Don't Water Down The Homiletical Soup

 Reading in Jeremiah, this morning, I was reminded of a proverb I have tried to keep in mind all of my ministry life. I'll tell you the proverb in a moment, but first I'll share a portion of the passage that provoked my thought.

Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? 30 Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who steal my words from one another. 31 Behold, I am against the prophets, declares the LORD, who use their tongues and declare, ‘declares the LORD.’ 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the LORD, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the LORD.  (The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Je 23:29–32). (2016). Crossway Bibles.)

One of the guiding principles of my ministry has been, I hope still is, "When I confuse thus sayeth Howard, with thus sayeth the Lord, I dilute the word of God." I think it's a good proverb, though I admit it isn't a Biblical proverb, for all preachers/teachers of the Bible to remember.

It's a harder concept to live by than it may at first seem.

 First, let me address the critic in the room. "I know that I don't have the power to alter the word of God. I know and fully believe that not a jot or tittle of God's word will perish. It will accomplish the purpose for which God sent it forth." 

But, like so many things that involve the intersection of God's sovereignty and my/your responsibility, it's complicated. In the Old Testament era, the prophets who spoke for the Lord were responsible to speak what the Lord gave them to speak. A few chapters earlier (Jer. 20), we read of Jeremiah's struggle in delivering the word from the Lord when it was an unpopular word. He was tired. He didn't want to do it anymore, but to paraphrase, he concluded that he couldn't not speak God's word. (To a lesser extent I've been there. On the other side of the coin were those who weren't prophets, or perhaps even prophets who didn't have a message from the Lord at that time. They were responsible to be quiet, or if they did speak to make sure that they did not misrepresent what they said. "This isn't a word from God. This is what I think. I offer it only as personal advice." It takes thought, dedication, and care to keep it straight.

In my case, toward the end of a life ministry, I find it perhaps more complicated than it has ever been to live by my proverb. 

I have, by God's grace, been spared from any great scandal in my life as a pastor and missionary. Unfortunately, some of my colleagues in ministry have set the bar for achieving a position of respect pretty low. I find that now in my sixth decade of ministry, people respect what I say. In particular to my fellow seasoned servants, I say, "We need to be careful with this." It is awfully easy to let it go to my head. The term "pontificate" comes to mind. Especially since I don't believe there is really a "Pontiff," I need to watch for that trap. Yes, I have been around the block a few times, and yes, I have by God's grace learned some things from God's word. Yet, in my most honest days--Lord grant me more--I realize that a lot of what I have learned has to do with how much I don't know. In my own little circle, I have gained a reputation as an honest expositor of the Bible. To change the metaphor from the one in my proverb, that gives me an edge. There are people who trust me. It is important that I not dull that edge by spouting off what I think in a context in which people expect me to be telling them what God has said in His Word.

I find myself using the digital-age shorthand "IMHO" (In my humble opinion) more often lately. There are several tendencies that I observe in my life and in the ministries of others who share God's word that compel me to use this humble acronym:

• Categories are tough to keep straight. Is this actually something that the Word of God says, or is it something that I heard someone say that the Word of God says, or, even more troubling at this point in my life, is it something that I think I remember thinking at some time in the past that the word of God says? Or most troubling of all. Is this what I think needs to be said. I'm not advocating for wishy-washy-ness. I am reminding myself and others to follow the Apostle Paul's counsel to Timothy, "Work hard to show yourself as one who accurately handles the word of truth. Then you won't have anything to be ashamed of." (My application-paraphrase of 2 Timothy 2:15.
• Good preaching is giving people a way to apply the Bible to their lives. The application of the Bible, a book written in a different era in a different culture and place can be tricky. It is very easy to make a way to apply a text of scripture sound like the only way to apply it. In the history of preaching that error has resulted in a lot of homiletical water being added to the soup.
• My Theological grid can get in the way. I suppose I still identify as a dispensationalist. Though my dispensationalism has eroded over the years. I try, however, to give preeminence to, "What does this text mean?" over, "Where does it fit on the chart." Sometimes I fail. I observe the same problem with a different label in the ministries of others who have different Theological orientations. Yes, my Theology informs my exegesis, but if my Theology is sound it comes from proper exegesis of the Bible. "Lord, don't let me stand that on its head.
• On some days it seems everybody but me is so sure of themselves. "Howard, why don't you speak more forcefully? Fake it. Nobody will know. You deserve a place at the table of absolute certainty." It's tempting. My gray hair lends credibility. But, alas, it isn't true.

