“What is Preaching”
Part #2
“The Art of
Preaching”
After listening to the learned pastor speaking, using clever words and alliterations, an element of confusion engulfed me. There are those of us who came of age within our respective organized denominational church and have experienced the ethnic divides that separates the religious community. In some aspects of religion this divide is so great that Christianity has presented itself as a house divided against itself. On Sunday mornings this divide manifest itself in many forms, most prevalent is segregated assemblies with different interpretations and presentations of the Word of God. There is justification in the argument that the allowance for individual interpretation of the Bible is a destructive force within the household of faith.
One of the most dividing elements
of Christendom is the style of preaching.
In a changing religious environment, many church goers are beginning to struggle
with the question of, what is peaching.
From the prospective of the pastors and laymen, this is an easy question
to answer. Preaching simply translates
into proclaiming a message from God, and some have added, in an entertaining
manner. There are those who have studied
the effectiveness of preaching in an evolving society and have found that modern
day preaching may not be an effective way to spread the Word of God. If ‘modern
day, high tech preaching’ was effective, then then the true knowledge of God would prevail through the world.
In our previous post, “The Art Of
Preaching”, we presented six guidelines that knowledgeable preachers agree
upon. Preaching should be Inspirational, Motivational, Relational,
Revelational, Confrontational and Proportional (Balanced and Consistent). Keep these in mind as we twist and turn thru
the maze of trying to understand what is true preaching. Most definitions of preaching is ambiguous at best, they present us with a God
who is constantly giving out new messages, all designed to lift us up and carry
us through another day. The common
thread in all of these new messages is, “don’t give up God will do what he said
he will do”. What if we compared todays form of preaching
to that which was commissioned by Jesus.
Once we began the comparison our mind began to fill with many relevant
questions.
Is there is a difference between
spreading the Word of God and preaching
the Gospel? The consensus seems to indicate
that preaching the gospel is the same as spreading the Word of God. Yet, Jesus
never commanded his disciple to preach the Word of God, he commanded them to
preach the Gospel. Mark
16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into
all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. The task
of the ancient prophets was to
proclaim the Words or Message of God. A
deeper understanding of the Word of God seems to indicate that the ‘Word of God’
was synonymous with the actions of God or the intended actions of God. The Word of God was used to instruct the Jews
in the wilderness. When a person or
nation was in need of direction, God sent his prophet to prophesy. The Message of God usually did not carry a
repentance clause, the message was simple, “do this and live” or “do this and
die”. Moses proclaimed the Word of
God. John preached the Gospel. Peter wanted to hear Moses proclaim the Word
of God. Mark 9:7 And there was a cloud
that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my
beloved Son: hear him.
In the Old Testament of the King
James Bible there are only three references to preaching, Ne 6:7; Isa 61:1; Jon 3:2. In the first instance, the King had set up
false prophets and appointed them to preach of him. In the second reference it is used in a
prophecy pertaining to the coming and the works of Jesus. The third reference, the Word of God came to
Jonah and commanded him to preach, this message allowed for the penance or
repentance.
Teach, rather than preach is the
word of choice used in the Old Testament, and it is used seventy five times. Exodus
18:20 And thou shalt teach them
ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and
the work that they must do. Leviticus
10:11 And that ye may teach the children
of Israel all the statutes which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of
Moses. It seems as if the Old
Testament patriots were instructed to teach the Word of God.
In the New Testament era the job of the preacher was to preach the
gospel, whereas in the Old Testament the focus seems to have been on teaching
the Word of God. Again,
in the King James’ Old Testament
there is no reference to the Gospel.
Thus, what is the Gospel become a valid question.
Matthew 11:1 And it came to
pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he
departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities.
Teach and preach seems to be two
different words used to describe Jesus actions.
Is there a difference between teaching and preaching? A
simple definition is, to teach is to instruct, to preach is to proclaim. An acceptable definition to many would be
based upon ones personal interpretation of the scripture.
