Preaching

Preaching To Few

/ Peter Mead / 7 Comments

I’m just finishing RT Kendall’s book on his 25 years at Westminster Chapel.  He reflects several times on the low numbers he had at the chapel.  It seems that in a church that would hold 2000, his congregation was typically 150-300.  The only time the place was full was for his farewell.  He wrote candidly of his discouragement due to low numbers.

I preach in a variety of settings to crowds of all different sizes.  Since people are not attending due to my presence, it tends not to bother me at all.  However, to be pastor of a famous church, in a large building, but never to see numbers increase as you would desire, that has to be disheartening.

I remember reading of one man who preached with his eyes shut so that he would not be discouraged.  I wouldn’t encourage that for several reasons relating to the nature of expository preaching and also pulpit safety.  But what should you do?  If the circumstances conspire to make numbers an issue, then how should one respond?

I would be interested in any experiences of discouragement by numbers, or anecdotes from other preachers.

The Pressure of Infinite Resources

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

We live in a time when we have potential access to more study resources than ever before.  There are countless commentaries on every book of the Bible, including exegetical, technical, semi-technical, expositional, applicational, background, socio-cultural, devotional.  Then there are the Bible dictionaries, encyclopedias, literary guides, and so on.  And I shouldn’t forget the preaching helps – outlines, illustrations, series ideas, and so on.  All of this is in print, most of it is available as software, and then there is the bottomless pit of online material, ranging from helpful to truly pathetic.

What an incredible time to live in, but what a pressure it puts on us as preachers!  What if there is a resource that will unlock this passage for me and I haven’t got it or read it yet?  What if I am failing to preach as I should because I have failed to access the right preparation resource?

Learn to Discern. Discern which resources are worth owning on whatever budget you have.  Discern which ones duplicate other or earlier works.  Discern which are helpful for preaching and which are actually quagmires.  Discern how to use the web with skill rather than endless bunny trailing through cyber-space.

Remember this is God’s work and He knows. He knows what resources you actually have access to and time for.  He knows what level of training you’ve had.  He knows how pressured your preparation has been.  He knows.

In my case, I typically consult between four and ten (well-chosen and well-trusted) resources on a typical sermon.  We are blessed with more available, in more formats, than ever before.  But remember that our task is not to endlessly trawl through it all. Our task is to study God’s Word with His help, using only a small percentage of the available resources, according to our means and training, in order to preach the Word accurately and effectively to our listeners.

Big Words, Big Warnings

/ Peter Mead / 3 Comments

I recently listened to a few sessions from the last Evangelical Theological Society meetings. I’m a member and was planning to be there, but decided I’d rather teach a preaching course than attend the meetings. I have enjoyed the sessions I’ve listened to so far, but one thing stood out to me. In each of the papers that I listened to, it felt like the presenters were trying to pack the first few sentences with big words. Peer pressure, the desire to impress, the atmosphere of an intellectual atmosphere. Now as an academic I can relate to the word choices made, but as a preacher/communicator I felt very uncomfortable.

As preachers we can fall into the same trap. It is easy to choose big words when little ones would do the job. There may be the odd occasion where a big word is worth the extra effort and explanation required (such as key theological terms like justification). But often there is no real benefit to going big on the word front, and there may be real reasons not to:

Intellectual pride easily creeps in. The best sportsmen make their skill look easy, why don’t we take the same approach? Often the use of big words is partially driven by the desire to look intellectual and educated.

Communication is about communicating, not impressing. So what if people affirm the message after you’re done? So what if they take comfort from knowing that you know lots of theological stuff? The goal in preaching is not to indicate what you know, but to help them know and live out the Bible. If they don’t get the words, they won’t live the Word.

Big words can divide the church. What if some people understand the big words, while others do not? Surely a church divided along educational or class lines would undermine the very essence of the church as the New Testament presents it.

Generally speaking, when we’re tempted to use big words, let’s not.

Preacher Under Fire

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

People joke about having roast preacher for Sunday lunch.  In reality many of us face worse than sermonic critique from our listeners.  The experience of criticism, accusation, distrust and outright opposition is well known to many of us.  It is important to prayerfully consider things that are said against us since these difficult times are great times to learn and grow.

However, it is important not to fire back.  As a preacher it is tempting to use pulpit time to vindicate ourselves before our listeners.  As a preacher it is tempting to preach at our opposition.  Don’t and don’t.  Pulpit ministry is a sacred trust.  Preach the Word and leave any vindication to the One to whom it belongs.

Road to Damascus

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

I felt like I was on the road to Damascus.  Preaching into a spotlight.  Thankfully I was preaching on just two verses (a unit of thought in Proverbs), and didn’t need to read anything.  But not being able to see the listeners was tough.  Eye contact was all an illusion if people felt like there was any since I could see only the burning light before me.

Sometimes it is worth tolerating this kind of lighting.  Always it is worth thinking through these practical details to make sure nothing is hindering the communication of God’s Word.  Do the lights where you preach help or hinder you?  Do they throw shadows on your face so that you look like a skeleton?  Do people have to strain to see you seeing them?

On the other hand, no matter what lighting you have, there is another thing to consider.  No lighting can help your eye contact if your head is in your notes.  Communication requires connection, location of lights and numbers of notes can hinder or help your preaching.

