When words are vague confusion results. If I'm told to go to the store, it's highly probable that I'll go to the wrong one.

Here's a phrase that seems impossibly vague: "preach the word" (2 Timothy 4:2). What exactly is "the word"? Is it the Bible in general? Something to do with Jesus? A message handed down from one person to another?

I well remember the time several years ago when I was especially struggling with what should be the content of the messages I would preach. The phrase, "preach the word", was strongly impressed upon me; enough so that I printed these words on a banner that I prominently displayed over my study desk as a reminder.

Slow learner that I am, it has taken approximately fifteen years to come to terms with the meaning of "the word" that I am called to proclaim. I've learned that this "word" is used in John 1:1-2 and refers to the plan of God, of which Jesus is a part but not exclusively. Many people mistakenly believes that Jesus is synonymous with "word" in that passage.

I have also learned that this "word" is found in an important teaching of Jesus in Matthew 13:19 - "When anyone hears THE WORD of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in the heart".

I see that the "word of the kingdom" is closely connected with the plan of God, which involves Jesus, the Living Word. That helps me see why the focus of preaching and teaching in the Book of Acts was on "the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ" (Acts 8:12; 28:23,31).

The key lesson here is that we need to know what we're talking about. Just like the specifics of the store that I might be told to go to, I also need to know the specifics of this "word" that I'm called to proclaim.

Each of us are called to "preach (proclaim) the word" in some way. Doesn't it make sense to be sure that we are clear on that "word" before we go out to declare it? Take it from a slow learner of fifteen years, it does.

Steve