Author: Peter Mead

Balancing the Balancing

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Every text says something.  No text says everything.  Our task is to preach the text’s something in a way that is faithful to the Bible’s “everything”.  Our task is not to preach everything from this text’s something.

Balance – you don’t want to preach something that on its own is faithful to the preaching text, but distorts the message of the Bible.  So we have to think about balancing it. For example, Psalm 1. This passage is saying that lasting blessing comes to those who live according to the Word of God, rather than the words of the wicked.  However, this does not mean that simply obeying the Bible’s ethical instruction leads to eternal life.  Psalm 1 may need balance to avoid misunderstanding or misapplication.

Balance the balance – we need to be careful though.  It is easy to be so excessive in balancing that we end up blunting the force of the passage at hand.  It is possible to always preach a vague biblical message without ever allowing the text through in its power.  So how to know how much to balance?

1. Remember your goal in this message is to preach this text, not the whole canon in one shot.

2. Consider your listeners (preaching Psalm 1 to a group with non-Christians will require more balancing from beyond the passage than preaching Psalm 1 to a group of Christians at a conference).

3. Consider if this is a one-shot, or part of a process?  People at an evangelistic event may only come once, but people in a church get more messages to balance each other.  However, even with evangelism we don’t have to give them the whole deal every time we get them in (but that’s an evangelistic issue).

4. Decide the extent of balance needed (is the message slightly incomplete, or significantly risky?)  Is the main thought of this message biblically true, or is it heretical if misunderstood (especially if easily misunderstood).

There is not a one-size fits all solution.  But I offer these thoughts as a prompt to consider carefully the balancing we do in our messages – not too little, but not too much either.

Sneaky Landmines for Preachers

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Here are a few sneaky landmines that we need to be very wary of  . . . what would you add as a warning to the rest of us?

Pride (I don’t need you) – Pride is a perpetual danger for all believers.  It can sneak up on us from such things as position (ecclesial titles), knowledge (earned degrees, reading, etc.), power and influence (good reputation, people pursuing us for input, etc.)  Pride is lurking constantly at the threshold.  We must beware of it.

Separation (I don’t connect with you) – Perhaps this is a fruit of pride, but it is a real danger for preachers.  Because of what we do and expectations placed on us by others or by ourselves, we can easily fall into the trap of going solo.  There are always risks that come from being vulnerable about struggles and weaknesses and failures and so on.  However, the risk of going solo is greater.  Many preachers struggle with loneliness in their spiritual walk and in their ministry.  Don’t go lone ranger.

Critical Spirit (I don’t like you) – It’s part of the package, par for the course, to receive direct or indirect hurts.  We can feel frustrated by response or lack of response.  Ministry and influence is a breeding ground for growing tension, frustration and hurts.  It is easy to “cope” by becoming critical toward others.  Beware!

What other landmines would you list as a warning to us all?

When Listeners Aren’t Satisfied – 4

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Taking some prompts from Boyd-MacMillan and blending them with my own thoughts, here are a few comments to prompt our thoughts on what to do when listeners aren’t satisfied:

9. Know your own inner landscape. We all have emotional baggage buried inside.  Criticism has a unique ability to slip through, stir up a deep wound and create inner turmoil.  It’s good to know what is going on inside, otherwise we end up taking a beating from external and internal foes.

10. Whatever the justification for the criticism, make sure it improves your preaching! While it may come in a package of intemperate rudeness, there may be a kernel of truth somewhere in there that will help you.  Don’t shrug off all criticism, for a sensitive spirit is critical to effective preaching.  However, be sure to have strategies in place so that rocket-propelled criticism grenades fired by immature or overly upset or “you touched a raw nerve” listeners do not take you out of the spiritual battle of ministry.

That’s not a complete list, but perhaps something is helpful there.  What would you add?

When Listeners Aren’t Satisfied – 3

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Taking some prompts from Boyd-MacMillan and blending them with my own thoughts, here are a few comments to prompt our thoughts on what to do when listeners aren’t satisfied:

6. Anonymous feedback is borderline useless. It’s too easy to blast away from the cover of anonymity.  It is better not to dwell excessively on ecclesiastical mortar attacks.  It is much better to seek out genuinely constructive feedback from trustworthy sources.

7. You don’t have to take the hassle. Remember that you have the freedom to pursue representing God and the gospel in another way, you’re not obliged to stay in the firing line as a preacher.  If you choose to take it because He is worth it, great.  If you feel the time has come to hang up your pulpit and serve in another way, go for it.

