Theology

2012 Blog Review – Part 2

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Podium Medals2On Friday I reviewed the year from several angles.  But there is one left to consider.  Since this was a year of weekly series, what were some of the highlights?  Which series stirred the most responses?  Which series stirred interest with the fewest post, and which went on the longest?  Here’s a quick look back:

They got into the final – Four series stirred enough interest (comments and likes, as well as in-person conversations) to warrant a mention here:

Beyond Guilt – is there a better way to motivate listeners to change than guilt?  Absolutely.  Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.

Why Do We Preach – the year ending reflection on our own motivation in ministry.  Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, summary.

Truth Through Personality – reflections on implications of Philips Brooks oft-quoted definition of preaching.  Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6.

Overqualified! – how easy to over qualify important issues in our preaching and thereby undermine them.  Grace, Trinity, Go, Means, Heart & Head.

Agonizingly close to a podium finish – Just keeping up the Olympic theme since this has been such a great year for British sport!  These three almost sneaked into the top three:

Faint Not – the discouraged preacher is a title many of us carry regularly.  Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.

Biggest Big Ideas – this was my favourite series of the year to write.  The biggest big ideas weaving through the canon. God, Creation, Sin, Grace, Faith, Redemption, Community, Spreading Goodness, Hope, Christ.

Interactive Bible Observation Preaching – this was the shortest series to make the review, with just two posts.  Post 1, post 2.

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The medal places – So here are the top three series of 2012:

Bronze – Preaching New Covenant . . . a core issue for truly Christian preaching.  Introduction, Sin, Heart, Trinity.

Silver – Technology, Bible Software and Preaching, the new reality for many of us.  Online research, Social Networks+, Disconnected, Bible Software,  Downside, Ajith Fernando’s Comment.

Gold – Preaching Story (also the longest, at 18 posts!): Theology, People, Plots, Power, Function, Adults, Reading, Telling, Mistakes, part 2, Thesaurus, Bible, OT, Gospels, Acts, Storying, Super-Genre, Artistry/Accuracy.

It has been a good year to ponder preaching together.  Thank you for visiting the site, for commenting and most of all, for faithfully serving a God worth proclaiming!

 

My Highlight Books of 2012

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

BookIt seems fashionable to offer a list of the best books of the year during these days.  I can only offer some of the highlights in terms of what I’ve read.  Consequently, not all these books were published in 2012, but they were read by me in 2012!  I won’t include any of the books I am currently reading, even though there are some real gems, with bookmarks in them, next to my reading chair.

To be effective preachers we need to be readers.  Readers for the sake of our preaching, our biblical studies, our theology, our cultural awareness, our personal spirituality and our growth in all aspects of ministry.  So here are some books I’d encourage you to get hold of if they weren’t in your stocking yesterday or on your shelf already:

Best Theological and Spiritually Stimulating Read of 2012: The Good God, by Michael Reeves.  This book is appearing on lists far more comprehensive and purposeful than mine.  Hopefully people will get the point – this delightful book is well worth reading! It is rich yet accessible, theological yet heart-stirring, historically alert yet relevant and enjoyable. (It was released in the UK in March 2012 by Paternoster, and in the US in the fall by IVP under the title, Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith. Click here to buy the book in the UK.)

Other Theologically Stimulating Reads in 2012.  These are not new, but worth grabbing if you get the chance.  Holmes Rolston’s John Calvin Versus the Westminster Confession is very thought provoking.  Janice Knight’s insightful analysis of the Antinomian Controversy in New England in the 1630’s is a golden piece of work (at a golden price, it must be said).  The contrast between a God obsessed with His own power and a God who gives of Himself in love is as fresh a discussion as any from all those centuries ago.  Orthodoxies in Massachusetts: Rereading American Puritanism – buy or borrow if you can.  (To buy in the UK, click here.)

Best Freely Accessible Historical Document of 2012: I have thoroughly enjoyed time with both Luther and Edwards this year.  Edwards is not always the most accessible, and Luther is not always the most consistent, but both are worth some reading time!  For starters, why not try The Freedom of a Christian, by Luther (aka Concerning Christian Liberty – easy to find online, but why not get The Three Treatises on your shelf – to buy in the UK, click here.)

