When Haddon Robinson was asked to describe preaching in two words he said, “Glorious burden.” Isn’t this the truth? Preaching is glorious. We stand before the people of God with words from God that shape and mold Christ in us. Wow, I’m so thankful to be able to preach. But as glorious as preaching is, it’s also a burden. We stand before the people of God with words from God that shape and mold Christ in us. Wow, I’m not sure I’m cut out to do this.
Preaching in two words? What do you think?
We have been blessed with four wonderful children. As a father I am very aware of my influence on my children. Perhaps you’ve heard something along the lines of, “a child’s view of God is largely shaped by their experience with their Dad.” If their Dad is cold and aloof, this will leave a mark on their spiritual perception. If their Dad is harsh and legalistic, a different mark is left. If this is true, and I believe it is, it places a huge burden of responsibility on parents.
I wonder whether this is also true of us as preachers? Not only do we present God’s Word to people by way of explanation and application, but we also represent God to people. I would suggest the parents of children leave a deeper mark in those early years than anyone, but still, as preachers we are marking our listeners. What mark will we leave today?
As well as what we say, we need to think about how we say it. What is our tone and attitude during preaching? Just like a parent, we will do harm if we are always harsh and legalistic in our tone. We don’t help if we constantly demonstrate fear that our charges might hurt themselves. Equally, we do not help if we are always fun and light-hearted either.
Let’s pray that today, as we head to church, we will represent God well. In the pulpit, and out of it. Let’s make sure people get the subconscious impression that the God we know and represent is loving, gracious, inviting, and welcoming, as well as clear on what is right and wrong. Perhaps preaching, like parenting, is something of a mystery when you consider how much influence God has entrusted to such fallible and weak creatures as you and I!
If you preach regularly, it is easy to get into an unhealthy mindset concerning the ministry. It’s the kind of mindset where you will preach next time because it’s what you do. You did it last week and will do it again this week. I’m sure most of us have experienced this at times. If you feel this Sunday approaching, but a numb feeling inside, take some time to thrash it out with the Lord.
The missing pieces might include a loss of several things: wonder at the person and power of God, sense of the privilege of speaking His Word to others, awareness of the very real and personal needs, or even the peril of the listeners, and the reality of the ongoing spiritual battle in which we currently live.
When I find motivation has faded, or there is a dryness inside, I remember men like David, Job, and Jeremiah. In the Bible we find people who were really honest before God, yet I know my tendency to be superficial and aloof. Perhaps the time will soon come, or maybe it is today, that some of us need to pour out our hearts to the Lord in total honesty. Perhaps we’ll find, like Jeremiah, that once all the emotion is spent, and the energy gone, that there is still a fire in the bones and we must speak for God!
Don’t preach just ‘cos it’s what you do, or you are on the schedule. Preach ‘cos there’s a very deep, God-given and God-captivated, need-motivated, battle-hardened, must-ness in your spirit.
More things to think about when you are a visiting speaker. The few minutes between arriving and the service starting can be quite busy!
Program awareness both pre and post message – What will go on before you step up to speak? It’s no good having an icebreaker moment of hilarity if they’ve had heart stirring worship for twenty minutes. However, sometimes you can tell that after what is coming before they will need some help to settle and focus. Also, what comes after you? Should you close in prayer, announce a song, simply sit down? It’s best to know! And there may be ways to make subtle connections to what comes before and after, thereby helping the whole service to sit together well.
Personal introduction, by whom? – Will they be introducing you so that people know who you are (and what will they say – see previous post Speaker Introductions!) Or do they expect a brief personal intro at the start of the message? (Or do they like an informal interview intro – I would not suggest this idea, but some places seem to choose it!)
Final audience analysis – As a visitor I always use the last few minutes before the service to get to know the people, either by observation or by probing a local about the kind of people present. It’s amazing what you can learn in just a couple of minutes that can help to tailor the message.
