Preaching in Perspective

Frankly, a lot of vague pomposity rises from many pulpits just before Sunday dinner. The speakers would be hard put if they were required to give a clear purpose for any particular sermon, and even harder put to show any results from it. A business never advertises just because it is supposed to; it periodically evaluates its advertising to see if its efforts are producing. I propose that the preacher evaluate his preaching.

The old ideal of the preacher’s being “hidden behind the cross” is, I’m afraid, seldom achieved. Up there in the pulpit he is on display before everyone; it is difficult to ignore the tone of his voice, color of his tie, condition of his hair, formal or informal attitude toward worship. The problem then becomes simply one of determining how much these factors help or hinder the worship service. Regardless of its importance, the message will accomplish nothing if the preacher stands in its way.

An effective preaching ministry must come from a sharp analysis of the congregation’s needs and capabilities. Has the church a core of well-grounded leadership? Has it a wide field of opportunity? If so, then evangelism is undoubtedly a definite need. Is it an old-line church in an area already largely enlisted in some church or churches? Then perhaps Bible study and/or missions is the greatest need. Is the church on the fringe of a changing racial and/or economic situation? Then Christian understanding may be especially called for. These are but samples of the many possible situations. No pastor will preach effectively until he knows clearly just what his church’s needs are.

But more than this is necessary. The pastor must also know his people’s ability to understand their own needs. I believe that it was Hyman Appleman who recalled his experience as a young fire-eater in a student pastorate. After months of impassioned preaching with no results, he finally asked an old farmer in the congregation what was wrong. The wise member replied, “Chickens love corn, but they’ll run if you throw it at their heads.” Your congregation may show an abysmal ignorance of the Book of Romans. But if you throw your seminary course at them, heavily larded with quotations from the original Greek and the church fathers, they’ll tune out very fast! An author’s advice to young writers seems appropriate here: “Don’t overestimate a reader’s knowledge nor underestimate his intelligence.” Your congregation probably has little knowledge of the Bible but wants more. It has no knowledge of Greek, and what’s more, couldn’t care less (unless, of course, the people just like to hear their preacher sound learned!). While the latest social theories or the relevance of the Dead Sea Scrolls may interest you, I doubt if many congregations will lap up this sort of thing. There is nothing wrong with a preacher’s utilizing such resources in his sermon preparation, but they should certainly not be the main substance of his preaching.

So far I have said little about the preacher’s own preaching interests. Actually, they are of secondary importance; he is first of all to minister not to his own ego but to the needs of his congregation. Personal interests ought not to be completely ignored, of course, as they can enrich his pattern of preaching. What’s more, the minister who continually preaches only from a sense of duty soon loses the feeling of enthusiasm or urgency that should enliven his work. But his main choice of subject matter, vocabulary, illustrations, and so on, must be dictated by the academic level, the professional and social status of his real congregation.

Is planning sermons around the needs and receptive abilities of our congregations all that is necessary? By no means. Many an earnest sermon has failed because the preacher neglected to anticipate his congregation’s reactions. A debater’s method of preparing his constructive speech is an excellent one for the preacher to use. The debater continually asks himself just what his opposition is going to reply to this or that point. By anticipating possible objection he eliminates irrelevancies, gets further evidence to support unfamiliar or controversial points, and clarifies his main thesis. He might even omit certain points which he feels are right but which he cannot really support. No one has ever objected to your sermons, you say? Oh, they may give you the usual treatment at the door even though they muttered many a “phooey” earlier. Congregations aren’t ignorant; they just look that way sometimes. Ask yourself what that deadpan businessman might be thinking about your comment concerning the sacredness of Sunday—that you are a bluenose? Got an answer? What might be that soldier’s reaction to your denunciation of the friendly drink—an observation that you were never left alone in the barracks when the rest went out on the town? Got an answer? You’d better have, and in advance.

There is no easy road to preaching. I don’t think many pastors want one. But I do think that the weekly agony of sermon preparation can become very rewarding to both pastor and congregation if the pastor sharpens his perspective.—The REV. HORTON PRESLEY, assistant professor of English, Ottawa University, Ottawa, Kansas.

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