Biblical Studies Book of 2012: Jesus on Trial: A Study in the Fourth Gospel, by A.E.Harvey.  This is an older book, published in the 70’s, but worth its weight in gold.  This book helps make sense of the continual legal tension between Jesus and his accusers.  I will long remember reading this by flashlight in the sleepless nights after our youngest was born – she was worth being awake for, but this book only made it even better!

Not Overtly Christian But Well Worth Reading Book:  C.S.Lewis’ Experiment in Criticism is a delightful read on literature and how it engages people.   Instead of evaluating readers by what they read, what if we evaluate literature on how it is read?   This is well worth pondering on a spiritual, as well as on a literary level.  (To buy the book in the UK, click here.)

Insight Into Human Psyche Book of the Year: A New Name, by Emma Scrivener. – This was published this year.  It will make a mark on you if you read it.  Autobiographical, profoundly vulnerable and deeply gospel-centred.  This journey through the agony of anorexia gives insight into a world many of us know practically nothing about (but many in our congregation do).  (To buy in the UK, click here.)

So Why Do We Preach?

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why preach2This week I’ve been pondering the motivations for a preaching ministry.  Here are the eight points, followed by a summative two:

1. We preach because God is a God who speaks, therefore we have something to say. 

2. We preach as an act of service to others.

3. Because the Gospel is thrillingly good news.

4. Because people need to hear the Gospel.

5. We preach to build God’s kingdom.

6. We preach to equip others for ministry.

7. Because we can’t help but speak of Someone so wonderful. 

8. Because we care about the people to whom we preach.

9. (Odd Numbers) – We preach because we love the Lord.  All of the odd numbered points have been different angles on the same issue.  I certainly haven’t exhausted the possibilities here.  Preaching as an act of devotion, an act of worship, and even preaching as obedience to God’s Word and as obedience to His calling on our lives – these could all be added.  But the bottom line surely is this: as we take stock of our own motivation in preaching, are we still gripped and driven by a vertical responsiveness?  This can so easily grow dull or become corrupted by a self-elevation and self-worship. Surely the best thing to do here is to spend time on our face before God and ask Him what our motivations are (ask yourself and you may respond with a lie!)

And what if motivations aren’t good here?  Chase Him.  Seek Him.  Recognize that you cannot fix your own spirituality through personal resolutions and effort.  The solution must always be a fresh vision of who God is.  Open the Word, open your heart and here I come, ready or not!

10. (Even Numbers) – We preach because we love our neighbour.  All of the even numbered points have been different angles on the same issue.  Again I have by no means exhausted the possibilities.  We could add preaching to strengthen the relationships of others (both vertically and horizontally), or preaching to influence society, or preaching to mark eternity.

Again, the bottom line is whether we have a horizontal outgoing motivation, or whether we have been corrupted by our flesh into a self-serving ministry that uses others to pursue our own goals and agenda.  I find that the vertical spills into the horizontal.  When I am the god of my life, then others become servants in my subconscious motivations.  When God is clearly God from the perspective of the eyes of my heart, then I gladly reach out to serve others.  Love the Lord, love your neighbour . . . always in that order.

Why Do We Preach 4

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why preach2Here are another pair of thoughts as we reflect on the why? behind the ministry.  Perhaps these two should give more pause for thought than the others already posted?

7. Because we can’t help but speak of Someone so wonderful.  This should be the case.  Sadly, over time, it can easily cease being the case.  We can end up in a role, in a ritual, in a rut.  We end up preaching because that is what we do, or that is how we pay bills, or that is how we get respect.  We feel we should.  We feel it is expected.  We know it is needed.  And somewhere along the way we fail to notice the fog gathering between our hearts and heaven.

A growing spiritual complacency is the proverbial frog in boiling water syndrome for preachers.  God can become familiar and distant at the same time.  He can become a concept, a set of truths, a source of identity for us, but somehow fade from being the captivating One who so fills our hearts and lives that we can’t help but speak of Him.  May we all have a constant stream of newly engaged folks in our churches – constant reminders of the simple reality that a captivated heart can’t help but spill out.

