Saturday, April 23, 2005
Preaching...
The wonder of the blogosphere is that a single post can be reverberate through cyberspace like a superball in zero gravity. It goes all over the place and you never know what kind of nerve it is going to strike in who.
I think that has never been more true than when Adrian Warnock started talking about preaching and transformation. Earlier this week, my friend John Gillmartin at Sheep's Crib tried to round-up much of what sprang from that and "recalibrate the discussion." John did absolutely stupendous work in the preparation of that post. I think John grew frustrated a few days later when the discussion did not "recalibrate" as he hoped it would. Alas, trying to point bloggers in a single direction is pretty much like herding cats - just not going to happen. I understand John's frustration; I too have longed for a serious and focused discussion on a topic, only to be responded to with everything from non-sequiters to pointed personal barbs.
But there has been much good blogging that has followed in the wake of John's excellent round-up and suggestions. I have posted a couple of times already, once on sanctification and once on faith. Adrian has left several great posts in the wake of all of this, this post was in direct response to John's marvelous round-up, this post pointed to some great material from JOLLYBLOGGER and Unveiled Face, this post responded to my comments on sanctification, and here Adrian once again points to a great JOLLYBLOGGER post on the role of the Holy Spirit in preaching. Transforming Sermons has tried to keep on top of all of this, and more in this post that quotes from the JOLLYBLOGGER post. All in all, I would say that Sheep's Crib may not have "recalibrated" the discussion as he would like, but he certainly has renewed it in a fashion that has resulted in a lot of great blogging.
I think; however, that Adrian's latest post, though not really intending to, strikes at the real heart of the matter -- certainly it does from my perspective. I am going to step back a little bit and look at a couple of real core beliefs that I hold. I will risk offended some that I truly love and care for, but these are things I believe to be core truth.
The first is that God intends ministry in any form to be incarnational and relational. I believe this because of the sweep of God's history with man. We started in deep and intimate relationship with the Almighty, then sin intervened and the intimacy was lost. For millennia, God attempted to restore that intimacy by telling us what we had to do to be in His presence. It never worked. Law-giving, miracle working, prophecy preaching, never truly restored the intimacy that God so desired with us. Finally, God decided to restore intimacy by becoming one of us and taking upon Himself the punishment that we deserved, removing the barrier to that intimacy. And more, with that barrier removed, He now indwells us in an intimacy that we can never truly grasp.
Intimacy with God, for all of humanity truly began by intimacy between God incarnate and twelve men -- who in turn were intimate with some, who in turn were intimate with some.... This is why Adrian's latest post is important, he says, "If you struggle with accepting your pastor's teaching, and his discipleship of you..." Discipleship is an inherently incarnational and relational activity. It cannot happen from a pulpit or even the front of a classroom.
The second very core belief that I hold is related to the first. Because God, and His ministry to us, and therefore our ministry to each other, is at its core incarnational and relational, real ministry cannot be institutionalized. That same grand sweep of God's history with man demonstrates this. As man built institutions, God tore them down, whether the flood or the tower of Babel. God lead His chosen people out of bondage, and for centuries resisted establishing for them an actual Kingdom, knowing that such an institution would stand between Him and them. When He did relent, the Kingdom lasted but 2 generations. Christ came and saved almost all of His venom, not for the oppressive government of the time, but for the religious institutions of the time. God, I think, knows that while we need institutions to organize ourselves, they will always stand between us and Him, often idolously so. He longs for a time when He can again walk beside us without encumberment as He did in the garden.
So what's all that got to do with preaching? Simple, preaching that speaks to me is preaching that finds a way to inculcate those two core beliefs of mine. That means that first of all, I need to be able to call the preacher "friend" and see the evidence of the word he expounds in his life. Secondly, it means that preaching that serves to build the church, in the institutional sense, will send me out in a huff.
Some personal stories -- the "best" preacher I have ever been priveledged to sit under, as defined by the measures most people would use, could really pack 'em in. Church attendance grew from 500 to 1500 in a couple of years. People all over town were talking about what a great "word" he had. He was entertaining and intellectual. And it only took me 6 months to figure out he was a near complete phony. I was on the ruling board of that church at the time. My job demanded intimacy with the man and he was competely incapable of it. It wasn't a problem between him and I -- he couldn't be intimate with anyone, he was intimidated by virtually anyone that walked in his office. And, as I worked with him on mundane matters, I began to see that he had similar problems being intimate with the Almighty. His words from the pulpit rang very hollow indeed when matched against his utter failure to moderate simple disputes between leaders, that soon blew into enormous storms -- often unintentionally intensified by his inept efforts. The spiritual fruit he preached about so passionately was simply absent in his routine dealings. I did what Adrian suggests in his recent post:
There are; however, a few men that I really would call truly great preachers. About all of them, one thing could be said, "They did not take themselves very seriously, but they did take their jobs and the Word of God deadly seriously." Of this very small group of men, those that still live are still friends, and while I may not be under active discipleship from them at the moment, they are who I would turn to in a crisis.
So what is my vision for preaching? Just this -- it is a tool for my, and every other Christian in the congregation's, use in their own ministry. Each of us is called to be intimate with another, and through that intimacy the Spirit spreads. Not all of us are gifted at putting voice to the thoughts and ideas that surround that intimacy. That is what great preaching does -- it describes and explains the urgings of the Spirit that people feel, not from the preaching itself, but from the people in the seats or pews around you. A mediocre preacher will sound like a great preacher if he serves a congregation full of true and committed servants of the Lord. That's why I think a pastor should devote himself first to discipleship because discipleship will make the preaching better.
