Sometimes we are preached at and know it, other times we think we have been preached to and really only given a facsimile or similitude of a sermon. Note that preaching is not the same as teaching and they are separate gifts, though often the same person has both; one may find the two distinguishable, but not separable. A report, a lecture, a story, a testimony (though these may include preaching), is not a sermon, and preaching requires exhortation and implies some kind of response or application. We don't listen to sermons to get info as the main objective, or to get informed; but transformed, if you will. We go to school to get informed and prepared. That is, preaching should aim to be edifying to the spirit and to encourage, exhort, or convict.
A real preacher afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted--no one is uninfluenced and there is no neutral opinion or unmoved listener. He never loses track of keeping the main thing the main thing, which is the preaching of Christ, and Christ crucified (the gospel message--the Great Commission). We don't need to get the scoop, the lowdown, the skinny, or the latest news when we are given a sermon, unless it is only incidental as a digression, or to mention in passing or parenthetically, as it were, as an aside to make a point; such as using an anecdote for an illustration as a teaching technique.
Some preachers are big on quoting the authorities like the Pharisees were and don't have more than a second-hand knowledge of the Lord. It is one thing to go to the commentaries and share something interesting, and quite another to get an original message from God speaking to you personally. The commentaries are not inspired and we need to learn to depend on the Bible and not secondary sources for our authority. They really want to hear what the Lord showed the preacher in the Word personally more than what the Keil and Delitzsch Commentary says. The point about sermons is that they need not just be interesting, but change lives, i.e., have an impact! The purpose of the Bible is not to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives. Don't "wow" them with your scholarship!
Some preachers give you the feeling that you have just been in a class lecture and not a church meeting. People need to learn to seek the Word of the Lord while it is available because according to Amos 8:11 the time will come when people will seek the Word of the Lord and not find it. We need great expositors of the Word who have a literary mind and can interpret Scripture as well and an explanation of the Word never goes out of style. The man with a message will never go out of vogue, but the man of learning may go out of style and out of demand. ("They will go to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord, but they will not find it," Amos 8:12b).
It is not a compliment to call someone a gentleman and a scholar; that's what the Pharisees were, and Jesus despised them--they didn't "know the Scriptures, nor the power of God," (Cf. Matt. 22:29) though they had studied them all their life and had even been teachers. The scholar is not an original, but only quotes authorities and dares not say anything new that may not have been heard before or break new territory--he plays it safe. We need preachers who will dare to stand alone and be a Daniel, and not be people-pleasers, who are just concerned about the people's opinions or trying to be popular.
In summation, preaching is a spiritual, not an intellectual endeavor-there is no special advantage to someone just because he is intelligent, educated, or wise, but sensitivity to the Spirit and the anointing is what matters most. The flock doesn't need a lecture, they need a savior and not a report, but someone to believe in that has the gift to preach-there are too many preachers not called into the ministry. They need to be leaders who have learned to follow first and aren't control freaks, but willing to let God be God and not play God. They are not to exalt themselves or lord it over the flock, but to be examples and instruments of God's grace and truth. "Don't take my word for it; check it out for yourselves in the Word like the noble Bereans, who searched out the Scriptures to see if these things were so. Soli Deo Gloria!
A real preacher afflicts the comfortable and comforts the afflicted--no one is uninfluenced and there is no neutral opinion or unmoved listener. He never loses track of keeping the main thing the main thing, which is the preaching of Christ, and Christ crucified (the gospel message--the Great Commission). We don't need to get the scoop, the lowdown, the skinny, or the latest news when we are given a sermon, unless it is only incidental as a digression, or to mention in passing or parenthetically, as it were, as an aside to make a point; such as using an anecdote for an illustration as a teaching technique.
Some preachers are big on quoting the authorities like the Pharisees were and don't have more than a second-hand knowledge of the Lord. It is one thing to go to the commentaries and share something interesting, and quite another to get an original message from God speaking to you personally. The commentaries are not inspired and we need to learn to depend on the Bible and not secondary sources for our authority. They really want to hear what the Lord showed the preacher in the Word personally more than what the Keil and Delitzsch Commentary says. The point about sermons is that they need not just be interesting, but change lives, i.e., have an impact! The purpose of the Bible is not to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives. Don't "wow" them with your scholarship!
Some preachers give you the feeling that you have just been in a class lecture and not a church meeting. People need to learn to seek the Word of the Lord while it is available because according to Amos 8:11 the time will come when people will seek the Word of the Lord and not find it. We need great expositors of the Word who have a literary mind and can interpret Scripture as well and an explanation of the Word never goes out of style. The man with a message will never go out of vogue, but the man of learning may go out of style and out of demand. ("They will go to and fro to seek the Word of the Lord, but they will not find it," Amos 8:12b).
It is not a compliment to call someone a gentleman and a scholar; that's what the Pharisees were, and Jesus despised them--they didn't "know the Scriptures, nor the power of God," (Cf. Matt. 22:29) though they had studied them all their life and had even been teachers. The scholar is not an original, but only quotes authorities and dares not say anything new that may not have been heard before or break new territory--he plays it safe. We need preachers who will dare to stand alone and be a Daniel, and not be people-pleasers, who are just concerned about the people's opinions or trying to be popular.
In summation, preaching is a spiritual, not an intellectual endeavor-there is no special advantage to someone just because he is intelligent, educated, or wise, but sensitivity to the Spirit and the anointing is what matters most. The flock doesn't need a lecture, they need a savior and not a report, but someone to believe in that has the gift to preach-there are too many preachers not called into the ministry. They need to be leaders who have learned to follow first and aren't control freaks, but willing to let God be God and not play God. They are not to exalt themselves or lord it over the flock, but to be examples and instruments of God's grace and truth. "Don't take my word for it; check it out for yourselves in the Word like the noble Bereans, who searched out the Scriptures to see if these things were so. Soli Deo Gloria!
It is not a compliment to a preacher for someone to say, "That was interesting." Instead he should aim to edify and change lives; Jesus wasn't interesting; he changed lives and one could not remain the same after meeting him--there's no neutrality or middle ground to stand on.
ReplyDeleteA devoted preacher is faithful to the Word and, just like Jesus, knows that the truth can be upsetting sometimes and people take stands. It isn't a case of "Just the facts, Ma'am!" Some preachers are too matter-of-fact and small on application or edification.
ReplyDeleteThe preacher should dedicate himself to the truth as he sees it and let the chips fall where they may; daring to be a Daniel, or to stand alone with a thick skin (having critics and opponents of his ministry). We don't just want to learn something, but be moved to do something and apply it!
ReplyDeleteI like preachers who dare to step on some toes, as it were, and go out on a limb for their faith. A good preacher will leave no one without an opinion of him, even if one is angry or upset, but hopefully encouraged sometimes. You should not be the same person after the sermon.
ReplyDelete"Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God..." (1 Pet. 4:11).
ReplyDeleteAnother insult might be that one is a good speaker, because we want God to get the glory (Soli Deo Gloria!). We want to rely on the anointing and unction oft the Holy Spirit not in the wisdom of man, that faith might not rest in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. True preaching will come with conviction of the Holy Spirit and not bring attention to oneself, but to Christ crucified in the end.
ReplyDelete