Religion

Theme Number One in the Church

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

I picked up a copy of Helmut Thielicke’s Encounter with Spurgeon.  Essentially it is a 45 page reflection on Spurgeon’s homiletics by a theologian you might not expect to rave so wildly about his work and ministry, followed by selected highlights from Spurgeon’s writings.  I have not read Thielicke since studying ethics at seminary, but I will have to be disciplined not to just copy most of the 45 pages here in the next few days!  However, I do think this can be a Thielicke on Spurgeon week as far as this blog is concerned.

It would be well for a time like ours to learn from this man.  For our preaching is, to be sure, largely correct, exegetically “legitimate,” workmanlike and tidy; but it is also remarkably dead and lacking in infectious power.  Very often it strikes us as an unreal phantom that hovers above and is isolated from what people feel are the actual realities of their life and what they talk about in their language.  There can be no doubt that for many preachers it is simply an escape when, in the face of this failure to get returns in the area of preaching, they take flight into the cultivation of liturgical ceremonial and even make a virtue of the vice of wanting to ignore the times and live in some timeless, spiritual world.

In this desperate situation which threatens to break down even the best of men – for it is a desperate thing to feel the burden of souls committed to our charge and not to be able to do anything about it – everything depends upon our gaining some standards for that which is “Theme Number One” of the church – our preaching. (p.2)

We can be technically good, but effectually useless.  If the preaching doesn’t connect with listeners in a meaningful way, then it is a ghostly imitation of the real thing.  So, for many preachers struggling with their ineffectual ministry, it is an easier cop out to act as if it is good to be irrelevant and aloof.  But souls are going to a lost eternity and we can’t do anything about it, and yet we can, we must, do this one thing – we must pursue effectual preaching because that is the main thing in the church.

Some Thoughts on Preparing to Preach Psalm 22

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments
This is not a complete post, but it may be helpful.  I received the following question from a good friend:

I have been asked to preach on psalm 22 and am at the moment soaking myself in it to try and make sure I understand the message, the structure and what God was saying then and is saying now.

I will resist the temptation to jump straight to Matthew 27 and end up preaching that, as the psalm should, in my current view, stand on its own merits.  Nevertheless I can’t imagine preaching this without bringing in Matthew.  I would really welcome your views on how to approach this to get the balance right.

Here’s my initial answer:

This is a key issue in preaching OT.  Many automatically go to the NT, especially from a passage like that.  I suppose I would study it in two stages – first what it meant then, then how Matthew / Jesus uses it (raising the issue of whether Jesus was pulling only specific verses or relating to the whole of it by quoting the start of it).

In terms of preaching it, I would probably want to preach it in terms of David first, for a significant chunk of the message, recognizing that everyone else is probably thinking of Jesus.  Then going to Jesus and showing his use of it would be perfectly legitimate, thinking about how it applies to us as a text, as well as how Jesus’ application of it applies to us.  I preached it a few years ago and found it effective to major on Psalm 22 at 1000BC, with a smaller focus given to Greater Son of David at 32AD, connecting it to us throughout (application of the concept or main idea in reference to David, and response to Jesus in reference to the latter part of the message).

The one thing I would add is that the psalm is not finished 2/3rds of the way through, as some preachers sometimes seem to think.  In your study you should probably wrestle with the issue of whether this was a purely predictive text (i.e.not of David, but all of Jesus), a double fulfillment type of text (sensus plenior in some respect – i.e. both of David and of Jesus), or a purely descriptive text that Jesus appropriated as appropriate to his situation and response to it (i.e. all of David, but Jesus could identify).  I wouldn’t address all these in the sermon, but I would preach according to my understanding of how the two relate.

There’s a lot to think about with this passage, and I haven’t got into any details here!  Hope you can really delight in the study of it.

Biblical Worldview and Ours

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Throughout Scripture God is seen as sovereign and providentially involved in all aspects of life.  When there were natural disasters in Israel, the prophets called the people to respond to the God who created everything.  When war or famine hit, they interpreted it in light of the covenant they were under, but also always recognizing and promoting the reality of a God who is present and immanent and involved.

Today we see two concerning alternatives:

Alternative A – God is Absent. In this view of things we preach about a God who was involved in history, and a God who will intervene again in the future, but a God who is essentially silent today.  The greatest intersection of earth and heaven today is essentially my preaching, and yours.  In many churches Christians live as if God is only slightly more engaged than the God of the Deists . . . that is, He was engaged for longer in the past, and He will be again in the future.  This is a problematic position.

