Preaching Fallen on Hard Times?

This is not a sermon, though it may become a part of one some day ... but just some thoughts ...


Some say preaching has fallen on hard times, and perhaps it has. I think part of it is the deluge of poorly trained and unsupervised pastors arising in non-denominational groups where "ordained to preach" is pretty much a free-for-all.

Tie that in with the megachurch super-boy with pressed jeans and untucked shirt moving about a stage with risers behind and a plexiglass-enclosed drum set waiting to beat out a rhythm for the next 7-11 song (seven words repeated eleven times).

And then an audience well-trained on bored channel surfing.

I think American Christians need to ask themselves what it is they want to hear  from a pulpit. Nostrums on daily living? Encouragement for prosperity? The latest psychology on marriage and children? The evils of the President and the decline of America? How gays and lesbians are threatening all of our sacred values? That wealth is a given if you're a Christian and truly believe? That home-schools are the answer? That God heals all ills? And Muslims are evil and will burn in hell forever?

Does it always have to be exciting and inspiring and energizing and innovative?

Does it need loud music, or soft, and does it need inviting visual images in some kind of a multi-media extravaganza?

Does it need a simple fill-in-the-blank outline supplied by the pastor so folks can follow along?

I've tried all of that and then some. I've been there, and I've done it. I'm glad I did, but the sun is setting on all of it, and I'm still learning.

I think there is a lot of good peaching being done out there, and I'm willing to say that it's being done by well-trained pastors from good seminaries with plenty of credentialed professors and backed up with decent denominational oversight.

It's not always exciting and not always innovative, and a local church may not have screens and a pulsing band, but the gospel is proclaimed, the interface of faith and culture is examined, and that's what truly counts, and if people listen with mind and heart, they will learn, and they will be invited to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world and learn something about carrying a cross, which has never been too popular anyway.

I grew up with good preachers, and I know plenty today ... who may not do it fancy, but do it basic! And do it with integrity of life and thought.

For those with ears to hear, there is plenty of good preaching to be hand in this land.