Open Mic at the iMonk Cafe: Preaching is….Preaching is not.

Posted byChaplainmikePosted inOpen Thread

openmic1It’s a simple question for this edition of open mic.

Preaching is ________________. And/Or Preaching is not ________________.

Don’t write a novel or even a short story. Keep it compact and to the point.

I especially hope that this open mic question will involve as many non-preachers as possible. Preachers might not know everything there is to know about preaching. Ya think?

The mic is yours. Feel free to offer answers and to discuss answers in the threaded comments.

118 thoughts on “Open Mic at the iMonk Cafe: Preaching is….Preaching is not.”

  4. Preaching is facing an audience (or just a person) with an ever-more limited attention span, an ever decreasing willingness to hear the truth, and an everpresent willingness to believe almost any wind of doctrine on the flimsiest of provocations, and somehow finding the shortest, most direct way to say:

    1) God is perfectly holy, perfectly righteous, perfectly just and perfectly loving. And 2), You are none of these things.

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  6. Preaching is that moment of potential when God breathes life into those present.

    Preaching is not a staged event under human control.

    It is not important where real preaching occurs or who the person is that God uses for this moment. What matters is that someone has listened to God and God has chosen to use this humble, listening soul.

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  10. Joe A,

    The first communion part is actually relately easy. You can either talk to the pastor about low gluten hosts, which are acceptable. I heard that they might need to be refrigerated, but that I’m not sure of. OR just let him drink from the cup.

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  13. even MORE courageous (broken ??) is the pastor that rails on his/her OWN sin, and then confidently leads to the savior of THEIR situation. But that’s hitting very close to home, I admit…..

    GREAT POST, Tokah.
    Greg R

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  17. Preaching is, has been, and will be key in spiritual revivals.

    Preaching is NOT transferring condemnation but proclaiming freedom for the captives!

    N

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  18. is that why you’re wearing the ol’ Lutheran ‘SIN BOLDLY” T-shirt ?????

    great to see ya’ over here at MONK’s

    Greg R

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  19. I understand a lot of you can’t stand Joel Osteen because he doesn’t preach the gospel, but so what? There are plenty of churches that preach the gospel – unfortunately with an added dose of fear and negativity.

    Dude, that’s a VERY BIG “so what?”. If Joel is a christian minister, and I’m not saying he isn’t, then shouldn’t he be preaching the christian message (the gospel). If he want’s to be a generic motivational Zig Ziglar, cool, but when he puts “JESUS” on the handbill, the message needs to be what Jesus taught: simple question , is what Joel teaches what Jesus taught ?? If there are big discrpancies, then he gets called on it, big blinking smile and all……..

    Greg R

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  20. Just don’t get caught being THAT GUY from the Verizin commercial texting away….” I’m sitting on my church pew working out my day-planner……” while your son stares.

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  21. For me, preaching is a special moment in the worship service when we encounter God anew through the Scripture, the message, and the interworking of the Holy Spirit. Preaching should never be used for self-aggrandizement or for an editorial from the pastor.

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  22. Preaching is proclaiming the Gospel of Christ as central to whatever issue/text/etc you happen to be focusing on today. Preaching is not Jesus showing up at the altar call and nowhere else.

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  23. Good preaching is FOR YOU, that is, for the person hearing it. The best pastors have spent enough time in one-on-one conversation with members of their flock that they have a deep understanding of the hurts and temptations common to this specific set of people, and they speak forgiveness in Christ’s name in a way that those people hear it (without breaking confidentiality, of course).

    In one of the best sermons I ever heard, the pastor described the suffering endured by some very young (kindergarten aged) students in his school who were suffering the fear and pain of a father’s deployment in Iraq. He spoke of a Christ who suffers with them, and will ultimately deliver us from fear, pain, sin and death. Extremely powerful.

    And he never would have known to preach this had he not spent some serious time listening to six-year-olds.

