That's a pretty lofty title isn't it? I didn't mean it to be - I'm not going to talk about moral or social responsibility - I just want to point out the importance of communicating the Word of God with clarity. There is something about the human brain that longs for clarity and organization and I hear too many preachers that come up short in both areas. What's even sadder is that they blame it on the Holy Spirit! "Well, I just preach as I'm led" becomes the mantra of laziness and irresponsibility on the part of the preacher.
Let me give you a little picture that may help. If not, then I'm guilty of the very thing about which I'm concerned. Anyway, imagine yourself at the head of a car caravan. You have just left a 
wedding and your job is to get all those that attended the wedding ceremony from the church to the location of the celebratory gathering we call a reception. Imagine further, that you are the only one who has directions from the church to the reception hall. It is your responsibility to drive in such a way that you get everyone to the party. With that image, you understand that you will drive differently than if you were going to the party all on your own. If you didn't have the responsibility of getting others from point A to point B, you would drive a little faster; you would speed up going through traffic lights - even daring to go through the intersection when the light has turned yellow. You would always use your turn indicator. You would change lanes with much greater care and soon enough for everyone in the caravan to make the coming lane adjustments and turns. Every time you went through a traffic light, you would check your rear view mirror to make sure the whole caravan was still in tact. If anyone happened to miss the light, you would pull over and wait until the traffic light changed and those missing cars rejoined the caravan. The point is, you just drive differently when you know people are depending on you to get to a particular destination.
wedding and your job is to get all those that attended the wedding ceremony from the church to the location of the celebratory gathering we call a reception. Imagine further, that you are the only one who has directions from the church to the reception hall. It is your responsibility to drive in such a way that you get everyone to the party. With that image, you understand that you will drive differently than if you were going to the party all on your own. If you didn't have the responsibility of getting others from point A to point B, you would drive a little faster; you would speed up going through traffic lights - even daring to go through the intersection when the light has turned yellow. You would always use your turn indicator. You would change lanes with much greater care and soon enough for everyone in the caravan to make the coming lane adjustments and turns. Every time you went through a traffic light, you would check your rear view mirror to make sure the whole caravan was still in tact. If anyone happened to miss the light, you would pull over and wait until the traffic light changed and those missing cars rejoined the caravan. The point is, you just drive differently when you know people are depending on you to get to a particular destination.Now, translate that to preaching. First, a preacher must know the destination of the biblical text or the whole experience is an exercise in futility. Did you know that studies have been done that indicate that 50% of preachers have no idea what point they are trying to make
with their sermons!!! That means that half of the congregations in America are following someone who has no idea where they are going!!!! That's frightening to me. We know those 50% are totally disorganized - that's a given. On top of that, probably half of the remaining preachers - even if they know the destination - even if they know where the text is headed - they are so disorganized that people have trouble following them. Too many preachers preach like they do personal devotions - it's a kind of stream of consciousness extemporaneous speaking - one thought or verse of scripture triggers another thought or verse which triggers another and so on. In the end, when the preacher looks back - the caravan has dispersed and no one shows up at the party - the celebration of God's Word.
with their sermons!!! That means that half of the congregations in America are following someone who has no idea where they are going!!!! That's frightening to me. We know those 50% are totally disorganized - that's a given. On top of that, probably half of the remaining preachers - even if they know the destination - even if they know where the text is headed - they are so disorganized that people have trouble following them. Too many preachers preach like they do personal devotions - it's a kind of stream of consciousness extemporaneous speaking - one thought or verse of scripture triggers another thought or verse which triggers another and so on. In the end, when the preacher looks back - the caravan has dispersed and no one shows up at the party - the celebration of God's Word.I don 't know why that was on my mind this morning - but it was - so there you have it.
1 comment:
Thanks for the challenge!
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