The Sunday sermon. Just that
statement, alone, provokes many different thoughts and opinions. It isn’t easy.
The Pastor’s challenge is how to be faithful to the Scripture without diluting
the truth to conform to the pressures of social norms, or the latest philosophical
fads of progressive thinking. Also, there is the battle of not succumbing to
the world of entertainment by downplaying the holiness of Scripture by the
over-use of humor, theatrics and boisterous antics in the pulpit.
Where’s the balance? We don’t
want to bore our people to sleep? We really don’t want people to mentally check
out on us….do we? How do we maintain interest and connect with people on a deep
spiritual realm so that they desire to listen, learn, and become dynamic
members of the church who reflect the light of Christ?
The dynamic involved is keeping the message simple. However,
simplicity does not mean hovering in the realms of shallowness. Simplicity is
not a “free pass” for the pastor not to study, try very hard, or carefully
prepare a solid, Biblical message. Simplicity, to me, is stating the truth in a
clear, direct, and understandable message.
A pastor is not a salesman
peddling light-hearted, feel-good stories and antidotes. A pastor must be a
witness to the Truth of God’s Word. A pastor should never cheat their church
out of learning deeper lessons from Scripture. The pastor is not an entertainer
to provoke accolades and applause. A pastor is a change-agent to ignite a
passion within others to go deeper in their faith and to forsake the godlessness
of this world.
The Apostle Paul wrestled
with this, too! He didn’t want to miss placing the focus squarely on Jesus. 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, “In the same way, my brothers, when I came
to proclaim to you God’s secret purpose, I did not come equipped with any
brilliance of speech or intellect. You may as well know now that it was my
secret determination to concentrate entirely on Jesus Christ and the fact of
his death upon the cross. As a matter of fact, in myself I was feeling far from
strong; I was nervous and rather shaky. What I said and preached had none of
the attractiveness of the clever mind, but it was a demonstration of the power
of the Spirit! Plainly God’s purpose was that your faith should not rest upon
man’s cleverness but upon the power of God.”
If a preacher is not
careful, he or she will get in the way of the gospel instead of being a servant
of the gospel. Pastors can obscure Jesus and drown-out the message by their
preaching, either in the presentation or the message. Whether that is “toning
it down” or “over-doing theatrics” a sermon should focus on one thing: Jesus
Christ.
There is a place for drama,
puppets, videos, dance, and other illustration-based presentations as long as
it isn’t a distraction, but aids understanding and creates learning and growth.
If anything we do is nothing more to entertain, delight the senses, and to draw
a crowd, then we have failed.
The purpose of our calling
should never be to use slick, entertaining, or even deceptive means to “lure”
people into the church. Statistics, crowds, “results,” properties, and large
campuses/buildings are not our main concern. That is why the principle stands:
what you draw them with is what you draw them to. Is
that Jesus?
Pastors and churches must always
evaluate and look at what they are doing and honestly see if they are just
putting on an exhibition to win a crowd, or faithfully witnessing to bring
direction, conviction, and truth in order to provide a new direction for people
to encounter and accept the love of God through salvation in Jesus Christ.
In all that we do, stay
grounded by keeping it simple….remember the words of Paul to stay focused “entirely on Jesus Christ and the fact of
his death upon the cross.” If we’ll do that, I am sure all the other things
of concern will fall nicely into place.