Monday morning
Dear Pastors
[Warning: This week’s blog has a sting in the tail. Read on at your own risk – you could end up feeling a wee bit ticked off with me].
Monday morning is and always has been a mixed bag of feelings. For some it will be, ‘thank God, it’s Monday!’(yippee), but for others it will be ‘O God, it’s Monday!’(help me).
The other day at lunch a few of us mostly pastors were talking about preaching and biblical literacy in NZ and my Pentecostal friend and pastor talked about a concern he has around a slogan I hadn’t heard in a long time. Here it is, “only preach on Sunday what can be done on Monday”.
My response has always been, “exactly - that is our job”. To preach a sermon on Sunday that connects to Monday. To preach so that every sermon has great application so that every listener to my sermon on Sunday can use it on Monday and Tuesday and so on. After all what use is a sermon that is a heavy theological treatise, interesting perhaps but of no practical use? Bible truth must have shoes on etc etc.
But those of us at lunch shared a common concern about the kind of messages we are hearing a lot these days. It seems that proof texting is still in vogue, life enhancement messages are the flavour of the month and self-help messages are the new modus vivendi. I’ve even heard on occasion some criticise such preaching as ‘Goggle reheated, Readers Digest sermons, entertainment and fluff’. Ouch!! I have been guilty before today.
My friend went on to say, “The problem with this slogan is that its adoption as an idea translates into preaching that’s flat and unimaginative – it’s about topical sermons which avoid the hard graft of biblical exegesis and careful thought that brings the world of text and the world of everyday life together in ways that open the imagination and encourage reflection and engagement. It’s an approach to preaching that is about ‘cause and effect’ – if I do these three things, I will be a better Christian etc etc. The imaginative power of scripture, in turning the biblical text into some kind of self-help book, is lost. And I could go on”.
You will notice that he talked about good biblical exegesis that connects to life. I so agree. That’s what we need and in the absence of good and consistent biblical exegesis we have inadvertently contributed to creating a generation of Christians who have low biblical literacy. I am very worried that we aren’t studying the text enough for our sermons. I know this is a generalisation and perhaps a gross generalisation but that’s what I worry about, field tested by visiting about 20 different churches these last 2 years and listening to a fair few sermons online as well.
Of course we are all using online resources for our background reading etc that’s understood and there is nothing wrong with that. After all Dr Google is hugely helpful in that regard. But how much in depth study are we doing and then crafting sermons that speak to the head, the heart, and the hands?
Preaching has to still be the greatest privilege on earth but I think it carries with it a great responsibility as well. Our task, isn’t it, is to open people’s eye’s and mind to the wonder, beauty and glory of scripture not the latest pop psychology idea that may have a ring of truth to it.
Blessings
Alan
Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.