Alternative B – God is Speaking and I Can Give Specific Interpretation. This is the hotline to heaven approach where certain preachers have sufficient anointing to be able to speak with an authority that is theirs, rather than an authority resting in Scripture.  It is the kind of authority that says “I know exactly why this disaster has occurred, and the reason is XYZ” (typically the cause would be their own pet peeeve issue).  This sensational approach to preaching undermines the credibility of all legitimate biblical preachers.

We need to stand in between these two.  We can’t give exact revelation on specifics in a sensational way, neither should we relegate God to history.  Let us instead live out a biblical worldview in which God is providentially shaking the world in order to get our attention.  Volcanic ash clouds, oil disasters, wars, economic crises, the price of fuel . . . let’s be, and let’s preach, a responsive Christianity that has the worldview presented throughout Scripture.  God matters, today.  It is our privilege to respond to Him.  Then what?  Then we go to His Word, where we can hear His heart clearly.

When Order Matters

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Sometimes the points in a message can be given in any order.  Sometimes order matters.

1. When wrong order of content loses listeners

I remember Don Sunukjian explaining how in preaching, because we increase the time taken to explain the elements of a sentence, we sometimes need to reverse the order.  For example, I can say “Let’s go to the store, to buy some dog food, because Rusty is hungry.”  The hearer can hold on to the first two pieces of information while awaiting the reason behind it all.  But if I “preach” that sentence and expand each element, then the order has to be reversed.

“Let’s go to the store.  By store I don’t mean a place where things are kept, so much as a place where things are kept in order for visitors to peruse and purchase.  Now in contemporary society there are many different kinds of store – from the convenience store to the supermarket to the wholesaler to the Swedish furniture warehouse.  Each serves its own purpose, and while some may be controversial when they open in an area . . . ” etc.

To go from extended explanation of stores to an extended explanation of foods, and foods prepared for canine pets in particular, would be overwhelming and irrelevant if listeners didn’t know already that your pet dog Rusty needed food.

Sometimes order of content matters.

2. When wrong order of content changes the message.

In simple terms it is easy to preach the result of salvation first and communicate that salvation is by good works.

It is easily done.  For example, we assume a starting point, then state what is really point two, but it comes across as point one.  So, if we are captivated by a love relationship with Christ (point 1), then our priorities will reflect that and our behavior will be changed (point 2), and consequently our lives will be lived in the blessing of the “shalom” that comes from ordering our lives according to the orders of the God of order (point 3, to inadvertently quote a Stuart Briscoe message I heard twenty years ago.)  So easily we presume point 1 and instead preach points 2 then 3, which leads to preaching legalism rather than the gospel.

I’ll leave it there for now, but next time you structure a message, think through whether the order matters, and whether you have the correct order.

What Are You Trying To Say?

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Yesterday I made a passing reference to Speech Act Theory.  This communications theory recognizes that in speech, something greater than information transfer is occurring.  Once you get into the literature (either secular communications studies by folks like Austin and then Searle, or in some hermeneutics writings by Kevin Vanhoozer, for instance), you will meet terms like locution, illocution and perlocution.  Locution roughly equates to the words themselves, as traditionally used.  Illocution refers to the force and intent of a speech act.  Perlocution equates to what is brought about in the listener.

Speech Act Theory tends to focus primarily on the illocutionary aspects of speech communication – the force or intent, what you are trying to do by what you say.  So let’s linger there for a post and allow the terms they use to prompt our thinking about what we intend to do when we communicate.    Remember, at every point in a sermon, you are trying to achieve something by your communication.  What are you trying to achieve?  Haddon Robinson teaches that the only ways to develop an idea are to explain it, prove it, or apply it.  This simple observation has profound impact on our hermeneutics (what was the author seeking to do), and on our message preparation (what am I trying to achieve in this section, in this “illustration,” etc.)

In a similar way, let’s look at the five main categories Searle offered in respect to illocutionary intent:

1. Assertives: statements that  commit a speaker to the truth of an expressed proposition. As preachers we have a privileged duty to assert the truth, reality as it really is from God’s perspective.

2. Directives: statements that attempt to cause the hearer to take a particular action.   Again, as preachers there are times when we seek to be directive in our communication, that we all might be doers and not hearers only.