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  24. This is a great point! A courageous pastor condemns the sins to which his flock is tempted and guilty. Railing on about the sins of outsiders can bring about a sense of unrepentent smugness and poisonous spiritual pride.

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  25. Preaching is proclaiming the real forgiveness of real sins by a real Savior and everlasting life in His name.

    Preaching is not about calling attention to the preacher.

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  28. Interesting article by Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family:

    http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/panelists/jim_daly/2009/09/civil_discourse_should_be_our_aim.html

    Couple quotes:

    “We have entered what columnist Kathleen Parker calls ‘a political era of uninhibited belligerence,’ that is finding expression in sermons, at town hall meetings, on radio talk shows, even on the floor of Congress…”

    “We must get to a place where we can disagree about important matters without being disrespectful. God calls Christians to stand up for our convictions when they are rooted in His truths. But He also calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Those are not mutually exclusive exhortations.”

    I think this addresses that how one preaches is as important if not more important than what is being preached. It used to be that when the pastor put on the vestments that he or she became a symbol Christ; the shepherd representing the Good Shepherd. Now, pastors are encouraged to not only be beligerent, but arrogant, insulting, condescending, mean, and angry. No wonder pastors now dress like a businessman or a biker gang member. What people hear is the God being represented by the pastor speaking down to them with the same uncompassionate manner.

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  29. Preaching is sacramental: God using flesh and blood and air molecules to touch us. Preaching is not merely passing along spiritual facts and knowledge.

    Someone where I work has a nameplate which is composed of old wooden movable type. It to me is a reminder how words and language were once very physical, tangible things: carved in stone, impressed in clay tablets, scratched onto parchment, or artistically scribed by monks. Words have become very heady and disembodied, floating in space like aparitions on video screens and computer monitors. A lot of preaching comes across like that.

    I think that is why seminaries need to rediscover homiletics. Expository teaching is important, but how to preach by allowing God’s word to do the talking is an art. With so many pastors who burn out early, there are fewer and fewer experienced pastors who can mentor young pastors in how to preach. All they have to go by are the prominent names on T.V., radio, and in the mega-churches.

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  30. Preaching is a gift, which draws on spiritual gifts, such as wisdom, knowledge, and teaching (and others). It is not merely a talent for public speaking, but that talent supercharged with the Spirit living within the individual, enabling her/him to effectively exhort, equip, and encourage the Body of Christ, preparing Her for the work to which She’s been commissioned.

    Preaching is not pulling a sermon down off of pastors dot com, or some such site providing sermons, and reading it from the pulpit. (Yep. We had one of those.)

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  32. Tim W-

    I should have better explained things. When I use the term “Law and Gospel”, it refers to a theological principle that has been used by (but is not necessarily exclusive to) Lutherans. The Law is God’s commands to us, while the Gospel is what God does for us (i.e. how He saves us, sanctifies us, etc).

    So techinically, at least from my perspective, you are right- there can be “Gospel overload”- in the sense that the Law is not talked about, so that its “All you have to do is love Jesus” scenario.. Similarily, there can be “Law overload”, which is all about us and what we must do (or how much we are sinners), and which marginalizes the Gospel (the Good News of God saving us). They both need to be in balance- otherwise, you either neglect to preach on the Lord’s commands, or you neglect to preach the Good News of forgiveness, life, and salvation found in Christ.

    I hope that helps, and I apologize for not being clearer.

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  34. Preaching is proclaiming what God says in the Scriptures, and explaining it in a way that His meaning is clear to those who hear it. Preaching is not an opportunity to make yourself look good or to give opinions that cannot be backed up by the Word of God.

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  35. Pingback: What is Preaching? | Stupid Scholar

  36. Actually, this isn’t quite true. The Greek for preaching is kerugma, whereas, the Greek for teaching is didaskalos. They are related but not exactly synonymous. George is correct that preaching technically means to proclaim, whereas teaching implies learning. They are not mutually exclusive, but they are not identical either.

