Truth Through Personality 4

December 7, 2012 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Preaching involves a preacher. It isn’t simply about the message, it is also about the messenger. And one thing that matters, perhaps more than almost anything else, is that the preacher be a living, breathing, genuine fruit of spirit kind of a Christian.

So far we’ve looked at joy, peace, patience, kindness. . . let’s probe a bit more:

Goodness – Surely there should be an inherent goodness in our speech that reflects well on the Christ whom we claim to represent? We are surrounded in our culture, and by choice through the media, by all sorts of degraded, obscene and morally bankrupt speech. If we don’t consciously think about it, we may naturally default to a level that others will find offensive.

I’m not talking about the “easily offended” Pharisees that prowl around some churches looking for anyone active in ministry whom they can devour. I’m talking about other believers who have chosen to filter the filth that feeds their thoughts and therefore have a cleaner grid through which to hear. Preaching shouldn’t be a place where a lack of goodness in what is said should ever hinder people from hearing God’s Word proclaimed.

Last week we considered inappropriate ways to grab the attention of listeners. Any hint of a lack of goodness springing forth from our hearts in our speech may well achieve attention, but not a healthy kind of attention.

Gentleness – There are times when we must forcefully persuade, of course. But this can be done without discarding this fruit of the character of Christ in our lives. Paul spoke of the “meekness and gentleness of Christ” in 2Corinthians 10. Peter spoke of being ready to give an answer for the hope, but don’t forget his follow-up comment that this should be done with both gentleness and respect. Being too bombastic, too loud, too “in your face,” too confrontational, too abrupt, etc., simply doesn’t help anything.

There certainly have been some feisty characters in the history of the church. Remember that the fruit of the spirit is not always recorded in the caricatures of selective church history. Recognize that while some feistier folk have had great impact, history has not recorded the detrimental effect of the many more who left no positive legacy.

Next time we’ll wrap up the list, and perhaps answer the question why I missed one too . . .

Truth Through Personality 3

December 6, 2012 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

This series is built on a simple thesis. Since preaching involves the communication of biblical truth through the personality of the preacher, it is best if that personality reflect the reality of the fruit of the Spirit. We’ve considered joy and peace, let’s push further into the list:

Patience – Biblical preaching requires patience. Yet we live in a culture that thrives on hastiness. The instantaneous nature of social media, for example, leads to some very disappointing tirades from people who would claim to be representing Jesus. Solzhenitsyn told Harvard graduates that hastiness is a “psychic disease” of our era. And lest we just cast stones at the culture around, how easily we get drawn into the same. We want to see results and we want them now. But you don’t grow an Oak in a few weeks, Balsa perhaps, but not Oak.

So we must beware of shortcuts. We may be tempted to manipulate response and enforce compliance. But this is not a Holy Spirit characteristic in our ministry. Biblical preaching will yield moments of radical transformation, but these will come in the context of a very steady drip feeding process. Let the Word shape people and shape a church, and before too long, the evidence will be there. How long? Probably a little longer than most of us would prefer.

We also need patience with individuals. Just as a parent learns that children don’t get things first time, so we need to re-preach truth to the same people over time. They, like us, will fail and fall short. Thank God that His patience is so great toward us.

Kindness – Let’s start at a very basic level. Public kindness begins at the level of civility. Sadly we have to start there because there are not a few preachers who haven’t yet reached this level. Building on basic civility, consider how your preaching is an act of kindness toward your listeners. Do you have a giving heart in your preaching, or a grabbing one? Are you all about serving them, communicating with them, connecting with them? Or are you about impressing them, making them see you a certain way, etc.?

Kindness will show in choice of vocabulary, attitude and manner, etc. As with each of these, we can fake it, but why would we need to? Kindness should be a growing characteristic both in and out of the pulpit, in our attitude, in our action, and in our speech.

Truth Through Personality 2

December 5, 2012 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

The 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

December 4, 2012December 4, 2012 / Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Phillips 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 Seeking Behaviour

November 29, 2012November 29, 2012 / 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…

November 28, 2012 / 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?

November 27, 2012 / 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 . . .

Preaching & Application 4

November 15, 2012 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Part four of this series on application . . .

13. Be servant-hearted, not the model of perfection. It is so easy to come across as if you have already been mastered by and have already mastered the text. It isn’t about understanding. Be better at that every time you preach. But it is about whether you stand with the listeners as one who is also receiving from God’s Word, or are you just a dispenser of instruction, always? The servant-hearted part comes in when we realize our task is to serve others, not to impress them. Look to equip and enthuse, don’t look to show off so they feel obligated to you.

