PREACHING
I hold a very high standard to preaching. It must perform one task very well. That task is to say what God says. If God rebukes, then the message is one of rebuke. If God declares his love, then it is a message of encouragement. The Word of God is the message to be spoken.
That is, the one speaking must first of all be a person who believes that Scripture is God’s revelation of Himself. Then, since it comes from God, he or she must communicate God’s intent and values. Which means he or she must spend a lot of time and effort to understand God’s heart.
So, if the Bible says: “Only sinners go to the Caribbean in summer.” Then that preacher should make it vividly clear that God hates it when his followers go to the Caribbean in the summer (you won’t find this in the Bible). I know that’s ridiculous, but it also isn’t. It requires an intense honesty with The Bible.
I call myself a “Scripturalist.” Well, most people who call themselves “Scripturalists” just don’t desire to settle for anyone ELSE’s theological doctrines. In my case I have no problem with theology at all. It is a wonderful TOOL. Just like Garmin (or other mapping programs) it can direct you to cross a bridge that never existed. I prefer to think of theology as an imperfect reference manual. Usually right, but be careful. I have a few theologies which I prefer, but I have no delusion that anything created by man can be 100% true. So, I hold Scripture high above even my own theology. Scripture ALWAYS wins (even when I don’t understand it).
Thus, a preacher should avoid preaching his or her theology like it is a plague, because it can be. Following are several bad examples, which probably are not typical of most preachers…
I once sat under a pastor who preached his theology. Sounded great, until he was preaching from a passage which didn’t quite agree with him. His solution was to ignore the Bible phrases which didn’t match his theology. That’s dishonesty. You can’t claim God’s Word is true, and ignore significant parts of the passage you are using at the same time.
Second, I also listened to a well-educated preacher who decided to air his confusion about a passage. That’s great for a Bible study, I suppose. But if you don’t understand God’s intent (heart), then you should not preach from it. Exactly how is that supposed to help his hearers understand God any better? Go ahead and wrestle with the passage on your own time. But preaching is sharing God’s heart and God is never confused. You will never hear this word in heaven: “Oops!”
A third problem with some “preaching” is that it isn’t. Talking in front of a congregation is not preaching unless the person talking is using Scripture (directly or indirectly). We attended a beautiful church near where we live a few times. The head pastor is in a denomination which approves one of the theologies with which I feel comfortable. However, we noticed something odd. He never referred to a single verse during his “talks.” His talks were works of art and well spoken. When I say he didn’t use Scripture I mean he didn’t even say things like, “The Bible says,” or “In the New Testament,” or even “Jesus said.” He talks may have been based on the Bible but there was not one proof that they were.
We visited a small country church in another state. After reading the key passage, the speaker never came back to it. It was a “jumping off point” for something HE wanted to talk about. His “topic” had almost nothing to do with the passage. In other words, he was not helping anyone understand God’s heart. I think we heard HIS heart, though. (Thanks, I guess, but I came to hear from God…)
On the other hand, I have heard from God many times listening to honest messages. Sometimes I’ve heard from God in spite of someone preaching a beautiful theology. I’ve never heard from God during a Ted-talk.
What is that like? Good question. I listen to some pastor explaining a passage and God opens my eyes to his heart on a related issue. Once, long ago, I was struggling to be a better parent (many have that desire). During a sermon God showed me how to improve. It worked. It wasn’t something I would have gotten from a book on parenting or from Ann Landers. It may have been how the pastor was explaining the meaning of the verses…I don’t remember the sermon. I do remember the peace God gave me.
I have one more important thing to say on this subject. Don’t expect God to speak to you unless you are eager to live as he desires you to live. Why should he speak to people who are walking away with fingers in their ears?
So, when you go to hear a sermon you should be prepared to make a change. You should learn. You should improve. One of the ways I do that is by reading the Bible for myself. I have read the Bible all the way through multiple times using the King James Version, Revised Standard Version, and New International Version. I’ve read parts using other versions as well. I’ve even read it chronologically (which is cool). God’s salvation story starts in Genesis 3 and expands and deepens through the entire Old Testament. Except for what Jesus did, God’s entire heart for the people he created can be found in the Old Testament. God wants his people to obey and seek him. In the New Testament we find the same thing. Only, because of Jesus it is easier.
Some think the Old Testament is unnecessary. Bah! It sets the stage. Like I said, everything you need to know about God’s desire for those who will follow him is THERE! In it you will find what God hates and what God loves. You will find that he desires good for all who follow him. There’s redemption even for enemies if they turn to him (you even find that in the writings of Jeremiah the prophet), and destruction if they will not. Nothing changed in the New Testament, except Jesus made it far easier and far better for us.
Listening to a sermon involves the mind and conscience of the hearer. What am I hearing? What does it mean? What is God saying to me through this? How does God want me to respond?
I want my eyes to see and my ears to hear from God.
[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere.
ALSO, Don is always open to offer his thoughts on various topics. If you have a specific request, you can let him know in a comment; he reads – and replies to – them all. ~ Sherry]
See more GUEST POSTS from Don!
Two things I really enjoy about regular worship services:
1) Singing. Especially if I can remember the bass part.
2) Good Preaching. Tell me something I didn’t know, or, something I should know about God. Give me a chance to examine my heart, mind, and spirit.
What I hope never happens:
Weirdness. I am sensitive to awkward. It seems that the only times God used awkward is when He sends a prophet with a message of doom.
I am with you on both counts! Although I might add #3: take me down a path that I’ve never traveled before. One of the things I always loved about Pastor David’s teaching (RFMC) is that once he introduces the scripture/top, he often takes the listeners somewhere we totally weren’t expecting. I still miss, very much, his services and that church.