I'll give Jeremiah the last word. Actually, he was speaking God's word. Concerning those false prophets the Lord said:

“I did not send the prophets, yet they ran;

I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.

 But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,

and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds.  

(Jeremiah 23:21-22) 

Lord, deliver me. 

 

Plagiarism in the Pulpit

An evangelist and excellent preacher, Glenn Mathews, told me on numerous occasions after I had heard him preach, "Clean that up and use it." I did on several occasions, though it is doubtful that my "cleaning" improved anything. When I did I always mentioned that it had originated with him.
I remember attending a quite large and successful church. The Pastor had a national audience, had been part of huge rallies, and had written a book that I found quite helpful. I was disappointed a year, or more, later when I found that he had been removed from his position as pastor because he had been preaching the sermons of others as if they were his own.
One of the changes that I observed in my forty+ years of pastoral ministry is the raising of standards for preachers to cite their sources. Now that I am in an academic setting, my sensitivity to the issue is greater. For what it is worth, I see several reasons for the trend of greater expectation for the words "Dr. So and So wrote." or "In a book published last year . . ."

• The internet makes it easy for others to catch you when you are plagiarizing someone else. It used to be that preachers would jokingly say, "During the first year of my ministry I preached some of the greatest sermons ever preached. They were written by Spurgeon, Moody, and (fill in the name)." Now if there is the least bit of suspicion, someone will Google it and you'll be caught before the benediction. In addition to the ease with which one can get caught, the same ease applies to one's ability to copy. On Saturday night it is a temptation that would make the serpent blush and slink out of the Garden.

• The well-known violators, like the one I mentioned, have caused this to be a hot topic. Maybe it is just because I am old and forgetful, but I don't think so. Whatever the reason I don't remember this being an issue when I started in ministry. Pulpit committees and church leadership teams, now, have to deal with, "We don't want that to happen to us."

• It used to be that sermons were one time events. Now, even tiny churches record and make available their pastor's sermons. 

Whatever the reasons behind the new level of expectation, make no mistake it is real.I haven't read the book, at least not yet, but I found a review of  Scott Gibson's book, Should We Use Someone Else's Sermon? to be quite helpful and thought-provoking. If you are a preacher, you should read the blog post. I'll let you know if I get around to reading the book. (In case you missed it, here is the link, again, https://www.sermoncentral.com/pastors-preaching-articles/ron-forseth-3-tests-of-pulpit-plagiarism-do-you-pass-them-1230?ref=)

Rather than quote from the article, I'll let you read it. I encourage you to click on the link to the "Preacher's Pledge." I signed up. The article helped crystalize some thoughts that have been rattling around in my head for a while.

•  Preaching is not the same as writing an academic paper. How do you footnote something in a sermon? If you give out a note sheet with your sermon, you can put a footnote there, but not everyone will read it. Especially if your sermon is broadcast in some way, almost no one will see it. I frequently do put sources in my handouts. When I do I always try to give a very brief mention verbally, "MacArthur says," or in the introduction, "I am indebted to my friend Glenn Mathews for a number of the thoughts in this message."
• The article points out that the preacher is dealing with more than honesty in regard to the author of the source. We also must be concerned with maintaining the trust of the congregation. That means, among other things, that our concern is not only with copyright material. It seems to me that satisfying the need to maintain trust varies from situation to situation. Some preachers are able to make clear by body language and voice that they are speaking another's words. I would suspect that a preacher ministering to a group of academics would need to meet higher expectations than one dealing with a blue-collar crowd. Maybe I was wrong, but I found that saying "Keil and Deilitzch says . . ." was more apt to communicate pride--"I read high-end books that you don't"--than honesty. Often, unless I am referring to a source that might truly be helpful to the people I'm preaching to, I'll just say, "A commentator said. . . ." 
• Along that line, the article points out that we have to let our conscience guide us, not someone else's conscience. Just one of many reasons to keep our consciences away from hot irons. (Since this is a post on plagiarism I need to point out that this allusion comes from 1 Timothy 4:2, though the Apostle Paul has never given me a hard time about quoting him.)

