A provocative title indeed. Preaching is supposed to bring life to the hearers, not death!
Of course, the title does not imply a literal death – though I dare say there have been some poor souls who actually did die in the midst of a sermon – including the preachers themselves.
Ellen White often spoke of the bad effects on a preacher’s health and constitution by inordinate public speaking (without the assistance of modern amplification). She herself had perfected the science of proper vocal projection. No, I am talking about the ‘deadly’ spiritual consequences of bad preaching.
Recent research has revealed a frighteningly high apostasy rate in the Adventist church – especially among youth. Does ‘bad’ preaching contribute to this phenomenon?
What constitutes ‘good’ preaching and what constitutes ‘bad’ preaching – and should we really care? Aren’t we just called to speak the truth and let the chips fall where they may? Does the Bible and Spirit of Prophecy provide any guidance?
This will be the much-neglected subject of this article. When the latter rain is poured out, many persons (even children) will be ‘preaching’ under the power of the Spirit. They will not be preaching pre-prepared sermons, but inspired proclamations under an outpouring of the Spirit greater than Pentecost. However (at least in Laodicean North America), we are lacking this peculiar unction – therefore, intentional labor should be applied to sermons – specifically seeking to apply the inspired guidelines given us for preaching.
LESS SERMONS
Right from the start, believe it or not, Ellen White said there should be less sermons in our churches and that we should not even expect a sermon every Sabbath!
“There is too much sermonizing and too little ministering.” – 2SM 380
“There are times when it is fitting for our ministers to give on the Sabbath, in our churches, short discourses, full of the life and love of Christ. But church members are not to expect a sermon every Sabbath.” – 7T 19
“Sermons have been in great demand in our churches. The members have depended on pulpit declamations instead of on the Holy Spirit. Uncalled for and unused, the spiritual gifts bestowed on them have dwindled into feebleness.” – 1SM127
“The people have had too much sermonizing; but have they been taught how to labor for those for whom Christ died?” – 6T431
“Preaching will not do the work that needs to be done…. Sermons will not do it. By visiting the people, talking, praying, sympathizing with them, you will win hearts.” – CHS 117
“Let there be less sermonizing and more humbling of the soul in prayer for the divine presence among us. Our meetings should be seasons of humble seeking after God.” – MTC 52
In place of having so many sermons, there should be a more close searching of the Word of God.” – EV363
In other words, too much importance is placed upon sermons. We should have less sermons, not more!
Of far more importance are intensive studies in the Word of God, intentional training of our members for personal evangelism (‘personal labor’) – and intensive seasons of prayer! Not only have we not exercised temperance regarding ‘sermonizing;’ we have multiplied sermons by orders of magnitude (and dependence thereon) – especially through modern media. Often our most revered speakers are those who regale us with marathon preachifying sessions for hours on end during the Sabbath hours - yet Sister White said that this was not conducive to a healthy church spirituality – nor to a beneficial Sabbath experience:
“But the mind cannot be refreshed, enlivened, and elevated by being confined nearly all the Sabbath hours within walls, listening to long sermons and tedious formal prayers. The Sabbath of the Lord is put to wrong use if thus celebrated. The object for which it was instituted is not attained.” – 2T 583
We have become sermon dependent - even if the preaching is lousy. It just wouldn’t be ‘church’ without a sermon – even if the ‘preacher’ can’t preach – or has no business preaching! I recently suffered through one of the worst sermons I have ever heard in a church setting – a scattered, virtually Christless, at times almost unintelligible, mess of bad theology spread over an hour, with youth present – by an appointed lay pastor. No, I take that back, one peculiar sermon several years ago might top the list, however I digress.
The lay pastor proceeded to ‘preach a sermon’ comprised of entertaining his congregants with the story of his recent hyper-realistic, hallucinatory dream; in which he killed two police officers, ran from the law, and found protection with a conference president who was inhabiting the body of a gangster. The gangster/president told him that he was going to protect him from the police because he had plenty of guns in his house - even though he was angry that he had to! As the ‘pastor’ told each horrifying detail of his nightmarish vision, during which he had committed murder, he periodically elicited laughter from his audience. He finally closed this spiritual mess by proclaiming that, ‘God was speaking to me. God was giving me a message for today, to realize that we need to understand the difference between reality and fiction.’
We suffer through the insufferable experience of bad preaching because worship has to have a sermon, no matter how bad! It doesn’t have to be that way. Instead of conferences being concerned about an elder preaching about a hypothetically faithful parachurch – they should be concerned about their pastors being woefully ill-prepared to preach in a way that is not spiritually deadly to their congregants – especially their youth.
SHORT Sermons
Not only are there too many sermons, the sermons that are preached are too long.
