Where Do You Preach From?

October 7, 2011October 3, 2011 / Peter Mead / 4 Comments

Have you ever got the sense that the preacher is preaching from a couple of feet behind where their body is located? Perhaps there’s a better way to put this, but I’m struggling to think of how to do so. What I mean is that sense that the preacher is speaking the words, but somehow, behind the speaking there is a gap. It’s a gap from heart to mouth, a gap from personality to mouth. It’s as if the preacher’s mouth is being held at arms length from the core of who the preacher is. Somehow the preacher is not giving fully of themselves, but seem rather to be holding something back. Why might a preacher come across this way?

1. The message may not be fresh and overflowing. When a message is old and hasn’t been worked to the point of dynamic freshness, the preacher may stumble through, overly relying on notes, fumbling for words, lacking heart and enthusiasm. It may not be the preacher’s fault, necessarily, but the best preaching comes not from having good notes, or just from good content, but also from being “prayed full” to overflowing with the message God has given.

2. The message may not be truly owned. Perhaps the preacher started preparing too late and so the message hasn’t penetrated the spiritual fibre of their character. Perhaps the preacher remains unconvinced, or even resistant to the full implications of the text. Maybe the preacher has plagiarized the message and hasn’t genuinely worked it through until it is fully owned. The preaching event is not just the message, it is about the message through the messenger.

3. The preacher may be spiritually or emotionally distracted. Everybody has an off day, maybe this is the case. We shouldn’t judge too harshly without knowing the facts. Equally, God sometimes comes through in power when the preacher is at the lowest ebb.

I don’t want to go too long, so I’ll finish the list next time. Love to hear your thoughts on this . . .

Passion Sappers 3

October 6, 2011October 3, 2011 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

For two days we have been pondering possible problems that might instigate a drain in our passion to preach. We thought about our connection with God in the first post, and our vision for the church and its ministry in the second post.

Let’s not miss one more important possibility . . . maybe the issue is something in our life or ministry that is draining the passion. After all, we seek to connect with God and with the listeners, bridging the gap between the two. But we mustn’t miss the reality that in preaching, the preacher matters too. Maybe it isn’t something spiritually wrong, or a ministry vision issue, maybe it is something else?

Am I physically healthy? I won’t turn this blog into a physical health advice column, but I know myself . . . I am more motivated for everything when I am looking after myself physically – drinking enough water, exercising regularly, eating carefully, watching intake of supplements (a deficiency in a single vitamin or mineral could be wiping you out), avoiding filling my body with low-level poisons and junk fuel, etc. Even apart from the contradictory message that it sends to listeners when we are completely unhealthy, or the poor stewardship of living in such a way as we are likely to die years younger than necessary, I know it is worth looking after ourselves for the sake of energy and motivation levels alone.

Am I getting enough rest? It is easy in the pressure zone of ministry, not to mention family life, other work commitments, etc., to cut corners on rest in order to get more done. Truth is that we are designed to function best with sufficient rest. Burning the candle at both ends will damage our ability to think clearly, to function with energy, to stay healthy, etc. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves of the truth in Psalm 121 and 127 . . . our Lord never slumbers nor sleeps, but He does give to His beloved, even while we are asleep!

Am I engaged in stimulating fellowship? Two of the loneliest places I can think of are the pulpit and the church leadership position. Being involved in ministry leadership creates a certain distance and loneliness. It should not be this way. God has designed us to function best in teams, stimulating one another, sparking dreams and vision, looking out for each others’ hearts, etc. Have you fallen for the pyramid climbing view of leadership hierarchy that means you are keeping others at a distance to maintain your own position of power? It’s time to let others in and experience the unique joy and stimulation of genuine fellowship, of interdependence, of daring each other to dream and pray to a God who can do more than all we ask or even dare to dream.

Other passion sappers? I’m sure I’m missing a few . . .

Passion Sappers 2

October 5, 2011October 3, 2011 / Peter Mead / 2 Comments

Yesterday we pondered a pair of possible reasons for a perished passion to preach. Focusing on God, our abiding in Christ and in His Word, is very important. Yet preaching is about the link forged between God and our world. Perhaps the passion is drained by a loss of vision for the recipients of the ministry?

Passion for the Church – Do you see no hope of change or progress in your church? At its core, biblical preaching in the local church context is about seeing God at work transforming lives and the church community as you speak for Him. When the hope fades due to apparent ecclesial entrenchment, so will your passion to truly preach engagingly and relevantly in the church. Sometimes this is about leadership structures, sometimes about power-figures with personal agenda, sometimes it can feel like church-wide malaise with a commitment to concrete boots when it comes to moving forward (and it can feel like drowning is the only option). The local church environment can be a brutal place to do ministry, but it is God’s primary plan. Perhaps your eyes have shifted from the One who promised to build His church to the ones apparently committed to thwarting that mission in your context. Eyes on the Lord!