What Makes Teaching or Preaching Effective?

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

Crossing disciplines can often be helpful.  For example, I’m reading a book on teaching entitled The Courage to Teach by Parker Palmer.  It is excellent.  While it is aimed toward the teacher or lecturer, it is hitting home in respect to my ministry as a preacher too.

Early on Palmer is describing what makes a good teacher or a bad teacher.  He quotes one student who could not describe her good teachers because they were all so different, but she could describe her bad ones because they were all the same.  “Their words float somewhere in front of their faces, like the balloon speech in cartoons.” Parker notes that bad teachers distance themselves from the subject they are teaching, and therefore from their students also.  But good teachers join self and subject and students in the fabric of life.

How true this is for preachers too.  We preach poorly when we distance ourselves from our message, but we preach well we make sure the message is coming from inside us and going directly to our listeners.  True preaching, by definition, is the delivery of a text’s message “which the Holy Spirit first applies to the life of the preacher, then through the preacher, to the listeners.” (Robinson’s classic definition).

Remember the simple, yet profound formula in Palmer’s book – effective teaching is much more about identity and integrity than mere technique.

Preacher Autobiographies

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

I’ll be honest, I don’t read too many autobiographies.  But this week I picked up Dr R.T. Kendall’s In Pursuit of His Glory: My 25 Years at Westminster Chapel.  Unable to sleep last night, I read maybe a fourth of this book.  1977-2002 was a fascinating and often highly controversial chunk of history at this famous London church.

Reading of Dr.Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ mentoring of Kendall is very stimulating and encouraging.  Reading of Kendall’s personal insecurities and mistakes is helpful.  Reading of the influence of Arthur Blessitt through three key changes is enlightening.  As I read on I will get to read of one of the most stunning modern-day shifts in a church’s preaching, theology and practice.

This kind of humble and honest personal reflection is surely of value to us all as preachers, wherever we may stand on the specific issues involved.

What preacher autobiographies have you appreciated and why?

For Improvement Just Do This

/ Peter Mead / 5 Comments

It is easy to feel pressure to preach better. We put the pressure on ourselves. Others put the pressure on us, often unwittingly. Perhaps a lack of apparent response in recent months. Perhaps comments about other preachers. Perhaps the big shots on the radio. Perhaps a renewed passion to preach well that has stirred within.

When the pressure to improve is felt, things can often seem overwhelming. After all, there are so many books, so many ideas, so many aspects of effective preaching to consider, indeed, so many preaching traditions to learn from. Maybe you skim through previous posts on this site, or other sites, or magazines, or podcasts, etc. Perhaps you let your mind go back to seminary and you recall all the instructions you received there. It can all be so overwhelming.

This may sound overly simplistic, but just do this: prayerfully endeavor to do the basics well. Try to study the passage effectively so that you are clear on the structure, the author’s main idea and purpose in writing. Try to think through your sermon purpose in light of both the passage and the congregation. Try to determine a clear main idea (doesn’t have to be an all-time great one), a clear and simple structure, a way to start that will make listeners want to hear the rest of the sermon and a way to finish so that the impact of the text will be felt in a specific area of their life. Do the basics well. You’ll probably find the pressure lifts because your preaching is much closer to what you want it to be!

Think Through The Reading

/ Peter Mead / Leave a comment

It is easy to take the reading of the Bible for granted.  It is easy to make a mess of it too!  For example, consider Joshua 6:16-19.  The narrative has built to a climax.  The Israelites are about to complete their silent march attack strategy with the great shout.  As you are reading through this section, if you have engaged your own passion and imagination, then you will be excited to read Joshua’s command.

“SHOUT! FOR THE LORD HAS GIVEN YOU THE CITY!”  Naturally at this point you will find your voice raised and your lungs tight.  The problem is that his shout command turns out to be a somewhat detailed instruction.  What appears at first to be a 9-word exclamation turns into a 104-word detailed instruction on what to destroy, who to save, where to put the treasures, etc.

If you were to read this passage without thinking through the reading ahead of time, you might need a paramedic!  104 words at the intensity of the initial 9 words and you’ll have tight lungs, a raspy voice, a new color of face and about three minutes of recovery time before you can preach on!

It’s a small thing, but length and intensity of speech, along with difficult pronunciations or potential Freudian slips can really derail the message!  Think through any text reading ahead of time.

Texts Only Bend So Far

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Be honest, sometimes you find yourself trying to make a text do something it doesn’t do.  Perhaps you have an illustration you want to use, or a visual aid that would be powerful, or some other motivation.  But when it comes to the text, it doesn’t quite work.  You know the order is backwards, you know you don’t want to admit it, but we’re being honest here.

This happened to me last week.  I’m not one for creative visual aids, but one came to mind.  One that would be perfect and impressive and effective and so on.  But then I went back to the only real text that would work with that visual aid.  It didn’t work.  I was trying to conform the text to the sermon, rather than derive the sermon from the text.  The text wasn’t boss, and I wasn’t happy.

But I felt that the integrity move at that point was to drop the illustration and switch texts.  Let’s be preachers of integrity, people who represent the text well and don’t injure the text trying to fit it into our sermon box.