I was given a book for my birthday called "Heralds of God," by James S Stewart. One or both of the pictures above is the author. He lived from 1896 until 1990, so you can see why both methods of portrait might have been popular in his day!
The book is blowing me away, inspiring me anew. It was written in 1946, but shows that in a sense, nothing has changed in the area of preaching. The controversies are the same. The temptations and pressures are the same.
As a pastor in this age, trust me on this, there is a great deal of pressure to "be" a certain way, and to "preach" a certain way, and to manage your church a certain way. There is the purpose-driven church model, the willow-creek model, the emergent model, the traditional model, the desires of the people, etc, etc, ad nauseum. And all these pressures try to push into the sermon. The sermon must be short, says one. The sermon must meet felt needs said another. The sermon must be topical and relevant to the issues of the day. The sermon should be all stories. The sermon must not alienate. The sermon must be positive. The sermon must coordinate with a drama or the rest of the Sunday service in order to have an impact on the modern mind. The sermon must be delivered in a suit. The sermon should be delivered casually. The sermon must cast and recast the vision statement, mission statement, direction of the church. And on, and on, and on.
It is easy to forget exactly why we preach at all. And then enters this book by Stewart. Ah. It is like cool rain on a sweltering July day.
Allow me to give an excerpt. I INVITE YOUR COMMENTS.
"Do not listen to the foolish talk which suggests that, for the twentieth century, the preaching of the Word is an anachronism, and that the pulpit, having served its purpose, must now be displaced by press or radio, discussion group or Brains Trust, and finally vanish from the scene. As long as God sets His image on the soul, and men are restless till they rest in Him, so long will the preacher's task persist, and his voice be heard through all the clamour of the world."
11 comments:
Jesus used stories to preach guess he was wrong, is that your opinion?
Staying relavent without changing the message is the key. Saying it takes more then 20 minutes to get a message across is an insult to your congregation. People are looking for something different or these mega churches couldnt be.
To say that only old fashion teaching is only relavent is like saying we should only sing hymns and new worhsip style songs dont have a place.
repeat - the message is the key not the delivery.
Hi Worshiper,
Thanks for your comments.
To answer your question, the answer is no, that is not my opinion.
I agree that being relevant and keeping the gospel message is the key.
Speaking for more than 20 minutes is not an insult to a congregation -- unless it a congregation that needs to be someone else. I have found that people who love the Word prefer longer sermons. I guess we don't see eye to eye on that one. But, if you don't mind, please don't insult the people of my congregation who like decent-length sermons.
Next, mega churches? hmmm? What has that got to do with the discussion? I didn't bring that up and it doesn't make any sense.
Next point: old fashioned teaching? What does that mean? Again, no relevance to what I had to say. But I perceive that you don't like whatever it is you refer to as "old fashioned preaching."
The message is the key, not the delivery? Okay, I'll agree on that also. But I would add that the deliver does matter.
God bless you and thank for your input.
excuse me, worshiper, that is
"unless that have to be somewhere else" not "someone else." My apologies.
Amen and amen!
Man, I loved his movies.
I look forward to hearing the Word of God preached from our pulpit at Harvest every Sunday. Many times I have not wanted it to end.
It's when churches get away from scripture with too many stories, too much pushing the vision or direction, too purpose driven, too much felt need, then that is when the sermons need to be just 20 minutes.
I hunger for God's Word. His Word is fresh and new, as well as old fashioned, steady, and secure. I am thankful that you bring the Word to us with conviction and truth and not try to "be" a certain way.
There is much that can be learned fresh and new from great men who have gone before us. And it's really great when you come across one that "is like a cool rain on a sweltering July day."
Praying God's blessings for you and yours.
Julie, that is Jimmy Stewart!!
Gayla,
Amen!
I have experienced pressure from church leaders to make sermons short (so they could get to the restaurant before other churches get out). I've experienced pressure to avoid hard topics and avoid long book studies with in-depth explanations of tough passages. It is great to hear voices from past preachers who are able to encourage us and remind us faithfully proclaim the gospel.
I was just reading today a different old book on preaching by A.T. Pierson (mid 1800's to early 1900's I think- he preached in Spurgeon's church for 2 years right after Spurgeon died). It is interesting to note that the content of what is important in preaching has not changed- character and godleness still count and the Bible must be central.
Dave,
Great to hear from you!! Yes, the message is always old and always new. it's the same old message. no one really has anything new to add to the gospel. but the times and places change, and so the same old message is always a new message.
thanks for the heads up on pierson.
Wow all I can say is that you are a great writer! Where can I contact you if I want to hire you?
in order to write? contact me right here! or www.harvestpa.org.
or pastormike@pobox.com
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