I think that has never been more true than when Adrian Warnock started talking about preaching and transformation. Earlier this week, my friend John Gillmartin at Sheep's Crib tried to round-up much of what sprang from that and "recalibrate the discussion." John did absolutely stupendous work in the preparation of that post. I think John grew frustrated a few days later when the discussion did not "recalibrate" as he hoped it would. Alas, trying to point bloggers in a single direction is pretty much like herding cats - just not going to happen. I understand John's frustration; I too have longed for a serious and focused discussion on a topic, only to be responded to with everything from non-sequiters to pointed personal barbs.
But there has been much good blogging that has followed in the wake of John's excellent round-up and suggestions. I have posted a couple of times already, once on sanctification and once on faith. Adrian has left several great posts in the wake of all of this, this post was in direct response to John's marvelous round-up, this post pointed to some great material from JOLLYBLOGGER and Unveiled Face, this post responded to my comments on sanctification, and here Adrian once again points to a great JOLLYBLOGGER post on the role of the Holy Spirit in preaching. Transforming Sermons has tried to keep on top of all of this, and more in this post that quotes from the JOLLYBLOGGER post. All in all, I would say that Sheep's Crib may not have "recalibrated" the discussion as he would like, but he certainly has renewed it in a fashion that has resulted in a lot of great blogging.
I think; however, that Adrian's latest post, though not really intending to, strikes at the real heart of the matter -- certainly it does from my perspective. I am going to step back a little bit and look at a couple of real core beliefs that I hold. I will risk offended some that I truly love and care for, but these are things I believe to be core truth.
The first is that God intends ministry in any form to be incarnational and relational. I believe this because of the sweep of God's history with man. We started in deep and intimate relationship with the Almighty, then sin intervened and the intimacy was lost. For millennia, God attempted to restore that intimacy by telling us what we had to do to be in His presence. It never worked. Law-giving, miracle working, prophecy preaching, never truly restored the intimacy that God so desired with us. Finally, God decided to restore intimacy by becoming one of us and taking upon Himself the punishment that we deserved, removing the barrier to that intimacy. And more, with that barrier removed, He now indwells us in an intimacy that we can never truly grasp.
Intimacy with God, for all of humanity truly began by intimacy between God incarnate and twelve men -- who in turn were intimate with some, who in turn were intimate with some.... This is why Adrian's latest post is important, he says, "If you struggle with accepting your pastor's teaching, and his discipleship of you..." Discipleship is an inherently incarnational and relational activity. It cannot happen from a pulpit or even the front of a classroom.
The second very core belief that I hold is related to the first. Because God, and His ministry to us, and therefore our ministry to each other, is at its core incarnational and relational, real ministry cannot be institutionalized. That same grand sweep of God's history with man demonstrates this. As man built institutions, God tore them down, whether the flood or the tower of Babel. God lead His chosen people out of bondage, and for centuries resisted establishing for them an actual Kingdom, knowing that such an institution would stand between Him and them. When He did relent, the Kingdom lasted but 2 generations. Christ came and saved almost all of His venom, not for the oppressive government of the time, but for the religious institutions of the time. God, I think, knows that while we need institutions to organize ourselves, they will always stand between us and Him, often idolously so. He longs for a time when He can again walk beside us without encumberment as He did in the garden.
So what's all that got to do with preaching? Simple, preaching that speaks to me is preaching that finds a way to inculcate those two core beliefs of mine. That means that first of all, I need to be able to call the preacher "friend" and see the evidence of the word he expounds in his life. Secondly, it means that preaching that serves to build the church, in the institutional sense, will send me out in a huff.
Some personal stories -- the "best" preacher I have ever been priveledged to sit under, as defined by the measures most people would use, could really pack 'em in. Church attendance grew from 500 to 1500 in a couple of years. People all over town were talking about what a great "word" he had. He was entertaining and intellectual. And it only took me 6 months to figure out he was a near complete phony. I was on the ruling board of that church at the time. My job demanded intimacy with the man and he was competely incapable of it. It wasn't a problem between him and I -- he couldn't be intimate with anyone, he was intimidated by virtually anyone that walked in his office. And, as I worked with him on mundane matters, I began to see that he had similar problems being intimate with the Almighty. His words from the pulpit rang very hollow indeed when matched against his utter failure to moderate simple disputes between leaders, that soon blew into enormous storms -- often unintentionally intensified by his inept efforts. The spiritual fruit he preached about so passionately was simply absent in his routine dealings. I did what Adrian suggests in his recent post:
If you struggle with accepting your pastor's teaching, and his discipleship of you, I would suggest that you may be in the wrong church,Next Church! Interestingly, that church fell into utter disarray a year or two after my decision. That pastor left and the facade he had so carefully constructed fell away. Attendance fell back to below the levels from before his arrival, and the debt load may yet kill the congregation all together. Worse, many who claimed to find Jesus under this man's preaching, can now not be found in church anywhere. This man, to the casual observer, sang with the voice of angels, but it really was no better than a clanging gong.
There are; however, a few men that I really would call truly great preachers. About all of them, one thing could be said, "They did not take themselves very seriously, but they did take their jobs and the Word of God deadly seriously." Of this very small group of men, those that still live are still friends, and while I may not be under active discipleship from them at the moment, they are who I would turn to in a crisis.
So what is my vision for preaching? Just this -- it is a tool for my, and every other Christian in the congregation's, use in their own ministry. Each of us is called to be intimate with another, and through that intimacy the Spirit spreads. Not all of us are gifted at putting voice to the thoughts and ideas that surround that intimacy. That is what great preaching does -- it describes and explains the urgings of the Spirit that people feel, not from the preaching itself, but from the people in the seats or pews around you. A mediocre preacher will sound like a great preacher if he serves a congregation full of true and committed servants of the Lord. That's why I think a pastor should devote himself first to discipleship because discipleship will make the preaching better.