(If you didn’t see it then, also check out the post from December 9th – The Time Before You Speak)
Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that you have something to share that is not the normal biblical sermon. Perhaps you have an announcement to make, a vision to cast, an update on the new building project, some other leadership issue to address. Even though you are in church, don’t automatically attach a Bible text.
Typically, if not always, there will be a biblical basis for what is being communicated or done. It is obviously fine to share that, but make it clear that is not an authoritative warrant for the action. For example, you can present a biblical basis for fellowship, but don’t leverage that biblical content to add pressure for attending a church social event. There are biblical examples of God’s people working together on a building project, but that is not divine pressure for your people to sign up to the current project. It is fine to give some biblical support, but evaluate if it is really fair and helpful.
Don’t automatically attach a Bible text. Just because you’re in church doesn’t mean every announcement has to be “sanctified” in this way. Let people evaluate what they hear on its own merits, not with the unnecessary pressure of apparent biblical warrant. This is not a hard and fast rule, it’s a judgment call. If the church is following through on church discipline, I would strongly suggest you do give a biblical explanation for the procedure. But for a social event, just take the pressure off and let them choose!
The first stage in preparing a biblical message is to select the passage. This is incredibly easy if you take an arbitrary approach to the canon. For example, maybe you plan to preach chapter-by-chapter through a book, or even verse-by-verse through a section. Wait! This sounds easy, but we must not take this approach.
The chapter divisions and the verse divisions are not there by author’s design. These helpful little reference markers were added later to help us find our place, not to help preacher’s select their passage. This is not new news for most of us. But it is so easy to slip back into bad habits like this. After all, every time you open your Bible to read it you subconsciously take in a silent number every sentence or so. Although not spoken, their voice is still heard, at least subconsciously.
Let me quote Richard Erickson’s helpful book, A Beginner’s Guide to New Testament Exegesis, as he makes the same point:
If we desire to be as faithful as we can be to the text as its author first wrote it, then we should never set out to “preach through” a biblical book chapter by chapter (or worse, verse by verse). We have no guarantee that the later editors of Scripture who added the familiar chapter and verse divisions did so in the way the original authors would have done it. In fact, we have many reasons to suspect they did not! As far as you are able, let the book itself tell you where to make appropriate divisions in the run of its “argument” or its “plot.”
As you prepare for your next sermon, take a few moments to evaluate the passage boundaries – are they what the book itself would tell you? Ignore the numbers, the author didn’t put them there.
As preachers we have the privilege of intensive Bible study. Most believers have the privilege of Bible study, but few have the added pressure of having to communicate it to others. However, it is easy to fall into the trap of simply meeting the next deadline and preparing the next sermon. This way of functioning can easily get us trapped in a “micro” approach to God’s Word. Instead, I’d like to encourage us all to be “macro” students of the Word.
Bible study requires both micro and macro views. My first professor of hermeneutics used to refer to the analysis-synthesis interchange. This speaks of the moving back and forth between analyzing the details and synthesizing the passage as a whole in its larger context. Details, like words, can only be truly understood in their context or setting.
Three things push us toward micro Bible study. The first thing is preaching itself. We tend to need details that “will preach” in order to make the sermon sound biblical and interesting. The second thing is personal preference. Some of us are more micro-inclined, while apparently fewer are more macro-inclined. Third, Bible school training has traditionally given more micro tools and approaches, leaving many students unsure how to pursue “bigger picture” study.
We need to master the Book, book by book. As we study a book in order to preach it (or for personal growth – imagine!), let’s try to be aware of the whole. How does the argument flow throughout, how do the pieces fit together? Keep a document that is all about the big picture of the book. As one writer puts it, “Begin to build up a living understanding of Colossians, or of Genesis, or of Mark’s Gospel – whatever – as a whole. Make it your life’s work, and take your time. Let yourself enjoy it.”
I agree. We can never truly master the Book, but let’s spend our lives trying, book-by-book.
