Christianity

Christmas Sundays

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Christmas TreeApologies for the blog-silence . . . illness over, it is time to post again.  The next couple of Sundays are prime “visitor” days in church world.  It is easy to talk as if we just need to preach the gospel well and we’ll see a massive amount of life change.  Realistically this is not the trend most years.  Without denying the possibility of immediate and radical life change, here are a few brief thoughts:

1. Visitors have some expectations of the message that should be met.  They are almost certainly coming to church because it is Christmas season.  Make sure the message is relevant to the reasonable expectation that Christians celebrate Christmas.

2. Visitors have some expectations of the message that should be shattered.  They may well expect the message to be antiquated, almost fairy-tale like and safe.  What an opportunity for them to be surprised that the Bible is actually interesting, and profoundly relevant, and disarmingly engaging.

3. Visitors should feel lovingly pulled by something spiritual, not pestered by desperate church people and “retention strategies.”  Of course it is wise to think through greeting procedures in the church venue, from the front, etc.  It would be strange for visitors not to feel warmly welcome to return beyond Christmas.  It might be sensible to have a follow-up plan in place (a bit late if this hasn’t been considered before now, so don’t do an emergency version now).  But if people feel like everything is tailored to win their attendance (too many comments, excessive announcements to that end, perceived manipulation or pressure in the preaching, etc.), well, how would you feel if you were visiting?

The next two Sundays are weighty ones for preachers.  Extra busy in church and for family (including our own).  Perhaps a strain on creativity when you’ve been preaching Christmas in the same church for years and feel the pressure of a limited number of passages and “angles” left to take.

But let’s not lose sight of the great opportunity here.  People don’t expect uniqueness.  In fact, if you are genuinely excited by the coming of Christ, gripped by the engaging Word of God, and effective in communicating both its meaning and relevance to all our lives today . . . then many people will be genuinely, and positively, surprised!

Truth Through Personality 6

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

Personality Face2I have been blogging about the basic requirement that preachers should themselves evidence growing fruit of the Spirit in life and ministry.  It is a disaster when the truth of the gospel is undermined by a perceived lack of Christlike character in the preacher.

So we’ve gone through the fruit of the Spirit in pairs, but we skipped the first.  Or did we?  Perhaps the four pairs lay out what that first fruit looks like.

It shows in the joy that comes from resting in the goodness of God, and the peace of healthy ordered relationships with God and others.

It is patient in trusting God’s work in the lives of others who often need longer than we feel is necessary (just as we do too!), with a kindness that is giving for the good of those also still in process.

It has an inherent goodness that reflects the profound quality of God’s character, as well as the gentleness that is fitting for someone reflecting God’s manner of authority.

It has a faithfulness that speaks of both trusting and persisting for that which is good and right, while always retaining the appropriate self-control of a life lived in the desires of the Spirit rather than the impulses of the flesh.

We have had several interrupted nights in a row as a virus has worked through our family.  The loss of sleep does add a certain strain to daily life!  Under pressure, does the fruit of the Spirit show?  I’m sure I am not the only one who wishes it showed more.  But the solution isn’t to strain in my own effort to look good under pressure, the solution is to grow as one walking in step with the Spirit.  I hope that my preaching next week, next year, in twenty years time, will show a more Christlike personality than it does now.  I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Truth Through Personality 5

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Personality Face2The preacher preaches, and so the preacher matters.  A personality that doesn’t reflect the fruit of the Spirit, the character of Christ, is a personality undermining the truth being proclaimed.  So let’s finish the list…

Faithfulness – The issue with faith is always the object.  We can’t have faith in ourselves, our skills, our preparation, our training, our gifting, etc.  And we can’t place our faith in the audiences, whatever their size.  Our faith has to be in God.  This points back to patience, but it is more than that.  Not only do we keep pressing on over time, but we also need to demonstrate faithfulness in every circumstance.  We may be preaching to hundreds or thousands one day, and to a handful the next.  Our faithfulness should show in both situations.  We are trusting God and giving our best to the tiny gathering, and we are trusting God not the occasion with the larger gathering.

