Listening to Topics or Christ?

A lot of popular preaching is topical - right living, Obama-bashing, homespun philosophy and man-made rules. The weakness of topical preaching is that it is overdone and Christ is underdone. We are more fond our ideologies than Christ. The result is more law and less grace. Listening to a half hour of Christian radio, we often learn things like 10 rules to be a better parent, 7 ways to be a better husband and 12 ways to keep our teenagers pure. All those things may be useful, but they leave us exhausted and weary. When are we ever going to be able to measure up to such standards, such expectations, such do's and don'ts? What we need is more of Christ, not another list of unnattainable rules. The best preaching is teaching what Christ taught. What we need is salvation and peace, and we can only find that in Christ.