Preaching with a sense of direction

We are called, as preachers of the gospel, to redeem the time (Eph. 5:15-17). Not the past or the future but the present.

In seeking to accomplish this task, we need to consider the time in which we live. The fol lowing North American-based information appears in recent publications from Barna Research Group. It helps us to understand the challenges we face:

• Forty-one percent of the people in your church each week have yet to actually accept Christ as their Savior.

• Each year, one in every seven will change their customary place of worship.

• One in every six has a group of church es they attend on a rotating basis.

• After the terrorist attacks in America, attendance surged in churches. People went for comfort and hope but left within six months for lack of substance and conviction.

• Only 68 percent of North Americans believe in an all knowing, powerful, loving God.

• The most common source of principles upon which to base ethical behavior: feelings—25 percent; what parents taught—14 percent; the Bible—13 percent.

• Sixty-six percent of regular church attendees cannot explain what worship is about.

• Fifty percent of regular church attendees indicate that they have not experienced or encountered God in worship in the last year. ¹

Welcome to the postmodern world where truth in any objective absolute sense tends not to be accepted, rather questioned and dis missed. All is gray; all is relative, and for many there is no objective authority. This is the time we are called to redeem. We are called to establish a direction, to chart a reliable, believable course.

True north

An exercise I have often used to illustrate the challenge of knowing and staying a worthy course is to ask my congregation, board, or committee to: (1) close their eyes, (2) raise their right arms, and (3) at the count of three, point in the direction of north.

Invariably there is great difference of opinion. Considering the many different versions of north I invite them to look around and consider the different perspectives. I then ask them if they would like to vote on which direction is north? Should we take an average opinion and then define north for ourselves, as a group, or should each one be content with his or her own view of which direction is north?

To help the process, I point to the north that is defined by the compass I have brought along for the sake of the illustration. This demonstrates that true north is not a matter to be debated but to be observed and incorporated into life. North is not determined by the sum of our opinions, nor is its direction open to debate, meaningful as it may be considered to be.

Magnetic north simply is. It is a fact that exists outside of our knowledge. That is, we didn't create it and it is the same all the time except of a few degrees variance yearly.

The point is, of course, that if you or I were sailing our churches on the North Sea, would it make any difference if we used the magnetic north as a reference point or the opinions of our energetic postmodern congregation?

Kierkegaard put it this way: "Either we con form the truth to our desires or we conform our desires to the truth."² You can't have it both ways.

It is therefore sensible to suggest that con forming to truth despite the protestations of some will result in a safe journey and arrival allowing a church to "sail" toward a worth while, predetermined port.

Conforming the truth to our desires allows us a voyage, but one either interminably long because we travel lost, or tragically short, because of shipwreck!

The compass

The Bible itself is God's true North. It points the way and tells the story, from Genesis to Revelation, of God's saving history. It reveals the principles of His grace and will, and unfolds the plan He has for us and our world.

It speaks of peace that, for the disciple, transcends human understanding, which Paul says doesn't make sense to mere onlookers but is real nonetheless to those who embrace it (Phil. 4:7).

Here is the challenge, and it is not to be taken lightly or easily: "For the word of God is living and active ... it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom WE must give account (Heb. 4:12, 13, NIV, emphasis sup plied).

God's will is clear regarding our role as ministers of His gospel: "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead . . . they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear" (2 Tim. 4:2-5, NIV).

Aren't we already at that point? Is not the challenge of this day people with itchy ears, preachers not sure of where north is, and lots of interesting, but questionable teaching and philosophy, bombarding our ears, and eager to take the place of God's Word?

As such, a significant part of establishing direction is centered in faithfully preaching the Word of God. "Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge" (1 Tim. 6:20, 21, NLT, emphasis supplied).

Preaching today

So how do we as ministers align our preaching with the direction established by Scripture? How does our ministry conform to the direction, the call, and the good work we are to do?

Paul Scott Wilson highlights some disturbing trends in the alignment issue behind much of our preaching and the needs of today's missionary age:³

1. Increasingly God is missing from many of our sermons.

2. Our preaching offers fewer illustrations or signs that God is active in the world today.

3. Our preaching tends to be passive, using passive verbs instead of action verbs.

4. Sermons are generally less joyful. The stress and strain of our preparation and work might be showing, but by and large there is less grace and hope being offered at a time when it is greatly needed.

5. There is a continued trend, which to Wilson appears to be increasing. Most sermons place the burden on the listener to change and resolve the issues using the Bible as illustration, not availing of the grace already revealed and freely offered.

6. The Good News isn't as clear as it needs to be in today's confusing world. The old models of preaching carried a message for a certain time and place. Our day needs the same message but a different "Emph-a-sis on the Syll-ab-le of Grace."

Wilson notes a tendency to take people to Golgotha in our sermons and leave them there. Perhaps we offer a glimpse of the empty tomb but we end up leaving our listeners with an overwhelming sense that the Cross is the memorial of the sinfulness of humanity, rather than the symbol of authentic freedom from sin.

Thoughtful self-reflection can be a little discouraging, but we must remember that the gospel is always bad news before it is Good News.

An evaluation of top sermons

Wilson did a study of what were considered to be the top sermons selected from recent offerings he found in the eight-volume set, The Library of Distinctive Sermons, published in 1996. These sermons represented a wide array of denominations and a blend of presentations by well-known and unknown preachers.

Wilson took 20 sermons and looked for evidence of the gracious acts of God being discussed, or portrayed. Here is what he found:⁴

• Thirty percent of the sermons did not mention God acting on behalf of people. Instead they cast the listeners entirely on their own ability to change. Filled with "ought's," "should's," and "must's," they mentioned faith only in connection with human responsibility.

• Thirty-five percent had brief passing comments referring to God's actions, but they usually covered only a portion of a paragraph.

• Thirty-five percent used several paragraphs to highlight God's actions on behalf of His people, but the references made to these things still only amounted to ten percent of the total sermon.

• Five percent devoted over half of the sermon to God's gracious acts.

I don't know how I would stack up to a similar examination, but it has certainly set me thinking about my responsibility to my people not to add burdens but to lift them and do so responsibly with the good news of God's grace.

Each of us struggles with the direction of our preaching. Each of us seeks to be faithful to the call, yet perhaps the efforts of a "self-examination" would assist us in clarifying "North" and correcting our course as needed.