Preaching or A Conversation

This last week, I attended a preaching practicum taught by Dr. Art Azurdia at Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. The class was limited to 8 pastors (from varying theological and educational backgrounds), and each of us was assigned a passage of scripture to teach from the book of Ruth.

Art began the class by asking what we hoped to gin from the class. Most wanted to improve their study and delivery but one pastor confessed he struggled with whether preaching or the lecture format was the best form of communication. He felt the best learning style involved interaction and resembled a conversation.

While I echo my friend's concern, and like him, have struggled with the whole "lecture--talking head" thing, as I look at the New Testament, I see that John the Baptist preached. Jesus went around to cities and villages teaching and preaching. Peter preached on the day of Pentecost when 3,000 came to Christ, and as you read the book of Acts, preaching seemed to be the main means the apostles used to communicate the truth of Christ's death and resurrection.

Paul in the book of 1Corinthians said in 1Co 1:21 "For since in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom did not know God, God was pleased through the foolishness of preaching to save the ones believing".

The opposition to preaching comes largely from the Emergents who among other things are reacting to the Seeker Friendly movement which focused upon image over content; the marketing of the church, and, on the other end of the spectrum, the celebrity pastor driven churches.

Now if retention of information is a goal of pastors, I readilyagree that preaching may not be the best form of communicating. But the problem with "conversation" is potential to become egocentric and to stray away from important theological truths.

So what's the answer? Do we as the Emergents suggest move to small house groups where people discuss and discover or do we hold the party line of Evangelicalism and limit the transmission of information to preachers?

The answer is both. We need groups where the word is discussed and skilled leaders facilitate conversation. Personally, I am involved with several groups that use this format and I have found it much to my liking and my learning style. But we also need the preaching of the word, by a skilled exegete and careful speaker.

Let me illustrate my point. A guitar depends on 6 strings to generate sound. Each string covers a particular audio range from High--midrange--to low notes. When played together they generate a very pleasing sound. For purposes of this illustration each of those strings represent an aspect of the church. Small groups, Sunday school, book discussion groups, Substance behavioral meetings, bible study, etc. But the guitar needs to be tuned to sound good and so a standard note called A440 is the note guitars and all instruments through out the word are tuned to. In other words A440 in France is the same note in Spain or America.

And I see preaching as A440 that all the other bible studies and ministries must tune to. And so that preaching must be true to the text and what the author intended to say.

At the preaching practicum all of us gave good sermons but very few of us said the the author said. We all interposed some of our own "sermon points". For instance, the section of Ruth I dealt with spoke of Naomi's hardship and numerous statements "God dealing harshly with me?". I began the message with the statement "I don't struggle with why bad things happen to good people, but rather, why do bad things happen to God's people". While it was a good sermon and my point biblically substantiated, it wasn't what the text was dealing with! The text was dealing with adversity being applied by a loving God to Naomi and Ruth to get them to move from Moab to Bethlehem where Ruth and Naomi's problems would be solved and God's will accomplished because Messiah, who was in the lineage of Ruth was to be born in Bethlehem.

So preaching is not to be replaced by a more effective means of transmitting information or conversation, conversation is to be held in tune by solid biblical teaching. The clear proclamation of scriptures are the standard that holds conversation in line.

So here's how it works at CCS. We have small group, mothers groups, men's groups, womens groups and other groups. They talk, share, discuss, learn and pray. But the pulpit is reserved for the proclamation of God's word. Not textual messages or topical messages but exegetical messages where what the integrity author of a letter or gospel or book is presented.

That, I think, is a good balance between preaching and conversation. while I love the mystery of God and cannot deny it; we walk in truth not in mystery