Preach It Brother

In my years of church going, I have heard some very good sermons, and some very bad sermons. I once heard a sermon on the story of Jacob's early life where the preacher argued that the Bible clearly teaches that boys should spend more time with their mothers than their fathers, and that it was OK for a boy to know how to cook! On my list of strange and inane things that I have heard from the pulpit, that may take top honors.

I get the opportunity to preach fairly regularly. In addition, I oversee our church's teaching ministry. I have the privilege of helping others become better teachers. This role has caused me to reflect on preaching quite a bit.

It seems to me that most preachers tend toward one of four styles:
1) Commentary Giver - this preacher gives the exegesis of every detail in the text. To him/her success is a thorough explanation of the text itself.
2) Story Teller - this preacher tends to string together stories that make a similar point to the preaching text. To him/her success is getting people to connect the text with their lives.
3) Comedian - this preacher tends to make humorous stories and jokes the staple of his/her preaching. To him/her success is keeping people entertained long enough to tell them about the Bible.
4) Emotional Plea Guy - this preacher tends to make things persuasive and heart wrenching. To him/her success is when people are responding to the sermon with weeping or dancing, grieving or rejoicing; really just any response of strong emotion.

Now, these are certainly four extremes. We all do a mixture of these things, but most preachers will tend toward one of them. I tend toward being a commentary giver. In my view the goal of teaching/preaching is to help people understand the Bible and its implications well enough that they can follow Jesus in love.

What about you? When you go to church, what are you hoping to hear?

Jesus I Like, You I Do Not

In A.D. 251 St. Cyprian of Carthage wrote, "He can no longer have God as his Father who does not have the church as his mother." You can't have Jesus without the church we might say. They are a package deal.

Yet it is not uncommon to hear people (especially people under the age of 30) say things like, 'I follow Jesus, but I don't think I necessarily need the church,' or 'I experience God more in nature than I do in the church.' Many such individuals have had negative experiences in the church that have left them wonder if they can have a Christianity with just the good parts. No intentional intimate community, no input from a pastor, no cheese-ball worship leaders, no committees, no buildings, no tradition, no creeds, no authority...just give me Jesus.

So here the question: Do we get to have Jesus without the church?