    As far as Jesus goes, Matthew 4:17 says that Jesus proclaimed (not taught), whereas 4:23, 9:35, and 11:1 say he did both. So it seems more likely that Jesus was both a teacher and a preacher, and all I’ve cited is Matthew.

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  37. I would say that preaching is proclaiming what God says and why that matters.

    Preaching is not a lecture, conversation, rant, list of rules/morals/etc., a time to feel good about oneself, or a time for the preacher to speculate.

    BJ

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  38. What if you already know the gospel? Doesn’t it become overkill? I understand a lot of you can’t stand Joel Osteen because he doesn’t preach the gospel, but so what? There are plenty of churches that preach the gospel – unfortunately with an added dose of fear and negativity.

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  39. Preaching is not about how to live a good life, how to become a better you, etc.

    Preaching is the proclamation of God’s Law and Gospel. Speaking forth the Law, which shows our sinfulness and utterly slays us. And then sharing the Gospel, the Good News that in Christ we are forgiven, and we are given new life.

    And preaching, now matter the subject matter, always has to be centered on (and in) Christ and the salvation He brings. If it doesn’t have that component, the sermon (or homily or message or what have you) is seriously lacking.

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  40. Preaching is speaking from God and for God to His people. It’s a devastatingly-important and responsibility-laden task, and it starts with Scripture (God’s word) and has a trajectory through the cross to the lives, homes, businesses and relationships of the hearers.

    Preaching is not reading to anyone from the Greek lexicon, and may God save us from that kind of yammering.

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  41. Preaching is the obligatory part of the liturgy in which the pastor works out an new sermon illustration about basketball, etc., then scolds us for not attending Bible study often enough. Preaching is not telling me anything useful.

    (I’m a realist. I’m in my conservative Lutheran pew every week and love the liturgy, but I use the sermon time to mentally put together my week’s work),.

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  44. I spending a whole 3 seconds more thinking about it ….

    I think the lofty aspirations are really genuinely dangerous.

    The idea that preaching is more that someone giving their opinion on whatever they are preaching about sets people listening up for not giving the “sermon” a healthy critique.

    It also sets those who preach up for being more presumptuous and dogmatic in their presentation. They often seem to be the first to confuse their opinion with God’s.

    Of course that’s just my opinion. I’ve never really seen any of this happen. ; )

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  45. Joe, my 4-yr-old nephew is autistic and is just now starting to get some language. Other than that, I have no expertise. I just think that “Jesus loves you” will do for any age or level of understanding. Further explanation can keep pace with whatever his ability is. Our ability or lack thereof to understand non-literal concepts doesn’t hinder God relating to us. We just have to trust that it is happening on a different -but perhaps even more important- level. The only other suggestion I have is to explain that Communion is a special way Jesus shows his love for us: we eat together, just like our family eats together at home because we love one another.

    Dana

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  46. I wasn’t thinking that imonk is confused. I was thinking the commenters are. Maybe Michael did mean for people to write what it should and should not be. I didn’t get that idea from the blog post itself.

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  47. Preaching is compasstionately and passionately pointing people to the love of Christ. Preaching is not stridently announcing how awful everyone else is.

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  48. Preaching is drawing the congregation to a greater love of God and a deeper participation in worship. Preaching is not teaching, coaching, counselling or informing.

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  49. Preaching should not be about what other factions/denominations should not be like, but about what we should be like. It should bring the lesson home to us, always, not leave it on some poor pharisees in Judea.

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  50. This is off-topic, but not much I think. I’d like to ask a personal question because I find a lot of the conversation here to be thoughtful.

    My son is 8 years old and autistic. I don’t know if you know much about autism, but autistics are usually very literal. My son is intellectually about 5-6 years old, and highly functional.

    My question is how would you explain spiritual concepts to a child who is very literal?

    If I try to tell him about the resurrection, he doesn’t really understand the concept of Jesus coming back from the dead. Dead is dead and that’s that. I’m not even sure he understands the concept of God, let alone one who’s in heaven but also all around us. (I also don’t want to scare him into believing in ‘ghosts’). Any ideas on how to explain these things to him?