8. Because we care about the people to whom we preach.  Again, this should be the case.  Sadly, over time, our flesh can easily co-opt the other centredness of ministry and turn it to a self-serving project.  We can become preachers doing so to gain respect, to gain credibility, to gain attention, to gain a following, to gain influence.  The gain increases and the give becomes token.  Of course we can talk about giving – we can frame the ministry in self-sacrificial and spiritual terms.  But really?

Just as spiritual fog can go undetected for too long, so a growing self-absorption is hard to spot in the mirror.  Our flesh will always justify a subtle pursuit of godlike status.  So we must keep walking with the Lord and ask Him to search us and know us.  Ask Him to underline the motivations that drive what may look like a gloriously giving ministry.  The true biblical preacher is shaped by the Word they preach, and they join God in giving of themselves as they preach it to others.  The blessings are hard to quantify, but they must be the by-product, not the goal.

Why Do We Preach 2

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

why preach2As an end of year pause for reflection, we are considering why it is that we preach.  Yesterday we looked at the fact that God is a God who speaks, and that our preaching is not for our own sake, but as an act of service to others.  From a slightly different angle:

3. Because the Gospel is thrillingly good news.  The mission of the preacher is not merely to communicate ancient truths relevantly.  God has given us a message.  And that message is labelled as good news for a reason.  The great sweep of redemption history involves the intra-trinitarian mission to rescue fallen creatures and restore them to full glorious fellowship with a loving and giving God.

It is not some sort of heavenly plan B to make the best of a bad situation and try to restore some semblance of respectability to a God who is on the throne but attacked on every side.  When  time is wrapped up and we have the benefit of both hindsight and eternal perspective, we will be gasping at the multi-coloured and multi-faceted dazzling beauty of what God has done in Christ.

We get to proclaim that now!

4. Because people need to hear the Gospel.  There are only two types of people in the world.  Those who need to hear the gospel and be saved, and those who need to hear the gospel as they are being saved.  While we may get beyond simplistic and trite presentations of some scaled down version of the good news to some sort of legal loophole, we never move beyond the gospel in its glorious richness.

What God is like, what He has done for us in Christ, how much we need Him, redeclaration of total dependence – justification, regeneration, reconciliation, adoption, fellowship.  Preaching Christ so that people will trust in Him.  This is something our people can’t hear enough about.  They need the hope, the faith and the love that is only found in the gospel.  We are not called to give tips for successful independent living, or to offer life coaching team talks.  We are called to preach Christ and Him crucified, that all may trust in Him, know Him, enjoy Him.

Gospel preaching, why wouldn’t we want to do that?

Truth Through Personality 5

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Personality Face2The preacher preaches, and so the preacher matters.  A personality that doesn’t reflect the fruit of the Spirit, the character of Christ, is a personality undermining the truth being proclaimed.  So let’s finish the list…

Faithfulness – The issue with faith is always the object.  We can’t have faith in ourselves, our skills, our preparation, our training, our gifting, etc.  And we can’t place our faith in the audiences, whatever their size.  Our faith has to be in God.  This points back to patience, but it is more than that.  Not only do we keep pressing on over time, but we also need to demonstrate faithfulness in every circumstance.  We may be preaching to hundreds or thousands one day, and to a handful the next.  Our faithfulness should show in both situations.  We are trusting God and giving our best to the tiny gathering, and we are trusting God not the occasion with the larger gathering.

Faithfulness in preparation means we don’t offer shoddy sermons.  Faithfulness in accepting bookings means we follow through.  Faithfulness in delivery means we give ourselves fully, even if it does mean being wiped out at the end.

Self-Control – It is so easy to do damage with your words.  You can say too much, violate privacy, twist the truth, deceive, belittle others, etc.  And all before you pause for thought.  Self-control is a critical fruit of the Spirit for biblical preachers.  Keeping a tight rein on our tongues is so important.  I read somewhere about the ancient wisdom that the human tongue is like an arrow, not just a sword.  That is, if you unsheath your sword to kill your friend, he may plead with you, beg for mercy and you may return the sword to its sheath.  But once an arrow is shot, you simply cannot return it to the quiver, no matter how much you want to do so.

Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.  The fruit of the Spirit.  Required for preachers.  But one is missing . . . tomorrow.

Truth Through Personality

/ Peter Mead / 1 Comment

Personality Face2Phillips 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! Strategy…

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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.

 

Preaching & Application 4

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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?