A person emerged from our church a few Sundays ago, saying to me at the door as she left, 'I know you would not intentionally hurt anyone with what you say from the pulpit, but I was hurt by what you said today in your sermon.'
And I thought, 'Where would you have gotten the notion that I would not want to hurt you? I'm a preacher. Some infliction of pain goes with the job! ~ Will Willimon, Pastor
Now mine:
A person emerged from our church a few Sundays ago, saying to me at the door as she left, 'That was one of the best sermons I've ever heard. You are so funny.'
And I thought, 'Ouch!' I went home sad that day.
Hyatt tells us:
I heard plenty of sermons on sexual sin and few if any on the sin of ignoring the poor when I grew up.
But I'm fairly sure the answer to that problem isn't to preach a lot on the sin of ignoring the poor and leave off the messages about sexual sin. It's as easy to preach a sermon on God's heart for the poor in an emerging church as it is to preach on purity in a Baptist one. And that should tell us something.
Here's what I tell small group leaders; we want people to feel safe, BUT we do not want them to feel comfortable. As believers we are to constantly spur each other on to Christ-likeness. That is very often not a comfortable process.
1 comment:
I'd love it if I heard stuff that was relevant and based on scripture - that is, what is God's message in scripture for me?
I really detest pastors trying to be politicians - of any stripe - using scripture to tell what THEY think is important.
While it's all very well and good to hear someone's opinion, that isn't, in my opinion, preaching. That's just being at the center of attention and confusing your own prejudices and desires with what God wants, and thinking that because you think it's the right thing to do, all the people in your congregation should do it.
I really don't want to sit through an hour-long lecture & go away with, "Well, I can certainly tell which political party Pastor X supports." (Not that pastors can't support political parties - but they should be extremely reluctant to do so in the name of God. I find it hard to believe that the Eternal God somehow fits the political planks of a political party that exists as a wave upon the sand.)
Just tell me what God says through his scripture. Let me figure out how to apply it. If I am not applying it the way you think I should, maybe I'm lazy or hardened - but maybe you're not such a good preacher, too. Work on your end, and I'll work on mine.
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