    He does participate in mass, though I know he really doesn’t understand the why of it, and we are trying to give him a moral basis for his life – hitting someone is wrong because you wouldn’t want him to hit you, etc.

    Should I just wait till he’s a little older?

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  51. It’s not about good rules. It’s not about good advice. It’s not about good information.

    It’s about good news.

    For preaching to be good news, it has to be good, and it has to be news. That means don’t spend 90% of the time on the bad news. And don’t spend 90% of the time on the good rules.

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  54. The word preaching is loaded with horrible connotations. It is Christianese. Teaching is a much more friendly and positive word. There is no difference between the two words other than connotation. Jesus was a rabbi, which means teacher, not preacher.

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  55. Preaching is speaking as if it were the very utterances of GOD….by folks who are 100% convinced that they are not (GOD).

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  59. Preaching is not a substitute for God. Preaching is not the be-all or end-all. Preaching is a pastor’s faithful and humble attempt to continually remind his congregation of important truths and teachings of Jesus and other scriptures. The preaching only has meaning and relevance because the truths and teachings of Jesus and scripture have meaning and relevance, and that because Jesus and God who breathed the scriptures have meaning and relevance (at the risk of understatement.)

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  60. Preaching is coming up with a good acrostic or multiple words that start with the same letter so that people can write them down in their notes. Or so I’ve learned from the megachurch that we are finally looking to leave.

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  62. When most think of what preaching is, the first idea that comes to mind is pounding over people’s head what the “preacher” wants them to adhere to (my parents preached to me, my boss preached to me, the teacher was preaching to me, Papa Don’t Preach, etc).

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  63. From scripture I see it this way.

    Preaching is speaking what we would call evangelism and missions. Preaching is not a “pastor” delivering a sermon to a church group.

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  65. Preaching is: a Kind of dying to self, a conscious walk into the lions den where the one who preaches gives themselves over to the judgment of God for the sake of Jesus with the expectation and hope that the Spirit will speak through the proclaiming of the gospel boldly spoken through their lips.

    Preaching is not; most of what is said.

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  66. Good preaching is based on Law & Gospel. Bad preaching is only Law or only Gospel. Many use Law “light” and confuse this with the gospel.

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  67. Preaching is proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost.

    Preaching is not giving a prepared speech (sermon).

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  68. Good preaching is based on sound theology when proclaiming Jesus. Many claim to proclaim Jesus, but their base theology is not sound which can result in proclaim something other than Christ crucified or a lesser Jesus.

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  71. well said, but if we go down the road of what our preaching typically really is, we might never get home; at least not before dark. 🙂

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  72. Preaching is incarnating the role of Andrew: using the text to fashion a thousand dirrerent invitations that all say the same thing: “you have GOT to come and meet this Teacher I met…..come and see….”

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  73. Preaching is part of setting the stage for people to encounter God. Preaching is not merely rehashing the gospel reading as though it were the evening news.

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  74. Preaching is about proclaiming the gospel, preaching is not about the process of becoming a better person.

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  75. not sure why anyone is posting anything after this. The Bible is all about revealing Christ to the world. So should are preaching, our lives.

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  77. Preaching is about proclaiming Christ crucified and pointing people to the cross.

    Preaching is not about your best life now, your purpose-driven life, or the pastor’s life as the model to follow

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  78. Preaching is the opportunity to take what someone said and allow the Holy Spirit to turn the message into an opportunity.
    Preaching is not not an opportunity to lambaste the believers in front of you for their ineffectiveness to manage their journey.

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  82. Preaching is letting people know about the unconditional, overwhelming love that God has for people, as shown by Jesus. Preaching is not all hell and damnation.

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  86. Preaching is expounding the word of God and the teachings of the Church. Preaching is not jokes, anecdotes, inspirational stories, good advice, or even morality.

