Sunday, June 5, 2011

DO WE TALK TOO MUCH?

"... it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." I Corinthians 1:21
Preaching is an integral part to the ministry of reconciliation and life-transformation given to the church of Jesus Christ.  Some of us have the particular calling to fill that role within the Body, to be the preacher.
Preaching is sometimes considered out-dated or even a detriment.  "I appreciate that you don't preach to me," a man used to say to me often.  When I would protest that indeed, I was preaching to him, he would respond, "No, you're teaching me and there's a lot I need to learn."  He was playing a semantics game. I was preaching; but part of me understood where he was coming from.  There are a whole lot of preachers who have a lot to say, who do not say it well, and who do not say it out love. What they preach is foolishness.

But as a preacher by profession, I often find myself asking important evaluation questions.  One of them is, "Did I share God's Word today for God's people, or was a baptizing my own opinions by expressing them from a pulpit.'  I often precede the preaching event with a prayer, "LORD, I pray that today the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart are YOUR words from YOUR heart to the people YOU love."

But another question I often ask is, "Was this message too long or did it try to say too much?"  In seminary we used to be warned to preach the gospel in every message by not to preach the whole gospel in a single message.  The implication is clear -- too much preaching is unfocused and too many sermons are too long to be of genuine impact.

I once asked a group of sixty year old's how long a sermon should be.  "Twenty minutes" was the response.  It was a predictable response because these same people believed a worship service should only last sixty minutes. Their idea of a worship gathering was that it was a religious duty that they were obligated to be a part of--but it should be well-defined, predictable, and have boundaries.  My sermon should have plenty of Bible, not delve into too many difficult topics.  Three points and a good story made up a good sermon--and yo ought to be able to do that in 20 minutes.

I also asked one of my sons-in-law who was in his twenties and fairly new to his faith the same question.  His response, "If it has depth and substance, and is the real deal, I can listen to a sermon for 40 minutes; but if it's simple Sunday School stuff and not about my Christian life then ten minutes is too long."

He had heard too many preachers who spent a lot of time telling him from the pulpit what he had already heard in Sunday School and he craved something deeper.  He had also heard enough sermons where preachers weren't really focused on the Word of God or where the Word was sort of lost in a lot of personal anecdotes and insignificant comments that they had little application for the life he was trying to live as the real deal, an authentic disciple of Jesus Christ.

So here's the question - do we as preacher talk too much when we don't have anything to say?

(C) 2011 by Stephen L Dunn

THE LIGHTER SIDE OF PREACHING





Wednesday, June 1, 2011

IS YOUR PREACHING TOO DEEP OR TOO SHALLOW

Most of us who are conscientious about our preaching ask ourselves the question, "Is this too deep or to shallow?" If we don't ask the question of ourselves, someone, usually someone with a strong opinion, will ask the question for us.  It is not a question that can be asked in a vacuum. We must take into account the congregation with which we are communicating - their needs, their maturity, their biblical understanding. Craig Groeschel, writing for Sermon Central, has some helpful insights on this question:

Is Your Preaching Too Deep or Too Shallow?
by Craig Groeschel
Many of us were taught that to reach people today, we have to make our sermons simple, practical, and relevant. While I agree that all three qualities are important, we must never forget they all must be spiritual to change lives!

In our efforts to reach people far from God, some pastors with good intentions are perhaps making messages too shallow.

When people come to church today, I believe they truly want to know what the Bible says. There seems to be a genuine hunger for God’s Word. Even if a curious non-Christian attends church, most want to hear a biblical message rather than a self-help and feel-good sermonette.

Our American churches today are sadly filled with many biblically illiterate people. Many truly want to learn more. Most prefer to be challenged rather than babied.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what people want. If sin separates people from God, we can’t be afraid to preach about sin, the cross, and the resurrection.

The other extreme can also be dangerous. We have to equally guard against our sermons being too deep.

Some pastors are hypercritical of those who aren’t deep. But sometimes deep can equal boring or irrelevant.

I love studying the meaning of Greek and Hebrew words and find sharing some with the church to be very helpful. But an overuse of the original languages can become dull.

Similarly, the history and context of a chapter is also often important. Sometimes, though, a pastor can spend so much time in the deep end that people drown in unimportant facts.

Two years ago, a very intelligent pastor moved into my community. Many of my friends attend his church. His sermons are so intellectually deep that the average person can’t track with him. His church has lost about 40% of its weekend attendance.

Several people approached him and asked if he could make the messages easier for them to understand. He adamantly opposed, explaining that he’d never "dumb down" God’s word. While I admire his passion, I think he lacks wisdom.

Those who truly have the gift of teaching must guard against over-teaching a text.
Is your preaching too deep or too shallow? What do you struggle with the most?