Robin, I really liked this post and I am secretly hoping to see a mini-series on this topic. I agree with virtually everything you said. However, my biggest questions are regarding the "clarify the purpose of preaching" section. Firstly, when a preacher says something that is not directly quoting Scripture, but congruent with the values of Scripture and the Holy Spirit, is that not healthy preaching? It is hard for me to imagine Jesus preaching the parables and for the parables not to have great effect because there was little scriptural evidence for Jesus' selection of metaphors to use as parables. Second, you articulated that preaching is not to save souls. Agreed. However, would LIFT Church agree or disagree that preaching is a verbal communication of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, to both believers and unbelievers? Therefore, would not good preaching take contextual efforts to communicate the gospel in a way so a non-believer could be saved? I would love to hear more from you regarding these questions.
One of the hardest parts to teach in preaching is the art of "preaching the text". Of course, the preacher may have something to say, and the Lord can use them prophetically to do that - and should.
However, this prophetic dimension of preaching is more advanced and requires more maturity to be effective, and I don't think it needs to be of primary importance at the beginning of the preaching journey.
The point here is to emphasize the importance of rooting in the text as of primary importance and using the text as foundational to the sermon, versus using the text to validate a preacher's perspective.
2) Re: evangelism.
YES! Preaching has an essential evangelistic dimension. Every sermon should lead back to Jesus and include a call to Gospel response for non-believers.
I would categorize this as a product of the first two aspects of preaching (text and worship). But that might be getting into semantics. In the context of the above post, I agree that I have underemphasized the importance of evangelism in preaching.
However, I'm still wrestling with this aspect.
We are internally thinking/talking about how to include the gift of the evangelist better.
On the one hand, public gospel proclamation leading to salvation has always been part of the church's story. On the other hand, historically, I think churches have over-relied on the gift of the evangelist in place of the call for everyone to do evangelism. We've perhaps over-calibrated on this.
The other challenge we've noted is that public gospel proclamation generally assumes a certain amount of common ground in the audience. In a nominally Christian context, this is highly effective. However, in our highly pluralistic post-post-Christian context, I've observed that evangelistic preaching isn't as effective as it was 10-15 years ago, as there are fewer pieces of common ground to build.
It's unclear to me what the best solution to this ought to be at this point in time... my hope is that God is preparing this generation for a new and fresh awakening with His Word from those who have never known him before!
Robin, I really liked this post and I am secretly hoping to see a mini-series on this topic. I agree with virtually everything you said. However, my biggest questions are regarding the "clarify the purpose of preaching" section. Firstly, when a preacher says something that is not directly quoting Scripture, but congruent with the values of Scripture and the Holy Spirit, is that not healthy preaching? It is hard for me to imagine Jesus preaching the parables and for the parables not to have great effect because there was little scriptural evidence for Jesus' selection of metaphors to use as parables. Second, you articulated that preaching is not to save souls. Agreed. However, would LIFT Church agree or disagree that preaching is a verbal communication of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, to both believers and unbelievers? Therefore, would not good preaching take contextual efforts to communicate the gospel in a way so a non-believer could be saved? I would love to hear more from you regarding these questions.
Thanks Tanner! Really thoughtful comment!
1) Re: role of te text
One of the hardest parts to teach in preaching is the art of "preaching the text". Of course, the preacher may have something to say, and the Lord can use them prophetically to do that - and should.
However, this prophetic dimension of preaching is more advanced and requires more maturity to be effective, and I don't think it needs to be of primary importance at the beginning of the preaching journey.
The point here is to emphasize the importance of rooting in the text as of primary importance and using the text as foundational to the sermon, versus using the text to validate a preacher's perspective.
2) Re: evangelism.
YES! Preaching has an essential evangelistic dimension. Every sermon should lead back to Jesus and include a call to Gospel response for non-believers.
I would categorize this as a product of the first two aspects of preaching (text and worship). But that might be getting into semantics. In the context of the above post, I agree that I have underemphasized the importance of evangelism in preaching.
However, I'm still wrestling with this aspect.
We are internally thinking/talking about how to include the gift of the evangelist better.
On the one hand, public gospel proclamation leading to salvation has always been part of the church's story. On the other hand, historically, I think churches have over-relied on the gift of the evangelist in place of the call for everyone to do evangelism. We've perhaps over-calibrated on this.
The other challenge we've noted is that public gospel proclamation generally assumes a certain amount of common ground in the audience. In a nominally Christian context, this is highly effective. However, in our highly pluralistic post-post-Christian context, I've observed that evangelistic preaching isn't as effective as it was 10-15 years ago, as there are fewer pieces of common ground to build.
It's unclear to me what the best solution to this ought to be at this point in time... my hope is that God is preparing this generation for a new and fresh awakening with His Word from those who have never known him before!
Hey Robin,
Thanks for your in-depth reply and for clarity regarding my questions for you.
May God continue to give you wisdom and power regarding the work He has called us to.