Faithfulness in preparation means we don’t offer shoddy sermons.  Faithfulness in accepting bookings means we follow through.  Faithfulness in delivery means we give ourselves fully, even if it does mean being wiped out at the end.

Self-Control – It is so easy to do damage with your words.  You can say too much, violate privacy, twist the truth, deceive, belittle others, etc.  And all before you pause for thought.  Self-control is a critical fruit of the Spirit for biblical preachers.  Keeping a tight rein on our tongues is so important.  I read somewhere about the ancient wisdom that the human tongue is like an arrow, not just a sword.  That is, if you unsheath your sword to kill your friend, he may plead with you, beg for mercy and you may return the sword to its sheath.  But once an arrow is shot, you simply cannot return it to the quiver, no matter how much you want to do so.

Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.  The fruit of the Spirit.  Required for preachers.  But one is missing . . . tomorrow.

Truth Through Personality 2

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Personality Face2The preacher preaches a message.  The message matters.  So does the preacher.

There has to be a consistency and integrity between the preacher and the good news that is being proclaimed.  The preacher should, even in their demeanour and manner, evidence that the Spirit is at work in their life.  The fruit of the Spirit should, by definition, show.

Joy – A bond is created between listener and speaker when there is a sense that the speaker is enjoying what they are doing.  After all, the list of gifts piles up when we start talking about preaching.  The gift of the learning, the gift of the preaching skill, the gift of the listeners, the gift of the opportunity.  Many gifts should combine with real gratitude to manifest in an attitude marked by joy.

But the joy has to be genuine.  There is something hollow about comedians who act joyful, but everyone knows their private life is in turmoil and they are depressed.  Such an act, even if entertaining, is profoundly sad.  The preacher should not be faking joy.  Rather, there should be a joy in lovingly serving the listeners, and there should be a greater joy in walking with the Lord whom we preach.

Peace – The preaching of the Word should promote relational harmony, the kind of shalom we see all over the Bible.  The enemy would love to undermine this and apparently he has been somewhat successful – churches are known as battlegrounds, instead of places of genuine peace.  The church should not be a venue where people pretend to get along.  Rather, the preaching of the Word should promote the flourishing of genuine relationships.

The preacher’s attitude should convey this fruit of the Spirit.  Preaching is not a place to score points or land blows.  A warlike attitude should not characterize our preaching, no matter what may be going on in a church.  There are times when this will be challenging.  Perhaps only by praying through a situation thoroughly before preaching can we guard against our inner angst coming through.  Maybe that is in line with what Paul was urging in Galatians 5 – walk in step with the Spirit, otherwise we will gratify another set of desires.

If we come across as preachers gripped by a sombre and/or contentious spirit, something is going wrong.

Truth Through Personality

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Personality Face2Phillips Brooks’ was considered one of the great “princes of the pulpit” in the nineteenth century.  Perhaps his most lasting legacy were his Yale lectures on preaching in which he defined preaching as the “communication of truth through personality.”

Brooks was no pulpit performer.  He was a shy man who spoke rapidly, had a stiff delivery style and poor eye contact.  Yet he drew the crowds.  He was meticulous in his study of the biblical text.  He spoke conversationally and had a distinct sincerity and intensity, despite his evident shyness.  He cared about his listeners and developed relational bonds with them.

So he was no pulpit performer.  He wasn’t trying to sanctify his own style of preaching with a definition when in reality he simply wanted to affirm his own personality.  Rather, he was convinced that preaching is a communication act in which a person is involved.

I do wonder whether we all grasp this simple reality.  I am not saying that anyone needs to perform or be something they are not.  What I am saying is that if the personality of the preacher does not offer something of the gospel, then maybe they should reconsider their passion to preach.  That is, you can be shy or extraverted, humourous or serious, loud or quiet, demonstrative or reserved.  Be yourself, however…

However, none of these elements of a preacher’s style are what I am concerned with.  It is those preachers who preach as if only their declaration of truth matters.  They seem not to care if their manner is bombastic, or arrogant, or sarcastic, or sharp-edged, or ungracious, or dour, or harsh.  I believe we should all care.  These are not issues of personal style.  These are issues of personal character.  And if the gospel has not marked our character and personality, why are we stepping into the pulpit to preach the gospel to others?

