Preaching As Though We Had Enemies

Wow!
The virtue of humility is deeply convictional and relationally costly rather than what some put forth as being compromising and cowardly.

Stanley Hauerwas postulates that if we Proclaim Truth with certitude, we are likely to be accused of being arrogant and authoritarian.

You mean I have been preaching with "humility" all these years?

[rgh]

"Humility derives not from the presumption that no one knows the truth, but rather is a virtue dependent on our confidence that God’s word is truthful and good.

Ironically, in the world in which we live if you preach with such humility you will more than likely be accused of being arrogant and authoritarian.

To be so accused is a sign that the enemy has been engaged. After all, the enemy (who is often enough ourselves) does not like to be reminded that the narratives that constitute our lives are false.

Moreover, you had better be ready for a fierce counteroffensive as well as be prepared to take some casualties. God has not promised us safety, but participation in an adventure called the Kingdom. That seems to me to be great good news in a world that is literally dying of boredom."


—Stanley Hauerwas, “Preaching As Though We Had Enemies,” First Things (May 1995), 45-49.