14. Be accountable to the text, not a red phone to heaven. Sometimes preachers come across as having a unique and Moses-like access to God. They seem to have spent the week face to face with the angel of the presence of the Lord, but it doesn’t stir the heart like Moses might have. Somehow it can instead be a bit intimidating. A bit of a spiritual superiority vibe that leaves others feeling spiritually inadequate. Don’t couch everything in terms of direct revelation if you actually prayerfully considered what to say and this felt right. That is very different than the red phone flashing on your desk and Gabriel passing on a direct message. Let your authority come from the Bible well-handled, rather than from an implied super-spirituality that may over-imply in places.

15. Be willing to describe the application. Don’t just preach truths and then leave them hanging in the air for people to grab and apply personally. They won’t. They will affirm you, but they won’t be touched themselves. Instead seek to spell out the difference this biblical truth might make in a life. They will translate that application to their own situation, but only after they see that you are offering more than just a nice spiritual thought.

16. Be specifically descriptive in applications. As you describe what it might look like to live in light of the passage, be specific. What does the truth of the Incarnation mean when I am struggling with my boss’s attitude tomorrow at work? What does it look like to trust God’s providence when everything seems to be conspiring against my marriage? What would be different if the peace of God gripped the ethos of our church with its grapevines and back-biting festivals?

The Heidelberg Catechism on Powerpoint

November 10, 2012 / Peter Mead / 8 Comments

Question 130. What does God require of preachers tempted to rely on technology?

Answer: Ok, this was a provocative title, and technically Microsoft programmers were still in the early stages of development and they hadn’t yet released powerpoint in 1563. But the title may not be too far off. I was looking through the Heidelberg Catechism earlier this week in light of a discussion on some historical matters. Along with several other points that I really appreciated, I noticed one particularly relevant to preachers. Question 97 develops the issue of not making images of God with a broader question of the use of images in the church. Then comes question 98 . . .

Question 98. But may not images be tolerated in the churches, as books to the laity?

Answer: No, for we must not pretend to be wiser than God, who will have his people taught, not by dumb images, but by the lively preaching of his word.

Quick thoughts . . .

1. Do we fall into the trap of thinking that we know better than God in our age of sophistication? I wonder if previous generations had all the same comments about, “Well, you know, this generation now is different and so we need to . . . “

2. Do we think people can’t be engaged and drawn in and captivated by the teaching of the Word of God? I won’t get started on attention spans or this will become a long post!

3. Do we do our best to be alive, life-giving and lively in our preaching? No generation has ever thrived under the dull preaching of God’s Word.

Spaces: Thinking Through the Process

October 26, 2012 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

A little while back I offered the preparation process in terms of four locations: Study, Stop and Pray (Prayer Closet), Starbucks, Stand and Deliver (Pulpit). To finish this series on spaces I want to poke around in each of these four locations and prompt our thinking.

1. Study. I’ve talked about this over the past few days, but essentially the issue here is both noise and access to resources. To really concentrate on getting to grips with the exegesis means not being pulled away by other things. It also means being able to spread out the books, while also opening up the heart. Is it worth considering a separate desk for this? Is it possible to make the key resources easily accessible? Can you put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your door?

2. Stop and Pray. This one is all about noise. The noise of people interrupting, the noise of phones beeping, the noise of tasks calling you. You need to silence them all. I suspect many of us can’t achieve this in our study or office. Would it be better to walk and pray with the mobile phone left at home? Would it be better to go to the church and pray through this phase in the place where you will preach the message? I find this helpful as it helps to prompt my prayers toward the specific people and families that will be there.

3. Starbucks. This one is about targeting the message. Personally I don’t find coffee shops the most conducive to concentrated preparation. But I see the argument in favour of them (as long as I have music in my ears instead of loud conversations from the volume-unaware that tend to sit near me in these places!) Somehow the goal here is to be sensitive and alert to the people and the kind of people to whom the message will be preached. This could be as simple as putting a couple of pictures up on the screen, or placing names on 3×5 cards on the desk, or being around people. But, if I can’t help but be distracted by being around people, it is better to get the work done in a room on my own!

4. Stand and Deliver. Different issue, but worthwhile . . . what are the issues in terms of preaching proxemics? Is there clutter in the preaching environment? Am I situated in the best place for this congregation? Should I come down to their level? Can I lose the seaworthy pulpit and be seen? Is there clutter from their perspective?