8. Strengthen yourself with the biblical giants. (I would add the great preachers of church history, but let me quote Boyd-MacMillan for this one…) “All of them dealt with carping criticism, misunderstanding and humiliation.  Let the experience lead you to a deeper appreciation of what Jesus endured to bring the gospel to each of us.  You might even end up thankful that you are not about to be crucified literally for your messages.” (p223)

Final installment tomorrow, I think.

When Listeners Aren’t Satisfied – 2

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Taking some prompts from Boyd-MacMillan and blending them with my own thoughts, here are a few comments to prompt our thoughts on what to do when listeners aren’t satisfied:

3. Remember that you answer to God. This is not to excuse bad preaching or oblivious ignorance of helpful critique.  This is to protect us from the unhelpful attacks that may or may not have anything to do with our preaching.  Obviously every sermon could have been better, but can you stand straight before God and give an account for the way you prepared in the time that you had?  Did you walk through the preparation by faith and do your best as a steward of the opportunity?  Our primary goal is to serve Him faithfully, not to please every nitpicker in the pew.

4. Prayerfully process feedback. This is true for praise as well as critique.  Process it prayerfully.  Ask what you can learn from it, and perhaps how you should pray for the source of it too (i.e. instead of getting all huffy about a personal attack, why not pray for the person who obviously has some deep hurt and tension within).

5. Remember that happy listeners may mean sermon failure. Our goal is not to make listeners happy with us.  Our goal is to faithfully present, explain and apply the Bible text to their lives.  What if the text convicts, or prods, or pokes, or makes downright uncomfortable? What if it shines a light in a dark place in their life and they don’t like what they see?  What if their dissatisfaction toward you and your preaching is a very positive sign of the word getting through?  Be careful not to misapply this, but sometimes knowing that listeners were offended by your preaching may be the best feedback that you are doing your job well.  Preaching is not about presenting yourself for a popularity contest (even if some churches make it feel like that!)

I don’t want to overwhelm with words, so I’ll cut it off for now . . .

When Listeners Aren’t Satisfied

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Preaching is complex. Take, for example, the matter of listener satisfaction. If they aren’t satisfied, it could be a good sign, or a bad sign. Likewise having everyone happy may mean something is wrong. So how do we navigate the issue of listener satisfaction, after all, dissatisfaction expressed is seldom water off a ducks back (for most of us). Taking some prompts from Boyd-MacMillan and blending them with my own thoughts, here are a few comments to prompt our thoughts. This is by no means a definitive list of thoughts, but it is a start:

1. Expressed dissatisfaction is often overstated. Many people find it hard to express dissatisfaction fairly. It’s as if something wells up within and then bursts forth, often with excessive force. Boyd-MacMillan says that Christians “often express criticism in apocalyptic terms.” Instead of simply stating, “I don’t like his style,” they will instead assert that “he betrayed the gospel of Jesus Christ!” It is a good skill to learn to tone down excessive criticism as well as excessive praise (“that was the best sermon I ever heard!!!” probably wasn’t).

2. Recognize that tension fired your way is often nothing to do with you or your preaching. People react to the innocent provocation of pet peeves, or the poking of raw nerves of various kinds. You may become the focus of the critique, but don’t take all critique at face value.

That’s enough for now, more to follow tomorrow. Feel free to comment from your experience and perspective.

Are There Really Only Three Passages?

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I recently heard a friend make an excellent point.  Apparently there are only three passages in the Bible.  How do we know this?  Well, there seem to be only three sermon outlines, so obviously there are only three texts.  The sermon outlines are as follows:

1. Jesus died for your sins, repent and believe, when you die you’ll go to heaven

2. Read the Bible more, pray more, evangelise more

3. Have more faith, be more obedient.

That’s pretty convincing (if you base your research on the majority of sermons preached).  But perhaps the research is flawed?  Perhaps there are more than three texts in the Bible?  Perhaps these three outlines don’t really reflect the beautiful variety and complexity of the Bible?

Of course, there are probably a couple of handfuls of major themes that trace their way through the Bible.  However, what an amazing selection of texts.  Which one are you preaching tomorrow?  Does it have a more specific outline and main thought than these three listed above?  Let’s make sure it shows.

What If You’re Not Ready?

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It is so important to understand the text before you preach it!  I don’t mean just knowing what the big words mean.  I don’t mean just having a collection of exegetical insights to share.  I don’t mean even having a sermon vaguely based on certain parts of the text.  I mean really understanding what the text is saying – understanding it’s unity, it’s message, it’s point, it’s purpose, it’s role in the broader flow of thought in the book.  What if you’re not ready though?

