True gospel preaching and pseudo gospel preaching

2 Corinthians 4:5 sums up the different between true gospel preaching and pseudo-gospel preaching. This verse says:

For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. (2 Cor 4:5 NIV)

First, genuine gospel preaching preaches Christ, not man. Pseudo-gospel preaching builds up the preacher, true preaching always points to Jesus. Jesus is our saviour, He is the only way of salvation. Does this mean we are not to mention ourselves at all? No. Paul does mention himself, elsewhere he calls on people to imitate him! Indeed, 2 Corinthians has an awful lot about Paul. So we do mention ourselves, but we mention ourselves as “your servants” and for the “sake of Jesus”. False teaching will seek to lord it over the hearers, seeking to make the hearers the servants of the preacher, often involving the giving of money for the betterment of the preacher! But it isn’t just serving the hearers, it is serving the hearers for the sake of Jesus. We do not aim to give people what they want, instead we aim to give them what they need in order to know Jesus better, to follow Him more closely.