To be an effective preacher, it is necessary to be a reader. We need to read in order to prepare messages. Obviously there are biblical reference works, commentaries and so on. We should also be reading in order to keep our finger on the pulse of our culture and local context. Then there are other areas of reading related to our role – theology, apologetics, etc. Once in a while we may also take the opportunity to read for pleasure – perhaps fiction, biography, or hobby related. All of this is good. But let’s not forget another broad category.
It is healthy to read works that we find uncomfortable too. We would not read them for pleasure. Nor would we automatically read them for sermon preparation since they are not from our preferred group of scholars. This is a broad category since it could be theological or cultural or both. Right now I am reading a book that I find quite uncomfortable on the whole. Written from a perspective I would lean away from politically and spiritually, and attacking some perspectives that are close to my own, this is not a comfortable read. Yet I feel it is right to read it.
When there is a sense of discomfort in our reading, there tends to be a couple of side-benefits. Our thinking is challenged and stretched. Our prayer lives are prompted as we process it before the Lord. We become more rounded preachers. Make sure some of your reading is quite uncomfortable. It’s well worth it.
Yesterday I wrote about careful and considered sensitivity toward diverse groups within the congregation. I deliberately left out a very significant group and would like to mention them today. Problem is, I can’t call it “strengthened by sensitivity – part 2.” I don’t really want to open the can of worms relating to seeker sensitive church models. There are strengths and weaknesses in all these approaches to church, but I don’t want to make us think of that right now.
I want us to think about the next congregation we will speak to, those individuals sitting in the chairs and listening to us preach. Among them there may well be non-Christians. We need to be careful in what we say. As Nathan suggested in his comment yesterday, “Sometimes we pepper our messages with phrases like, “You know the story about Japheth…”, or, “But we as Christians….” These phrases can unintentionally make the non-Christians feel like what we’re saying doesn’t apply to them, and that we’re oblivious to their presence among us. It can also give the impression that church is like a graduate course that requires a bunch of prerequisite courses in order to track along.”
So take a moment to think through who may be there tomorrow. Pray for them. Prayerfully consider whether there are elements in the sermon that could require too much background, or anything that could be misunderstood, or might imply something you don’t intend (in reference to outsiders, or the gospel, etc.)
Let’s pray that tomorrow, whether we are being overtly evangelistic or not, many non-Christians will respond to the captivating work of the Spirit of God and spark celebrations in heaven!
Sensitivity can really strengthen a sermon. If it is overdone it can also neutralize a sermon, but well-placed and well-worded sensitivity is well worth the extra thought it takes. If the text was originally targeted at one specific type of person (such as the early chapters of Proverbs targeted at young males), perhaps a careful comment or two can open up its relevance to a wider audience. Or in your illustrations and applications, perhaps another one is needed to include a group that may feel excluded. Or when the subject can feel sensitive to some, a careful acknowledgement of that is well worth considering. For example:
Singles. A lot of biblical stories and teaching relates to marriage, either human or the relational image of God and His people. For some singles in the church, this can be hard to take. Sensitivity to their feelings can really help.
Childless. It is natural and easy to relate stories of your own children, but for some in the church this can be painful since they remain childless. Be especially careful in biblical stories where God has “closed the womb” as a form of discipline.
Women. It is definitely worth being sensitive to the existence, worth and ability of women. Make sure your illustrations don’t always default to male imagery, male characters, and male thinking patterns. As ever, too much is generally not appreciated by men or women, but deliberate well-placed sensitivity is well worth the effort.
The elderly. High energy practical applications for hectic families and workplace interactions can easily miss the elderly who no longer have a full nest, a full work schedule or even a full tank of energy.
The unemployed. In our desire to be relevant to the majority, we can easily apply the sermon in respect to work life. There may be some wrestling with the reality of unemployment and the many feelings that come with that. They probably don’t want to be put in the spotlight, but will sense your sensitivity.
So five groups of people that can easily feel left out or even hurt by insensitivity from the pulpit. Any other groups we should be aware of in our sermon preparation? A well-placed and well-worded comment here and there, an extra illustration from daily life, and our sermons will be strengthened by sensitivity.
Biblical Preaching 