Passion for the Community – Have you lost the sense that your church can reach its community? At its core, biblical preaching in the local church context is about seeing God’s spreading goodness reach beyond the gathering of believers to the community in which God has placed you. But in an increasingly hostile environment , where the church seems to be increasingly marginalised by society, it is easy to lose hope of impact. While I would encourage churches to make their evangelistic and caring ministries as connecting and relevant as possible (why offend people with religiosity instead of the gospel?), at the same time we need to remember that God both chooses and uses the weak things in the world to shame the wise. Maybe He will even use your church, in all its weakness. The key is that He is the one to use it . . . so eyes on the Lord, again!

Passion for the World – Have you settled into such a local vision that you’ve lost your global impact dreams? At its core, Christianity has a global agenda. But failure within the church and in the local community means that many churches have all but given up on any sense of global vision. If someone from the church swims upstream with a commitment to global missions, great, but we’ll probably do all we can to slow them down and get in their way first. If they make it to the field, then we will feel satisfied that we have a global ministry. Perhaps we need to dare to dream a bit more, a bit bigger, a bit further . . . which only happens if we are engaged with a global missionary God who Himself has a passion for the whole world.

So we’ve looked at God yesterday, and His passion for ministry today . . . there are many more avenues to pursue in each of these categories (feel free to do so in the comments).

Passion Sappers

October 4, 2011October 3, 2011 / Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Chatting with a good friend last week we got on to the subject of motivation for preaching. Whether you preach every week or periodically, there is always the possibility of losing your passion to preach. It’s good to be aware of what might cause the passion to drain away, so here are some ideas:

Passion for God – Has your abiding grown stale? At its core, preaching is about representing God as you speak for Him. If the connection grows dull, then the spark to preach will often go with it. Remember Jesus’ words in John 15 – apart from me you can do nothing. Strong stuff. So it is always good to ask ourselves about the state of our abiding . . . am I not only tipping my hat to the Lord, but leaning into Him, more than that, am I pressed up against Him? If not, then my internal motivation tank will easy drain and leave me sapped of passion to preach.

Passion for God’s Word – Have you settled for knowing, rather than being in God’s Word? At its core, biblical preaching is about re-presenting God’s Word as you speak for Him. If the Word isn’t fresh and exciting and personal and relevant to your life, then your passion to preach it to others might fade. Being an “expert” in the Bible doesn’t guarantee a passion to preach it. I could list theological faculties with experts in the Bible who have zero passion to preach it because it is not personally engaging them. Jesus faced Bible experts with no passion for anything but making themselves look good and killing him! Expertise is not the key, present experience of encountering God in the Word is.

We could ponder further issues like prayer, spiritually stimulating fellowship, etc. But for now let’s leave it with a focus on abiding in Christ and in His Word. More tomorrow, with the gaze in a different direction, perhaps…

Eyes to See

October 3, 2011October 3, 2011 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Do our motives influence our Bible reading so that we only see some of what is there, and then skew that part too? John 5 says motives influence Bible reading. Today’s post is my bi-weekly offering on the Cor Deo site . . . please click here to go there.

How to Preach the One True God

September 30, 2011September 30, 2011 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

Yesterday’s post sparked some good comments, which in turn have stirred my heart to follow up with another post. It is true that we need to be clear evangelistically which God we are preaching – a friend of mine used the example of Elijah with the prophets of Baal. He didn’t affirm their zeal and assume they had the same deity in mind, just the wrong label, he absolutely set up and followed through on the competition between two deities – one real and the other not. Nevertheless I am not advocating that we copy everything about Elijah’s methodology!

Actually I am not really referring to evangelism at all. My post was about being clear which God we are preaching to those sitting in our church (even if they are all Christians, albeit unlikely). Are we preaching the monadic lory-grabbing power-God of philosophy who can think only of himself? Or are we preaching the relationally self-giving glory-giving God who exists in Trinity and invites us into the circle of his other-centred loving relationality? To know the true God is eternal life, so we desperately don’t want to get this wrong!

Richard’s comment referred to a conversation with a Muslim, “after two hours it dawned on me that though we both affirmed “God”, be it as supreme or “one” or whatever, the “One God” he was talking about was not the “One Trinitarian God” I was talking about.” I’ve had that sensation while in conversation with Christians!

