Listened to my pastor in different way today. Not to pick on him, but at least all the pastors Ive listened to say similar things. There is often talk of the length of sermon, talk of getting out in time to beat the Baptists to the restaurant [sorry, Baptist friends :)], time, time, time. There is also the usual Can I get an amen? type of behavior, encouraging the audience to sound off. I enjoy the lighthearted banter and the encouragement to keep the audience interested and participatory. Dont get me wrong. However, this talk seems to say something about churches. What if our preachers felt unhindered to preach freely? What do I mean? What if they had the confidence to preach until they were done, had no concern for the clock, and their fiery conviction demanded its own response of shouts and amens and cries of hallelujah? Im saying that for whatever reason, maybe theyve become conditioned by an apathetic congregation. Before you judge, they dont get to preach AT a group and then leave, they preach year in and year out, to families and friends they know and face weekly. The trained and experienced speaker knows how long he can keep the attention of the audience, hears the feedback, good or bad, and exercises the various techniques to maintain audience interest. These include humor, illustrations, repetition, cadence, etc. The pastor may be just as frustrated that he continues to teach a basic spiritual principle and the congregation just doesnt get it, accept it, and learn it. Im no pastor. But what if the typical pastors week went like this: 30 hours of study, research, and preparation for sermons and other ways to maintain communication with the Lord in order to pastor the church. 10 hours in details-office duties, technical stuff, etc. 10 hours in pastoral care-counseling, visiting the sick, etc. Family.... How would that pastor condense the 30 hours a week into a 30-minute sermon? Maybe the pastor hopes he had anywhere near 30 hours with the word and the Lord in order to maintain his relationship and lead his flock. But anyway, the analogy stands. The sermon may have to be only three main points, with humor, illustrations, etc. and therefore limited in material. Yes, by now, only the most foolhardy are still even reading what Im writing now. Im rambling. Oh well, I still need to get this off my chest. What if our pastors dared to have the conviction that church services could be the most important time of the week? I bet when they were young preachers, some of them felt that way. They were on fire and determined to make a difference. Then the real world smacks them on the face. Id love to see our pastors have the unwavering confidence that their congregations had their back. They have no duty whatsoever to entertain us. They have no obligation to speak for the Lord for a set time. They have no duty whatsoever to keep us awake. Thats our responsibility as grownups. To have their back, to be able to keep our attention focused on a message assigned to the pastor by the Lord God Almighty, to listen until theyre finished, to stay stinking awake! What if our pastors could step into the pulpit and speak for 2 minutes or 2 hours with confidence and support? If the amens and shouts and hallellujahs, if appropriate, or the utter silence of deep conviction, were the natural overflow of hearts fully dedicated to serving God? I was once told that a famous revival preacher only concentrated on preaching to the twelve inches in front of his face. He said what the Lord gave him to say, how the Lord had him say it, and left the hearing and the results up to the Lord as well. Goodness, what if preachers just didnt feel like they had to encourage people all the time? I dont think that is the mission of a pastor. The pastor is supposed to lead the flock and teach them the ways of the Lord. They should be able to impart the power of God upon the congregation which then walks forth in that power, changing the world. Occasional encouragement is good, but by and large our congregations arent really making a big difference for Christ, so they arent suffering the discouragement of deep spiritual battle like Elijah or Jeremiah did. They just want to be cheered up in their apathetic lives, to be blunt. Occasionally our pastors will miss the mark; well wonder if they heard from God before they preached. Can we forgive them? I know Ive needed to. Yes, preaching is a holy calling, but just because a pastor preached amiss once doesnt mean hes not serving God. Im sure you had a few unChristlike moments at work last week too. Surely the pastor can get away with a few empty words. What if our pastors could preach without hindrance? They might not even mind the occasional disagreement with their sermons if someone was following the Berean call to test everything in light of Scripture. They might even relish the challenge to go to further effort to bring the skeptic to understanding. [Maybe that 30 hours of study, or 30 years, might come in handy here when they just hadnt taken enough time developing a point enough to satisfy the questioner, but could over lunch]. Our nation is in dire straits spiritually, and the obvious target of opportunity is the pastors. They are the spiritual leaders of our nation. There are the high profile persons, like Billy Graham, but the tens of thousands of pastors do most of the work. They lead individuals week in and week out. I will say that pastors arent using their pulpits to maximum effectiveness to turn the tide in our culture, but maybe Ive touched on some good reasons for that above. Maybe they want to teach advanced warfare, but they are busy running the nursery of immature Christians who wont take the solid stuff. How about the few of you who want to make a difference reach out to your pastors and provoke them unto good works? Hebrews 10:25 I know I must do the same thing. I confess to fishing for affirmation by hoping youve read this far and will comment amen. :) Is that so wrong?
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 04:00:38 +0000