Mark 16:15 And he said unto
them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. John’s idea of preaching was, preaching in the
wilderness of Judah. In view of the
narrative, it could be said, he was
preaching to trees and animals, then people began to come out to see what all
of the fuss was about.
Matthew 4:17 From that time
Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand. Luke 4:19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Repent, for the Kingdom of God is
at hand, seems to have been the common theme of the messages preached by the
New Testament patriots. The Gospel was not a motivational speech that promised sunshine and
favors. The Gospel was not about the
life of Moses, nor was it about the life of Jesus Christ. The Gospel setforth the purpose of Jesus’s
suffering and dying on the cross, and his resurrection. The Gospel is a call to repentance. 1 Timothy 1:15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all
acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I
am chief. 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not
with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of
God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and
him crucified. The Gospel is the message of the Kingdom of
God.
Acts 10:42 And he commanded us
to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of
God to be the Judge of quick and dead.
Testify is another word that’s added to the arsenal of tools used to
promote the plan of God.
There are two knowledges at work,
there is the knowledge of good and evil, which encompasses all of the knowledge
of the world, and there is the knowledge of God. We are to teach the Knowledge of God the
same as our worldly institutions teach the knowledge of good and evil. Preach
is to proclaim the Gospel. When John the
Baptist preached, it was not about the prophets, his message was simple,
“repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand”.
Finally, as in a court of Law, a testimony is a dissertation of the
events that has taken place. We testify
of what God has done for us, it is vain to testify of what we want God to do. When a person stands before a congregation,
the purpose should be to Teach, Preach or Testify.
The highjacking of the scripture
has turned the Word of God into an entertainment platform. Religious writer, Ministers and preachers are
competing for equal time and space on the world stage, the same as other
entertainers. Preaching the Gospel has
become a form of play acting, and the positions within the organized church is
being used to promote social standings within the community at large. The Gospel and the Word of God is combined
together to form a polluted motivational type of message that is attractive to
the masses. This has never been the
intent of the Gospel. As the world drifts farther and farther from
the knowledge of God, entertainment becomes the driving force of survival. As the church becomes more apostate, people
are flocking to the church to be entertained.
Entertainment played an important
role in the building of many great congregations and civilizations. The Romans flocked to fill the great coliseum
to watch the Lions verses the Christians.
A preacher’s style of preaching,
his appearance and the promises made plays an important role in determining who
come to hear his message. It is said, the typical "black church" style of
preaching, the hooping and the hollering
goes back to the days of slavery.
Now, I know this line of thinking
is offensive to some. The use of clever
words, alliterations, screaming, hollering, jumping around is often used to
validate a message from God. In many
settings, the preacher hasn’t preached until he “tune up and roar”. It is
said, this technique became in vogue in black churches during the days of
slavery. It was enforced by the owners and
was a part of the indoctrination of the slave.
It was used to ensure that the slaves
left the religious services feeling better about being slaves. They felt good about waking up one more day
and doing the master’s bidding. Singing in unison, “Swing low, sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home”, filled their tortured
soul with hope and expectation. When
they left the church they left with false hope, an elevated heart rate and
sweaty clothes. They left with nothing
of substance other than with enough joy to get them through Monday, then the
misery or reality would set in again, and they just couldn’t wait to get back
to church and “throw down.”
The typical "white church" style of
preaching was more substance and less flair. Comparing the two delivery systems is like comparing Country Music to
Rock and Roll. Listen to country
music one can easily get caught up in
the message of the song, whereas with Rock and Roll, it is easy to get caught
up in the ”beat”. Some church goers were
actually learning how to have a proper relationship with God through sound, sit
down, shut up and pay attention teaching. They were learning the concept of a
metaphysical God, colorless, while others debated the color of God. They learned about how to be proper stewards
of money, land, family and their bodies. While they were getting something out
of church, there were some who were getting nothing but a good cardiovascular
workout.
A third style of worship has
emerged. The word crossover is being
used to describe a type of worship service that embraces the best of both
styles and incorporates the expression of worldly pleasures.
Next
A True Call to
Worship