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  87. Preaching is a fancy word for teaching. Preaching is not the only time or even the primary time when God might show up.

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  89. Preaching is a proclamation of a message with intent to affect, engage and change the heart of the hearer. It calls for a positive reaction in word, deed and thought. It applies the message to the hearer.

    Preaching is not necessarily explaining Scripture or expounding points of theology or teaching. These things can be done during preaching, but can also be done in a boring lecture or written in a book.

    Now for the content of preaching… that’s a whole ‘nuther series of posts. 🙂

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  90. oops, forgot to mention that preaching is the proclamation of Jesus as the Christ whether or not anyone hearing that preaching believes. If no one believes in Christ because of your preaching you have NOT necessarily failed as a preacher. If people believe in Christ because of your preaching don’t think that you have succeeded when people respond to the work of the Spirit in their hearts. Sorry to ramble but as a non-preacher I feel this last part is something preachers often forget.

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  91. Preaching (in the church) should really be teaching, and is not yelling and screaming and toe-stomping and kicking over mic stands. “Hot, hard, and in your face” does not a good sermon make.

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  92. Preaching is explaining who Jesus Christ is so that people may put their faith continually in him. This may include, but does not require, heavy use of the scriptures, as Paul’s address to the Athenians demonstrates.

    Anything that falls short of the proclamation of Christ in the flesh as our god and savior, whether through the self help of “your best life now” or “reverse engineering your life”, or through obsessive and idiosyncratic applications of things as sinful that are not sinful, may be preaching, but it is harmful preaching bereft of the good news of Christ. The worst preaching isn’t a failure to preach Christ at all but preaching only part of who Jesus is and part of who we are. Even the best preachers are inevitably guilty of this at some point.

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  93. I would contend that not everything that goes under the banner of “preaching” properly qualifies for the term in the Christian sense. There is thus a difference between what “is” and “what is commonly called.”

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  95. I think what he is suggesting is that most of the lofty ideas expressed in the comments as “preaching is …” describe not “what is” in most of our churches and situations but what “ought to be” …

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  97. Seems everyone is confusing “is” with “should be”.

    Preaching is someone giving their opinion. Preaching is not to be confused with hearing from God.

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  100. -throws wrench- Preaching, technically, biblically, is telling the good news to those who don’t know it yet. Preaching is not – Teaching. “Overseers” and “Elders” are to be “apt to teach” – not “apt to preach.”

    I know, I know, common usage in this day and time, blah, blah. But speaking of the text, as some are – the text speaks of “preaching” as something done toward the outside, not the inside. I just always found that interesting.

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  102. Preaching is digging deeply into Scripture and sharing what you find. Preaching is not sharing your political opinions du jour.

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  103. Preaching is the intelligible declaration of who Jesus is, what He has done for us, and what that implies for us and for the world. Preaching is not a religious guilt trip or a self-help pep talk.

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  105. Preaching is letting God use you to deliver His message to His people. It is not delivering our message to our people!

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  108. From my wife…

    Preaching is sharing God’s love for you with others. Preaching is not a replacement for loving people yourself.

    I.e. make yourself approachable.

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  111. “Make ’em laugh, make ’em cry, make ’em feel religious.”

    (–from the book “How to be a bishop without being religious”)

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  112. Preaching is the public proclamation of God’s written word in its fullness, thereby administering God’s grace, guidance and encouragement to the hearers. Preaching is not an opportunity for the preacher to hop on their favourite bandwagon and bore the congregation into submission; preaching is not a substitute for the hard-yards and sacrifice required in order to foster spirutual growth and fulfill our calling to be a disciple/make disciples of Christ.

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  113. I’d suggest it’s sticking with the text and connecting the meaning of the text to the audience. I’m concerned about preachers that are “all text/no connection.”

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  117. Preaching is the most difficult thing any mortal will attempt to do. Compared to preaching, flying a manned spacecraft to Jupiter is mere child’s play.

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