Monday, October 09, 2006
Does A Pastor Owe The Congregation A "Complete" Sermon?
One of the harder things for me in listening to a sermon is what the preacher leaves unsaid. Often in a rush to get to where he is going, he leaves behind a pathway bordered by open doors through which the listener can wander and usually end up somewhere that the preacher does not want them to go.
Let me give you an example. Say you want to preach on evangelism and you want to make the point that everyone in the congregation bears some of that responsibility. To emphasize your point you may make a statement like "The church's number one priority is evangelism." Now, in the context of that sermon, that statement is not completely out of hand. However, the statement is objectionable on a number of levels. For instance, the church's number one priority, theologically speaking, is to glorify God - evangelism is but one aspect of that, as is feeding the widows and poor, and building maturity within the congregation.
The problem is that someone in the congregation is going to latch onto that statement out of its context and try to push all but evangelism out of the way when it comes to church resources and priorities. Worse, everythng the church does will, in some fashion, be "turned into" evangelism so it can lay claim to resources. Thus you will find things like "aerobics outreach" so the aerobics instructor in the congregation can legitimize using church facilities to teach a class.
I think this phenomena creates a big problem for preachers. Obviously, every sermon cannot be a complete statement of everything the church thinks or believes. But that said, is it really that difficult not to leave those open doors strewn along the path of a sermon? Often just parsing the sentence differently, or adding but a single phrase or sentence can make all the difference.
I have been told by more than one preacher as I approached them about this that I listen too hard and analyze too much - that no one else finds those open doors that I do, so its not a problem. I don't think so. The sermon is powerful and its affects, though often indirect, can be massive, even in the single phrase or inflection. True, not everyone analyzes on this level, but some do, and most importantly congregational leaders do.
I have seen these open doors have devestating effects on congregations as everyone rushes through them to some unsavory destination. I do think a pastor has an obligation to read his sermons not only for the points he desires to make, but also for the points he makes inadvertantly. The sermon, while not taking in the whole of what a church thinks or believes, should be wholly consistent with that greater reality.
Anything less is the devil's playground.
Related Tags: sermons, church, politics, preachers, pastors
Let me give you an example. Say you want to preach on evangelism and you want to make the point that everyone in the congregation bears some of that responsibility. To emphasize your point you may make a statement like "The church's number one priority is evangelism." Now, in the context of that sermon, that statement is not completely out of hand. However, the statement is objectionable on a number of levels. For instance, the church's number one priority, theologically speaking, is to glorify God - evangelism is but one aspect of that, as is feeding the widows and poor, and building maturity within the congregation.
The problem is that someone in the congregation is going to latch onto that statement out of its context and try to push all but evangelism out of the way when it comes to church resources and priorities. Worse, everythng the church does will, in some fashion, be "turned into" evangelism so it can lay claim to resources. Thus you will find things like "aerobics outreach" so the aerobics instructor in the congregation can legitimize using church facilities to teach a class.
I think this phenomena creates a big problem for preachers. Obviously, every sermon cannot be a complete statement of everything the church thinks or believes. But that said, is it really that difficult not to leave those open doors strewn along the path of a sermon? Often just parsing the sentence differently, or adding but a single phrase or sentence can make all the difference.
I have been told by more than one preacher as I approached them about this that I listen too hard and analyze too much - that no one else finds those open doors that I do, so its not a problem. I don't think so. The sermon is powerful and its affects, though often indirect, can be massive, even in the single phrase or inflection. True, not everyone analyzes on this level, but some do, and most importantly congregational leaders do.
I have seen these open doors have devestating effects on congregations as everyone rushes through them to some unsavory destination. I do think a pastor has an obligation to read his sermons not only for the points he desires to make, but also for the points he makes inadvertantly. The sermon, while not taking in the whole of what a church thinks or believes, should be wholly consistent with that greater reality.
Anything less is the devil's playground.
Related Tags: sermons, church, politics, preachers, pastors