3. Commissives: statements which commit the speaker to a course of action as described by the propositional content (in what is said). Perhaps a smaller element in most preaching, but as the speaker, and certainly as a leader, we will sometimes commit ourselves to something by what we say.

4. Expressives: statements that express the “sincerity condition of the speech act”. That is to say, these express the speaker’s attitudes and emotions toward what is said.  Surely there is a place for this in preaching, lest we be impassible in our communication, even though God wasn’t in His (in Scripture).  Where to express our attitude and emotion in a message, and how, is worthy of our thoughtful consideration.

5. Declaratives: statements that attempt to change the world by “representing it as having been changed”. Perhaps more for moments like baptism and marriage, when reality is actually changed by what is said, but worth considering in respect to our preaching.  (Perhaps in a negative sense, when do we seek to speak declaratively when reality has not actually been changed?  Some prayer is spoken in declaratives, which borders on presumption in some cases!)

Long words, sometimes complicated definitions.  But some of us wouldn’t be hurt as communicators to think through, using these categories, what we’re intending to do when we open our mouths to preach.

Personality Excuses

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Phillips Brooks once famously defined preaching as “Truth through personality.”  Today the word “personality” is sometimes used in a more restrictive sense to refer to the quirks of an individual.  “Oh, that’s just his personality” we sometimes say.  Now when it comes to preaching, there is a potential tension that can surface.  The tension is between personality and communication.  That is to say,  the quirks of a personality that might be excused by some, versus the effect created in the listener in a communication event.

Let me try to be more clear: when we communicate, we effect (and affect) the listeners.  This is more than just transferring information (although for some preachers that does seem to be the only real goal, and could probably  be achieved more effectively by simply producing a handout).  So our effect is more than just information transfer.  It also includes intended emotional affects, and unintended by-products.  (If you have any familiarity with Speech-Act Theory, then what I am referring to is unintended perlocutionary elements of speech.)

So, is personality a good excuse for unintended negative by-products in our preaching?  I would suggest not.  Even if some present would excuse an element of your message, the effect or affect on those unaware of that excuse is still very real.  You wouldn’t want the possibility of visitors being in church to be considered a risk by those that know you, would you?

What kind of quirks am I referring to? Well, for instance, cutting or inappropriate, or even just ineffective, humour.  Or a patronising and condescending manner.  Or apparent pride.  Or distracting verbal (or physical) habits.  Or excessive and unrelenting pace.  Or whatever . . . anything that undermines the communication.  And sometimes many of these quirks might only show for a few seconds in an entire message, but that can be enough to do the damage.

So instead of excusing personality, what? In a small enough group where everyone knows everyone, such things will generally be excused (though not as completely as we might think).  With a larger group, or with outsiders present, the negative effects of such quirks can really undermine the whole ministry.  So what to do?  I suppose in simple terms we need to find out what those quirks are and deal with them.  Perhaps you should print this post and give it to someone, asking them to be honest with you.  Not easy, but important.

Drumroll Please . . .

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At the risk of beating a drum to the point of creating a drumroll effect, I need to re-address something I’ve written about numerous times before.  I say “I need to” do this not because you need to hear it, but because I need to say it.  I just read an article about expository preaching in a good magazine . . .

Expository preaching should not be contrasted with applicational or relevant preaching!

This article contrasts one writer’s approach to selecting texts with another writer’s commitment to preaching through books.  The former selects passages and combines them in series to address the needs of the church.  The latter is strongly committed to preaching through books.  The latter was referred to as expository preaching, the former as something else.  In this particular case, both are expository preachers.  Why?  Because expository preaching is not defined by a commitment to preach through books.

Expository preaching involves both a commitment to preaching the true and exact meaning of the preaching text in context, and a commitment to do so emphasizing its relevance to the listeners present.  It is not either/or, it is both/and.

This article set up a false dichotomy between two expositional preachers and urged churches to preach through books.  As a default, I would probably agree with the importance of preaching through books, but when I choose to preach a series made up of texts taken from various places, I will still preach expository messages (because – did I say this already? – expository preaching is not defined by preaching through books).

Expository preaching is not about how you select the text, it is about what you do with it, or better, what it does with you, when you study and preach it.

Bonus: They Can’t See Your Notes

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

I’ve posted a couple of posts about the fact that listeners can’t see your notes.  This fact does create a burden or two on you, the preacher, but there are positives too.

