Preach [Theology Meets Practice]

I am currently reading a good book that was given to me by my mentor. The title is, "Preach [Theology Meets Practice]," by Mark Dever and Gregg Gilbert. So far, it has been a great and easy read, it also makes some great points. In a day and time where preaching is often sidelined, this book is a tall glass of water on a hot day. Preaching is not only an effective way of communicating the truth of God's word, it is one of the main ways that God wants His truth communicated. From the very foundations of the church, preaching has been there right at the heart of the matter. In the book of Acts you see the Apostles preaching over and over again. Often true preaching is accompanied by revival, and that is what makes it especially relevant today.

One of the things that we, as preachers, can get caught up in is preaching to reinforce the culture. While there may be many positive things in our culture, it, like any other culture, has things in direct opposition to the word of God. Some times we can get caught up in the business of tickling ears instead of pricking hearts. In the book the author mentions an interesting quote from an article by Bill McKibbens:

"The pastors focus relentlessly on you and your individual needs. Their goal is to service consumers - not communities but individuals: 'seekers' is the term of art, people who feel the need for some spirituality in their (or children's) lives but who aren't tightly bound to any particular denomination or school of thought. The result is often a kind of soft-focus, comfortable suburban faith. A New York Times reporter visiting one booming mega church outside of Phoenix recently found the typical scene: a drive through latte stand, Krispy Kreme doughnuts at every service, and sermons about 'How to discipline your children, how to reach your professional goals, how to invest your money, how to reduce your dept'. On Sundays children played with church-distributed Xboxes, and many congregants had signed up for a twice-weekly aerobics class called Firm Believers."

Maybe your church is not quite in touch with the culture as this previously mentioned church (and I mean that in a positive way), but you still get caught up in preaching the popcorn of your own subculture. Truth be told, most of us pastors, whether we would like to admit it or not, are not really in touch with the direction that our mainstream culture is going. Our culture is moving farther and faster away from Biblical truth, and being in touch with it is really being in touch with evil. Unfortunately; though, we do get caught up in preaching what is popular in our circles. It is all too easy to get stuck on some hobby horse or talk about some other church out there and the terrible things that they are doing. We are preaching everything except what our church desperately needs: how this passage should change their lives forever. Admit it, it is much easier to deal with the sins of the big mega church down the road than to deal with the struggles of your congregation. Most likely the reason is because it is always easier to deal with someone else's problem than my own. Jesus said it well when He said, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye" (Matt 7:1-5).

Preaching shouldn't be culturally relevant but relevant to your congregation. You dealing with the sins of pop culture is like leading you congregation to water but not letting them drink. There is a desperate need in our day to show people how the Word of God should change the everyday lives of the people. God wants to use His word to invade every area of the lives of your congregants. Don't stand in the way of that.