So how can we preach the one true God? Do we end up in lengthy detailed explanations every time we come to a technical term like “Father” or “Son” or even “God?” I don’t think that’s necessary. Now and then an extended explanation, and even a differentiation, can work wonders. (Remember that if you don’t differentiate, they will overlay their selfish and distant and cold God on your selfless and warm-hearted Immanuel God.) But there is also a cumulative power in preaching that can work wonders. Five brief suggestions:

1. Be sure you know the difference between the God defined by philosophical attributes and the God self-revealed in His relationality in the Bible. While many or most of the attributes listed in our systematic theologies are true, we might be wrong-headed thinking that God can be defined without the Son as our point of entry into the discussion. Remember that Jesus didn’t prove his deity by ticking every box in the philosophical attribute list, but the Jewish leadership easily spotted his claim through references to his relationship the the Father. Be sure you really know the difference and are preaching the one true trinitarian God of the Bible. Don’t be guilty of overlay (and probably assume you are, since you’ll naturally assume you aren’t!)

Ok, I said brief, but the post became more than twice my daily limit. So the other four suggestions will be coming tomorrow (I’ll put up a post on Saturday for a change – it’s too important a subject to wait past another Sunday!)

Ministry Checkup: Loving Giver or Glory Seeker?

September 26, 2011September 27, 2011 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

What kind of ministry do you have? Are you a loving giver or a glory seeker?

Paul addresses his own motivations in 1Thessalonians 2 – a passage every preacher should meditate on periodically.

Don’t Minister as a Glory Seeker (2:1-6)

What did Paul do? He ministered boldly despite the suffering and conflict he faced. He was not after glory from man, but accepted shameful treatment. Why did he do this? His goal was to please God and not man. He knew God tests the hearts of those who serve Him, so Paul didn’t flatter, or greedily pursue gain. He was not after glory from people.

How are we doing? Chances are, if we are serving in a local church setting in the world today, that many of us are facing some level of discomfort and conflict in our ministry. Shameful treatment may be a bit of an overstatement for many, but it often isn’t completely off target either. Let’s not pursue glory from people, but serve with hearts pointed in the right direction – to please God.

Minister as a Loving Mother (2:7-8)

What did Paul do? He cared gently and tenderly like a good mother. Why did he do this? He loved them.

And us? When we minister to others we give of ourselves. When we preach the Word, we often feel spent. When serving a church, we will regularly find ourselves caring for broken and hurting individuals. They don’t tend to put it on the advertising, but it is often true, “Come as our minister and be a Mum to us!”

Minister as a Loving Father (2:9-12)

What did Paul do? He worked hard in their midst, setting a strong example, like a good father. Why did he do this? He was moved to motivate them for the end result that their lives would bring glory to God.

And us? Ministering in a church, whether full-time, part-time or whatever time, is hard work. Yet some do struggle with laziness. I read the other day a comment from Bill Hybels – if you want to improve your preaching, find a way to give an extra hour to the preparation. What level is your perspiration indicator showing as you labour in your ministry?

In the subsequent verses we see that Paul did have both glory and joy, but it was the Thessalonians in their response to the ministry. He didn’t pursue his own glory, but lovingly gave himself for their sakes through his ministry.

The Preacher and the Passing of Time

September 13, 2011September 13, 2011 / Peter Mead / 9 Comments

I heard a preacher tell a gathering of senior church leaders that they needed to be careful. If they weren’t careful they could do enough damage in the last ten years of their ministry to undo all the good they had achieved in their first two or three decades. He urged them to pour their energies into championing the next generation of leaders, rather than critiquing the young and striving to maintain elements of church life that had now grown stale.

The time comes for all of us, sooner or later, where we fit into the category of “older preachers.” I think it is vital we think ahead of time what the tone of our ministry will be at that stage. Some older preachers are an absolute delight to listen to – the combination of humility, wisdom, experience, knowledge, faith and passion can absolutely transform listeners, and provide a stability impossible to duplicate in the younger generation of preachers.

But some older preachers are an absolute liability – the combination of arrogance, stubbornness, ignorance, bitterness and apparently decreasing fruit of the Spirit can do real damage to listeners, and provide a stability impossible to thrive under for all younger listeners.

I remember a conversation with the eldest faculty member at seminary a decade ago. He told me he had observed over the years that older faculty seemed to lose the mental sharpness and the energy to stay on top of their subject somewhere around the age of sixty-five. Consequently he planned to retire around that age as soon as he got a hint that his mind was starting to fade (and the hint would come from asking trusted colleagues directly). I respect that and hope to have the same plans in place for a new phase of ministry when age affects what I do.

