"The Bible is a remarkable fountain: the more one draws and drinks of it, the more it stimulates thirst."
- Martin Luther
Thursday, February 7, 2008
An insightful post from Caleb Kolstad:
The syrup I have grown accustomed to is imitation “light†syrup. As a matter of fact I really don’t enjoy “regular†syrup anymore. It is too sweet for my liking. I would even choose light syrup over tree-tapped genuine Vermont maple syrup.
Sadly, I realized that many people are wired the same way when it comes to preaching. Many Christians have become so accustomed to shallow evangelical principalizing that when real expository preaching is tasted it’s rejected (at least initially) . . .
The problem is that many people want so many illustrations, stories, or application points that no time is left for true exposition. Who wants to hear about the historical background of Romans when in that time 3 or 4 stories, illustrations, or jokes could be shared? Now most people wouldn’t say that aloud but that is in fact what they’re thinking.
Those who most gifted in oratory are often most prone to this extreme. It’s what I call shallow evangelical principalizing. I noticed this response over 10 years when I was a student at the Master’s College. During a school sponsored Bible conference three gifted men brought the Word. All were great communicators but one was especially humorous and “relatableâ€. Unfortunately his sermons were also the lightest of the three. His preaching was thoroughly evangelical but not truly expositional or deep. Still most of the students I talked with in the dorms during and after the conference thought his sermons were the “best.â€
Engaging oratory and great communication is not synonymous with a great sermon. In our preaching we should seek both light and heat. I’m not calling for dry, lifeless, preaching here. Passionate, clear, text-driven preaching is what our people most desperately need. Just don’t be surprised if you bring that type of syrup to your people if they initially reject it in favor of the “light†stuff.
I listened to a sermon this month that began with a 10-minute illustration, transitioned to 2 minutes of connecting the illustration to "spiritual truth," and then transitioned to another 5-minute personal story. Yes, I was timing. 17 minutes before any Scripture was referenced or cited, much less explicated. It was a 30 minute message, and the remaining 13 minutes included more illustrations.
I was bored.
But I'm a nerd, I admit. I'm also thirsty for Jesus and hungry for the manna of Scripture, and I've been starving lately. Light beer isn't cutting it. I want a straight shot of homiletical whiskey. :-)
(HT: Transforming Sermons)
Cross-posted at The Gospel-Driven Church
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Comments on "Preaching: Losing Taste for the Real Thing":
2. Brian
- 02/07/2008 3:42 pm CST
Light beer isn't cutting it. I want a straight shot of homiletical whiskey.
If you're travelling east on I-40 anytime soon let me know and I'll set you up. :)
We visited a church this past Sunday that wasn't as bad as your example but they did focus almost entirely on the pragmatic, "Christianity for better living" side.
But what I hear on a more frequent basis is what Tim Keller calles a "textual sermon" :
"A textual sermon takes a verse or short passage as a jumping-off point to a subject that may or may not be the focus of the text"
This is disguised as expository preaching but it's really just a way for the pastor to preach on his pet topics. And so you get a lot moralisms and not much Jesus and the Gospel
3. Philip
- 02/07/2008 10:46 pm CST
Sad. I can't tell you how many times people tell me that people don't preach like I do anymore. "You preach the word", People say. "It's all Scripture. We just can't find that anywhere else."
I'm hopeful that there are other "undiscovered" expository preachers out there. There may be a lot of us. But it sure feels like we are in the minority.
4. blest
- 02/09/2008 9:35 pm CST
Dude...I'm tellin' ya. You want Dr. Carl Broggi
www.searchthescriptures.org
If you wanna give him a try - I'll be happy to send you some tapes or cds. He does hard hitting no holds barred exegesis and he goes as long as he wants and nobody better walk out early. We were in the book of Hebrews for over two years!
He went over an hour just on the verse "By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death; AND HE WAS NOT FOUND BECAUSE GOD TOOK HIM UP; for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up he was pleasing to God. " It was awesome!
I love that man.
5. Jared
- 02/09/2008 10:56 pm CST
Oh, I know how to find good preaching online.
I'm grateful for the internet and such. Without it, many more of us would go without good gospel preaching every week.
6. The Ancient Mariner
- 02/10/2008 6:55 am CST
Thanks for the post. I guess I've been blessed; like Phil, I try to preach Scripture as faithfully as I can, and mostly I've found that's what people want. (Except, of course, when it says something they really don't want to hear--but that's another issue.)
BTW, if you ever happen to find yourself in northern Indiana of a weekend, look us up. One thing I've found as a preacher--maybe you've been more blessed than this at Element--is that most people, while they may engage with the sermon, don't really reflect that; except from my wife, I rarely get much beyond "good sermon" (which isn't always a good thing to hear). Having a good biblical preacher in the congregation changes that, and it's a valuable gift. (Which is not to say that we'd only welcome you for your feedback; merely that in that event, your feedback would be most welcome.)
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