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
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