Suggestion with several caveats to follow: If you’re not ready, don’t preach it.  Instead preach an old message again that you are confident is biblically sound.

Just think what an example that might be for the congregation!  “We were scheduled to be in Epistle XYZ 4:15-22, but I’ve been studying it over several weeks and still am not there yet – some passages take real work to really grasp!  So I’ll keep on studying, but for today, let’s look again at . . . ”

Caveats a coming!

1. Chances are, they won’t remember a message you re-preach.  But it would be honest to tell them it’s worth a second look at this old message rather than trying to “slip it through.”

2. Recognize that as a Bible student we never fully plumb the depths of any passage and as a preacher we shouldn’t really present all the plumbs either!  It takes wisdom to know the difference between “I’ll never fully plumb this passage” and “I haven’t grasped the fundamental unity and flow of thought in this passage.

3. It is in no way a good example if you simply started too late.

4. Whether you are a paid pastor preaching weekly, or an unpaid preacher preaching periodically, there is an element of commitment involved.  It will undermine your credibility if you follow the above suggestion more than very rarely!  (In fact, if you are only doing one section in a series from the same book, you can’t simply make the subsequent weeks shift by missing your section.  Get help earlier in the process and make sure you grasp the passage before you preach it, for surely you must preach it!)

5. It is probably better to take this post as a strong prod to really be prepared, rather than actually trying what I suggest!  (I’d be interested to hear if anyone has ever publically announced their need for more time to study a certain passage!)

The World’s Most Influential People

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Sitting on my desk is a recent copy of Time Magazine.  The main reason that I still get it is that they offered to almost pay me to receive it (that’s an exaggeration, before you start asking for details).  It is the edition with the world’s 100 most influential people.  Interesting collection of people from Obama to Sarkozy, Pacquiao to Nadal, Oprah to Palin and Michelle Obama to Rush Limbaugh.  A largely predictable list that doesn’t stir massive response from this sporadic Time reader.

However, I have one complaint about the list.  One person is missing.  The faithful biblical expositor.  Oh yes, Rick Warren made it on to the list after a year of critique from various sides.  I’m glad he’s on there.  But I’m thinking about faithful preacher at the normal church on 53rd and Main.  I’m thinking about the faithful expositor at 13th Presby-Bapto-Angli-Independent Bible Church.  I’m thinking about the unknown preachers I shared a week with recently in a country many people have not heard of.  I’m thinking about the relatively no-name preacher in a relatively unknown church somewhere.  Preachers like you.  Preachers like me.  Preachers who study the Word and faithfully, prayerfully present the meaning of the text and emphasize its relevance to the lives of their listeners.  Preachers who plug away for little or no pay (on earth), for little or no thanks (on earth), for little or no acclaim (on earth).

Only eternity will tell how much genuinely lasting influence has been exerted by the preachers who’ve looked beyond fame and position to serve faithfully in this vital ministry.  Unnamed preacher in unknown church.  Time missed you.  Eternity will not.  Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for you know your labour is not in vain in the Lord!

Five Looks and Two Options

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This post is building on the previous two.  Yesterday I shared “Five Looks” approach to Bible study to illustrate a discussion on Monday’s post.  The issue raised on Monday was do we preach the main thought of a text, or a biblical theology prompted by the main thought of a text?  The question really focuses in on step 4 of the “five looks” – Look Forward.  How does looking beyond our focus text help us in the process of interpretation?

Some would say that we must read all of Scripture through the lens of later revelation, and that consequently all preaching must progress the story to its full conclusion.  I beg to differ, while asking for careful hearing so that I am not just dismissed as being somehow outside the pale of someone’s definition of orthodoxy!

It is important to consider a text in its biblical context.  This includes what comes later, as well as what came before.  However, we should not explain a text in light of later revelation such that the text itself, as inspired originally, is left stripped of its value.  The human author did not know the later revelation, so why must we require later information in order to interpret the text as it stands?  The progress of revelation matters greatly, but we need not immediately read a passage through a later lens.  We look at a passage in its context of the progress of revelation, but then progress the story beyond that if necessary and helpful.  We do not need to meld the latter with the former into one “super-interpretation” (although I would call such a process actually a diminished interpretation).  Rather we should do one, then the other, recognizing that the order matters.

Study, understand and preach a passage in its context (recognizing where it fits in the progress of revelation).  If necessary, develop the greater story to its culmination.  If you like, using the “five looks” approach presented above: step 4 carefully understood is important in our Bible study, but in preaching we should preach the fruit of steps 1-3, plus 5, adding in 4 if necessary and helpful.