That raises another related issue – is there a new phase of ministry open for those of a certain age? I’m sure we would all be tempted to cling on to position and influence if the alternative is to feel like we’re on the scrap heap. But what about positions emeritus? I think of John Stott who retired decades ago, yet never retired, always having a key, but changing role to play. Why not have opportunities to function as sage and champion for the next generation? It takes wisdom to plan ahead, not only for ourselves, but also for others in the church. The older generation can be a massive blessing to the ongoing growth of the church (or some can be a ball and chain to progress).

How is your preaching? It is different to what it was ten years ago. But in what way? Does anything need to change in your approach, frequency, mindset, position?

Take the Opportunity to Stretch

September 9, 2011September 8, 2011 / Peter Mead / Leave a comment

It is easy to grow tired of pushing ourselves as preachers. After all, as the years pass by we are increasingly familiar with Bible texts and can prepare to preach them with less time required. Equally, as the years pass by we grow increasingly busy in respect to life and ministry. Factors combine to make sermon preparation get squeezed.

Let me nudge you to take the opportunity to stretch yourself with your next sermon. Carve out the time and add a few hours to the early part of your preparation. Don’t rush to the message formation phase, but linger longer in the text. Some suggestions:

1. Take the time to read the section or book more than you would normally do so. Extra exposure to the text will never hurt and could be enlightening as you move past the “familiarity” sensation to the “I see clearly” sensation.

2. Take the time to work your way through the text in the original language. Some preachers are diligent with original language work, but many have let it go from whatever level they were at in the past. Why not break out the text books and see what you can discover. For instance, why not take whatever grammar texts you have and check the scripture index for your passage? I often find this helpful with Daniel Wallace, for instance. Why not work with the text for a while until you can read through it in the original? Why not translate carefully at least a key verse or two? If you do this and more on a regular basis, great, but many do not.

3. Take the time to have a conversation with a partner or two. Perhaps you have access to a flesh and blood discussion partner who will engage you in the text. Perhaps you want to get a scholar or three off your shelf and have an out loud conversation with them about the text. It is too easy to rush to message formation and miss out on the sharpening that can come through robust discussion. As I prepare for this weekend’s sermon, I am enjoying listening to a fairly technical lecture from a solid Greek scholar. So, can you list the technical issues in the text that you won’t be referencing overtly in your sermon?

4. Take the time to memorize the text and pray through it. Perhaps you used to memorize, but haven’t done so in a long time. That muscle will soon strengthen if you use it. Memorize the text early on in the process and see the benefits as you meditate during the rest of the week’s preparation.

Passionless Preacher?

September 8, 2011September 8, 2011 / Peter Mead / 2 Comments

Yesterday we talked about passion that can become off-putting. But what about the preachers that are devoid of all passion, preaching sermons as limp as soggy cardboard? If you know one, I’ll leave you to figure out how to get them to read this post. If you know you are one, perhaps this will help.

1. Hear what people are saying, and hear what you are saying. If people are saying your preaching is dull, you need to hear that feedback. Don’t blame them. Don’t ignore them. Hear them. Equally, if you will just listen to yourself, or watch yourself on video, you will see just how bland the sermon presentation actually is. You may say, “Oh no, I am much more passionate than I come across!” Ok, but you don’t come across as passionate, so it is actually irrelevant how passionate you may be on the inside.

2. Is it frozen delivery? It is common for speakers to freeze when presenting to a crowd of people. What feels so fiery on the inside comes out as a restricted vocal range, monotonous tone, limited gestures, solidified facial expression and the natural movement of a broken robot with fading batteries. It may simply be that you need to grow in the area of delivery: not learning to be someone else, but learning to be yourself freely in front of the folks.

3. Is it personal fatigue? Maybe you are preparing half of Saturday night and then skipping breakfast and preaching on empty. Sometimes emergencies occur and we have no choice but to preach on an empty tank. But generally speaking, it isn’t a good idea, or good stewardship of your ministry, to eat poorly, sleep inadequately, exercise rarely and preach in a state of physical breakdown.

4. Is it a loss of vision? Ministry can take its toll. Well-intentioned dragons can sap energy like nothing else, repetition of services with minimal response and maximum negativity from some, overloaded ministry schedule because you are the only person active in ministry in the church, etc. Before long you are struggling to preach with any vision other than getting it done for another week. Not good.

5. Is it eyes unfixed and heart gone cold? Here’s the big one, whether it is true or not. Preaching without passion comes across as if what you are preaching about isn’t really that important. Unbelievers will be put off the gospel and believers will be discouraged. The greatest solution to the greatest problem in passionless preaching is to get your eyes fixed back on Christ and allow the sunshine of God’s grace to bring your heart back to the boil. When we taste and see that the Lord is good, it becomes much harder to preach without passion.