This week I would like to probe some of these issues of character and personality.  I am not suggesting we perform, that would be bordering on deceitful.  I am suggesting that we have personal and personality integrity.  Where we don’t, we undermine the very message we claim to be called to declare.

Attention! Unseen Forces

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

To finish off this series on attention, there is one more thing we need to consider.  We’ve looked at the importance of having the listener’s attention if you want them to hear your message.  We’ve considered appropriate ways to pursue attention for the message, and some inappropriate ways to undermine your preaching while pursuing attention.  But is it really just about you and the listeners?  Or are there other forces at work?

In one sense it doesn’t matter what else is going on, you need to take responsibility for preaching well in order to engage the listeners effectively.  At the same time, it would be naive to ignore some of these factors:

1. Life Circumstances of Listeners.  You probably don’t know a fraction of what is going on in their lives.  Have they been struggling to sleep?  Do they have a medical condition that is weighing on them, or even influencing their focus without them even knowing it?  Are they in the midst of great inner turmoil?  Hopefully the message will engage and offer the hope of Christ in the worst of circumstances.  But it is feasible that you may struggle to grab attention, no matter what.

2. Environmental Factors.  Seating designed by a someone shaped like a cardboard box.  A distracting draft of cold air.  Oppressive and tiring heat.  A wasp.  A stationary police siren outside.  A light aircraft crashing into the church building. An earthquake.  Some things are hard to overcome.

3. Spiritual Warfare.  Have you ever noticed that often at a very crucial point in a message, right when the crux of the gospel is going to be declared, a baby will start to cry, a fight will break out, a siren will drive past, etc.?  Sometimes we need to be reminded that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but unseen forces.  We don’t need to dwell on them, but recognize that the enemy knows  a distracted listener is not really a listener at all.

Attention Seeking Behaviour

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Without the attention of the listeners, our preaching is going into thin air.  God may recognize faithfulness, but He can’t be delighted by ineffective preaching when He is so concerned to get the attention of the listeners.  So there are lots of ways to pursue attention.  Yesterday we considered some of the important and helpful approaches.  Today I’d like to offer some approaches of which we should be wary.  There may be occasion for some of these in some manner, but typically let’s treat these as suspicious short-cuts.

1. Shock and Uh?  If you want to get the attention of the listeners, say something outrageous, perhaps even offensive.  They may be shocked, look up and say, “uh?”  You’ll have their attention.  But you may also have their backs up, their radar going into overdrive and their distaste for you as a person profoundly stirred.  Some preachers seem to take no small delight in “breaking the rules” (whatever that means) by being inappropriate in the pulpit.  It gets attention, and it will get feedback (and that which comes to your face may be positive: sometimes out of politeness, sometimes delight from an immature listener excited to see an apparently immature person in a position of influence.)  But this short-cut also undermines your preaching on multiple levels.

2. SHOUT!  Vocal variation is a good thing.  But shouting does come across as a bit desperate in most situations.  There are moments where shouting may be thoroughly appropriate.  But when shouting doesn’t fit the content, but is simply a means of waking up the old sleeping gent in row four or the distracted youths at the back, then it probably doesn’t achieve enough to warrant the negative reactions some will feel when shouted at without warning.

3. Sensational Content.  I’ve already referred to the sensational shocking stuff of tabloid preaching above.  But sometimes people seem to try to combine doctoral level original thought with shoddy journalism to come up with something nobody has ever said before about a passage.  Don’t.

4. Silly Gimmicks.  I remember watching in perplexed confusion as a preacher decided to throw packets of ketchup around the platform.  It did rouse me from my semi-slumber, but the benefit was greatly outweighed by the perplexity generated by a gimmicky move gone flat.

5. Demanded Attention.  Insisting in an authoritarian tone that people should listen does come across as totally desperate.  Win their attention, don’t change the rules of life and demand that they listen.  Asking people not to distract others may be appropriate.  Telling them they are obligated to listen to you isn’t.

Anything you’ve seen and would add?

