witnessed. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for.

Thus, to preach against faith is to preach in not having assurances, in not believing, in not hoping, or having the false, worldly hope that leads to disappointment in the inability to choose how life will go.

Granted, we do have times of temptation to doubt, sometimes feeling heavier than we can bear. Like in all things, God is pleased with any progression, and is patient over the time we reach for perfection.

Even the world's sciences and psychology has enough evidence to accept that faith in general has a vital role in life's success. Similarly, a faith that brings about divine results must be a faith in God, who is the source of all things divine for us.

Repentance is "A change of mind and heart that brings a fresh attitude toward God, oneself, and life in general. Repentance implies that a person turns away from evil and turns his heart and will to God, submitting to God’s commandments and desires and forsaking sin" (Guide to the Scriptures).

To not preach repentance is to, in every word, have a heart turned to God. It is a positive and faithful outlook on life, understanding how the Atonement works in one's every moment of life.

Thus, faith in Christ feeds an attitude of repentance.

In our speech, we ought to communicate a message and emotion of our belief that Christ lives, that we love Him, and that we have a testimony of God.