“Never weary the hearers by long discourses. This is not wise.” – EV 178
“Avoid lengthy sermons. The people cannot retain one half of the discourses which they hear. Give short talks and more Bible readings.” – EV 439
Many sermons given would, if cut short one half, be far more beneficial to the hearers.” – EV 441
“Give short lessons, in plain, simple language, and let them be often repeated. Short sermons will be remembered far better than long ones.” – GW 167
So just how long is too long? Ellen White cites a reference to half an hour as being a helpful time limit:
“I do not like to go much beyond the half hour,” said a faithful and earnest preacher, … I know that the spiritual digestion of some is but weak, and I should be sorry for my hearers to spend the second half hour in forgetting what I had said in the first, or in wishing that I would cease when I had given them as much as they could carry away.” 4LtMs, Lt 47, 1886, par. 16
Any preacher who has observed his congregation’s facial expressions (something you may miss if you neglect to speak extemporaneously) will begin to experience an uncomfortable effect well before the half hour mark. Church members begin to exhibit signs of weariness and inattentiveness in their body language (especially if the preacher is note-dependent). A speaker may use various devices to combat this effect (PowerPoints etc.), but the inevitable result will be the same – a waning ability to maintain interest in what is preached before the half hour ends!
The best of preacher’s overcome this effect through a variety of natural and spiritual gifts. For example: a forceful Christian character, their melodious or sonorous vocal quality, the use of powerful illustrations and personal testimony, fascinating Biblical narratives, a deeply meaningful exposition of the Biblical text, etc.
On the other hand, so-called ‘Pulpiteers’ may use artificial techniques to try and hold the attention. They may employ cheap rhetorical devices, theatrics, worn out traditions such as the ‘whoop,’ or a call and response interaction with a constant affirmative manipulation of the audience. The result is often less than ‘spirit-filled.’ A church member who is asked after such a sermonic event, ‘What was the main point of the sermon today?’ may actually respond by saying, ‘I can’t really tell you exactly, but man, he sure could preach!’
Research indicates that after 20 minutes, listener engagement drops dramatically. The maximum length of TED talks is 18 minutes. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that the attention span of the average American adult has been dramatically reduced – resulting from a well-nigh universal dependence on technological devices; and, an addiction to all kinds of media broken up into sound-bites, clips, memes and video shorts etc. Yet, I have observed the ubiquitous practice – among lay and ordained preachers, of long rambling information saturated topical sermons lasting upwards of an hour or more. A review of a well-known preacher’s sermons on his YouTube site reveals (out of 10 sermons) an average of 1hr. and 14 minutes in sermon length! These sermons were filmed in a church context, not in a studio.
In other words, a live congregation was subjected to these lengthy discourses. Ah you say, ‘But his material is of such importance.’ Charles Spurgeon’s (‘Prince of Preachers’) commentary is applicable here:
“In order to maintain attention, avoid being too long (40 minutes was Spurgeon’s recommended limit in the 19th century) … But someone said he likes, “to do justice to his subject.” Well, but should he not do justice to his people, or, at least, have a little mercy upon them, and not keep them too long? The subject will not complain about you, but the people will… If you ask me how to shorten your sermons, I would say, study them better. Spend more time in the study so that you require less in the pulpit.” - Spurgeon, ‘Lectures to My Students’ v.1 “It would be a pity to make our congregations smaller by making our sermons longer…. It is easy to have more substance and the same time become more dull. More may be taught while less is learned. May we have grace to avoid this form of undesirable progress.” – Spurgeon, ‘Sword and Trowel’, March 1884
We are bleeding youth out of our church in North America. If a long rambling sermon bogs down in a swamp of useless, information saturated subjects, without illustrations or narrative windows, and without a unifying theme, this will have a ‘deadly’ effect on the hearers. A spiritual ‘death by sermon’ could certainly apply to being forced to listen to bad sermons during one’s formative years. If sitting through ‘bad’ sermonizing is torturous for adults, how must it be for children and youth?! Could even a ‘good’ sermon preached too long be a ‘bad’ thing? As we have already seen, yes!
CHRIST’S EXAMPLE
Part I of this article is meant to focus primarily on sermon delivery - how often, how long, and finally, in what manner are sermons to be preached.
“The manner in which truth is presented often has much to do in determining whether it will be accepted or rejected.” – 4T p.404
Christ’s example in this regard is of supreme value. If Christ is the exemplar of preaching, then our messages need to be steeped in the Bible, utilizing stories and object lessons, formed in plain simple language that even a child can access, yet at the same time profound and memorable.
“Much of the effect of discourses is lost because of the manner in which they are delivered. The speaker frequently forgets that he is God’s messenger, and that Christ and angels are in his audience as listeners. His voice should not be raised to a high key, shouting out the truth as through a trumpet; for this is more nervous power than the calm spirit and power of the Holy Ghost. Jesus, the greatest teacher the world ever knew, was calm, earnest, and impressive in His discourses. He is our example in all things.” 4LtMs, Lt 47, 1886, par. 10
“Christ is the minister’s Model. How directly to the point, how well adapted to the purpose and circumstances are Christ’s words! How clear and forcible are His illustrations! His style is characterized by simplicity and solemnity… The lessons of Christ should be carefully studied, and the subjects, manner, and form of discourses should be modeled after the divine pattern… He did not sermonize as men do today, in intensely earnest tones He assured them of the truths of the life to come, of the way of salvation.” – RH June 23, 1891
“Speak as to little children, remembering that there are many well advanced in years who are but little children in understanding. By earnest prayer and diligent effort, we are to obtain fitness for speaking. This fitness includes uttering every syllable clearly, placing the force and emphasis where it belongs. Speak slowly. Many speak rapidly, hurrying one word after another so fast that the effect of what they say is lost. Into what you say put the spirit and life of Christ.” – EVp.174-5
****