Attention! Strategy…

/ Peter Mead / 6 Comments

If you haven’t got the attention of your listeners, then they aren’t really listeners, and you’re not really preaching to them.  I know there are all sorts of factors influencing the preaching event, and we’ll probe some of those later in the week.  But to be super simple, here’s a principle we should all take on board:

People listen if they want to, so make them want to . . . 

How can we do this?

1. Relevance.  I think the preacher needs to prove as early as possible that the preacher, the message and the passage is relevant to the listeners.  Introduction is critical here.  But then there needs to be a continual re-proving of relevance throughout.  Don’t leave “application” until the last few minutes, they probably won’t be with you by then.  Demonstrate relevance all the way through.  This includes lots of factors, but the content is critical.  Historical lecture, theological diatribe, rant against them out there, etc., are all felt to be irrelevant to listeners in the church setting.  Speak to us.

2. Interest.  When the content is interesting, people are more likely to pay attention.  Never bore people with the Bible.  Be interesting.  Does that mean we rush to our illustration sources?  Hang on.  The Bible is interesting.  Too many preachers preach dull Bible enlivened by interesting anecdotes and stories.  This may be less dull preaching, but it is not interesting biblical preaching.  Communicate the content well, and use explanations, proofs, applications, when they are genuinely helpful.  Make sure the core of the content is interesting.

3. Accessibility.  If it is completely over their heads, they won’t listen.  If it is patronizing and trite, they will get annoyed and also stop listening.  Make it appropriately accessible for the level of those present.

4. Energy.  Getting attention has a lot to do with delivery as well as content.  Your energy matters.  When we stand in front of a crowd, our natural instinct is to become limited.  Seek to break out of that monotonous box and be yourself with appropriate energy for the occasion and your personality.  This means eye contact, facial expression, vocal variety, movement and gestures.  If you are enthused and have an appetite for it, they have a chance of catching it.  If you don’t have the disease, you’ll struggle to be contagious.

5. Warmth. Energy in delivery is not about a show or a performance.  It is about the real you communicating with them.  One key ingredient is your personal warmth.  If you come across as cold, they won’t lean in to what you are saying.  Simple.  Represent the gospel in your manner and tone, as well as in the precision of your content.

6. Spirituality.  People can sense when you have the spiritual gravitas that comes from being with Jesus.

More to add, but I’ll leave it there.  Tomorrow we’ll consider some of the illegitimate approaches people take to get attention.

 

Attention! Whose Responsibility?

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

I remember, as a child, times when the preacher would rebuke distracted youths at the back of the church.  They were in church, so they should be listening.  Times may have changed a bit, but I suspect there is some confusion coming into play here.

The “should” is probably to do with how they should act toward others.  That is, it seems reasonable to expect people (whatever their age), to act in a manner that is not unloving and distracting to others when in a setting like a church meeting.  But is the onus on the listener when it comes to giving attention to the message?  On the one hand we have the argument from the parable of the soils in Mark 4 – the only variable in that parable is the state of the soil, representing the “listening” of the heart.  So there is a biblical concern for the responsibility and responsiveness of the listener.

On the other hand, the best teachers and preachers will always accept that a significant responsibility rests with them.  If you preach and people are thoroughly distracted or bored or miles away or disengaged, don’t pray for God to smite the listeners.  Pray for God to strike you with lightning or whatever it will take to be more engaging as a communicator!

I remember hearing of one now famous student of Howard Hendricks who wanted to test the Prof’s commitment to the importance of attention.  If you don’t have their attention, you can’t teach them.  So the Prof was a master of grabbing and holding attention.  So this student decided to test this.  He sat at the back, looked out of the window and resisted all inner urges to pick up his pen and take notes.  Hendricks seemed to sense he didn’t have one person with him, so he did all he could – another gripping story, bigger movement, stronger passion, etc.  Finally he snapped and stormed to the back of the class demanding to know what was so fascinating outside.

Most lecturers in higher education seem happy to get through their material whether the students engage with the drone or not.  Many preachers are the same.  But the best teachers, and the best preachers, know that you cannot teach anyone anything unless you first grab and hold their attention.

Let’s probe both the good and the bad ways to do that in the coming days . . .