So should what we do be a “lecture” or a “sermon?”
- · A lecture being “an on-going commentary like address on the content of a passage.
- · A sermon being “a completed distinct message tailored to move the hearts of people.”
Do I want to move a person’s heart with emotions, or do I want to reach the mind to understand the word of God?
D.A. Carson’s book “For the Love of God.” He states:
- · "Preaching the Word means more than the mere conveying of information. There is information, of course, but it is so shaped and applied that it functions in one or more of these transforming ways. Thus the minister of the Gospel is necessarily a spiritual diagnostician, discerning the ailment and knowing what remedies to apply. Pity the ministry of the Word who applies encouragement when rebuke is called for, or the reverse."
He points out “the importance of doing spiritual triage: (the process of prioritizing sick and injured people for treatment according to the seriousness of the condition or injury) before I preach. To assess the real lives of the people I am preaching to you and to tailor the application accordingly.
“The preacher must be a spiritual cardiologist.” Really. How about a spiritual neurologist.
Anthony points out another point: He directs us to the article by Joel Beeke and Ray Lanning. "The Transforming Power of Scripture" and it appeared in the book, Sola Scriptura: The Protestant Position on the Bible (Reformation Trust, 2009)
- · "The Word of God is often preached today in a way that will never transform anyone because it never discriminates or applies. Preaching is then reduced to a lecture, a demonstration, a catering to the wishes and comforts of men, or a form of 'experientialism' that is cut loose from the foundation of Scripture. Such preaching fails to expound from the Scripture what the Reformers called vital religion: how a sinner is continually stripped of his own righteousness; how he is driven to Christ alone for a full-orbed salvation; how he finds joy in simple reliance upon Christ and strives after obedience to Him; how he encounters the plague of indwelling sin, battles against backsliding, and gradually gains full victory by faith in Christ." (127)·
The point is then: Do I want to be more “experimental” or “experiential” in my preaching? Or do I want to teach as I generally do “academic” and “high-minded” redemptive-historical approach?
Will it be the John Piper approach or the John MacArthur approach>?
While I note that I am proclaiming God’s Word from a pulplit and not a lectern. I should remember that God’s Word is a sharp two edged sword and not a dull pocket knife.