1. They don’t know what you missed. This may be for the sake of time, or because your eyes skipped, or because of a memory failure (although if you are preaching without notes, then you should know that a good clear message will remember itself).

2. They don’t know when you changed order. On purpose or accidentally, it is often perfectly acceptable to change the order of a message.

3. They don’t know when you adjusted your message. You don’t need to apologize for what you haven’t included, what you’ve omitted or what you would have liked to have covered.  They don’t know how your message has adjusted from what was planned or what was possible.

What difference does all this make?  Well, for one thing, it means that you shouldn’t feel obligated to stick exactly to an outline you prepared earlier.  Sometimes a message needs to flex in light of circumstances, people present, mood of service, etc.  (I could make the point here that if you’re using a powerpointed outline or a handout, then you are forced to stick with it, but I won’t make that point here.)

One big thought should linger in our minds as we prepare to preach.  We may look at our notes (on paper, or mentally), but our listeners are looking at us.  Are we engaged with them?  Do we smile?  Do we make eye-contact?  How about body language?  All of these things, and so much more, push me toward suggesting that they can’t see our notes and it is probably better if we can’t see our notes either.  But I won’t make that point now, either.

They can’t see your notes, let that take a little pressure off.

But Wait, They Can See My Notes

/ Peter Mead / 2 Comments

Yesterday I wrote about some of the challenges that come from our listeners not being able to see our notes.  We preach orally, but tend to prepare in literary forms (manuscript, indented outlines, etc.)  I mentioned the issue of transitions – very different animals in spoken than in written communication.  I mentioned the need to indicate sense of progress, or purpose of illustration.  But wait, isn’t there a shortcut to circumvent this whole issue?

The Potential Powerpoint Shortcut – Wouldn’t it be better to just project your notes so they can follow along on a powerpoint sermon outline?  I would urge you not to make a projected outline your strategy to overcome these issues.  Your outline is for you.  If you use powerpoint, use it well (i.e. for images, minimal words, lots of blank screen, perfectly timed, etc.)

What Happens if You Powerpoint Your Outline? Projecting your outline will give the impression your primary goal is to educate and inform, it will spark frenzied note taking, it will cause people to try to memorize three sub-points rather than being marked by the one main point, it will distract from the deeper impact and applicational emphasis of your message.  What’s more, what is gained in visual communication via the screen is typically lost in visual communication and connection via the preacher.  It takes real skill to powerpoint in a connecting and engaging manner (a skill rarely found in ecclesial settings).

So I Should Never Use Powerpoint? Use powerpoint by all means, but usually not for your outline.  The outline is a skeleton, it is for you and it is for you to think through how to communicate as effectively as possible.  One of the first posts I wrote was entitled “What do you want them to remember – the outline?”

Because They Can’t See Your Notes

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I suppose it is obvious, but sometimes obvious things need stating.  When we preach we are communicating orally.  People hear us, and usually can see us, but they can’t see our notes.

What difference does this startling realization make to our preaching?  Well, it should cause us to pay particular attention to the following:

1. Transitions. It is so easy to lose people in a transition.  If they mentally check-out for a few seconds they can easily miss the move from one section of the message to the next, leaving them disorientated and confused.  Slow down through the curves, as I think Steve Matthewson put it on his site.  Be sure to take your passengers with you.  Flashback and preview, underline or mark the transition in some way.

2. Follow-ability. You can look down at your notes (if you use them), or down at the text (if you don’t use notes, your message will probably be mentally associated with the passage itself).  If they look down they see dozens of verses that all look the same.  You need to make clear where you are in the text.  Don’t make following along an extreme sport that only the most focused individuals can participate in.

3. Sense of progress. You know that you have finished four pages of notes with three to go.  They don’t.  Because they can’t see your notes you either need to have a clear structure that is previewed at the start and reviewed at transitions (as in a deductive message), or a clear indication of destination and sensation of progress toward it (as in an inductive message), or else a very compelling presentation that people simply don’t want to end.  Otherwise they will be investing mental resources in trying to figure out where you are in your message.

4. Purpose of Illustration. You can look down and see your illustration marker and where it sits in relation to the section of the message, the sub-point you are explaining, proving or applying, etc.  Because they can’t see your notes they can easily lose track of why you are telling the story about the time your Uncle took you to the fish market.  Don’t just tell illustrations well, but clarify their purpose whenever appropriate.

They can’t see your notes and they shouldn’t see your notes  . . . but they will see the message you preach and the way that you preach it.