I'm not sure Spurgeon said, " All originality and no plagiarism makes for dull preaching." or not. If he did say it, he uttered those words in a different era and, I suspect, tongue in cheek. The words do provide some balance to the discussion. While it may not be good enough anymore--at least not all together--I think there is still some truth in the words of Solomon. I have applied them to sermonizing many times. "There is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Or, as one young preacher is reported to have cried out, "The ancients have stolen my ideas." If I come up with something truly original it is probably truly wrong. Maybe someone will come up with a list of iron-clad (that refers to two battleships in the American Civil War) rules for when to cite and when not to--I sincerely doubt that will happen--we have to do the best we can. Our goal is to effectively communicate God's truth. We can't let extra-Biblical rules interfere with that. Yet, we must be people of integrity. If we aren't, we forfeit any opportunity to speak for God. It's harder than it looks. Maybe we can help each other. Let's start a conversation. Let us know how you handle this issue in the comments section, below.

Proverbs for Preachers:

This is a post for my fellow preacher, and, perhaps even more, for those who aspire to preach.

It was recently my privilege to share six sessions in a homiletics class.  One of the things I did, in preparing for the class was come up with proverbial sayings about preaching/pastoring.  I didn't put any music with this.  Play your own.  :)

Maybe these will encourage some thought and discussion

Preach the Word--No, Really, Preach the WORD:

Let me say upfront that this is pretty much a shoptalk piece.  I am writing with my fellow preachers in mind.

At our Easter service 2014, I did something that I have never done before.  I presented a sermon that

consisted entirely of scripture.  I figure it is something like seven-tenths of one percent of the whole Bible.  I did it from memory.  (imprefectly, but mostly.)
Toward the end of last year, my son sent me a link to a video of a message delivered by Ronnie Smith.  As you'll see if you peruse the site, Smith died not long after delivering this message.  He died while sharing the Good News.  (http://www.historyofredemption.org/, click on "watch the sermon.")  The sermon Smith delivered is composed entirely of scripture.  You will hear as you get into the message, that it is much more than a dry recitation.  It is a passionate presentation of the History of Redemption.  My son, Chris, challenged me and a couple other of his preacher-buddies to do this for Easter.  I realized that memorizing that much scripture would take a lot of work--at least for me--so I thought about it for a while.  I decided that if I did this I wouldn't just take Smith's assembly of Bible passages (though there is nothing wrong with his collection, in fact I used it as a source for much of mine) but would use my own script.  Previous reading of scripture had shown me that the New Living Translation, because of its conversational tone, works well for this kind of thing, so, I decided, if did this, I would use it for the base of the presentation. (When I finished, my compilation contained NLT, NIV, NASB, and KJV.)  I, fairly early on, realized that if something like this was going to work, there was no easy way to do it.  It couldn't be read--whether from paper, or teleprompter (I don't have one, anyhow.)  It had to be memorized--and memorized to the point that as one is sharing it he wouldn't have to think about it.  The preacher needs to focus on delivery, not what the next word is.  I finally came to the conclusion that this was something I should do.  As I got into it I found myself asking,

"Why have I not done this before?"

Over the years I have heard of other preachers who have presented similar sermons.  I heard about one preacher who memorized the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, and delivered it.  I've not heard it, but I've heard that a friend of mine has a Christmas message that includes large quantities of the Bible he has memorized.  The closest I had ever come to doing anything like this was reading fairly large portions of scripture--the Book of James, most of 1 John, or the Sermon on the Mount.

Early in 2014 I decided I was going to do this.  At first I thought I would divide the message into several sections and present the pieces spread over several months, as a ramp up to the Easter message, which would be all the pieces put together.  I never really decided  to not do that.  It just didn't happen.  I put the script together and started working on it.  After I had the script assembled, I read it and recorded it.  I and a couple of others listened to it.  This led to some tweaking.  It seems like memorizing is such a very personal thing, so I won't say anything about how I memorized the material.  I'll simply say it did take a lot of work.  I'd guess I invested at least one-hundred-fifty hours, spread out over two months, in memorizing the text.  I still didn't get to the word-perfect point where I wanted to be.   If you listen to the sermon, you will hear my homiletic tires hit the gravel on the shoulder of the road numerous times.

This is really the main point of this post:  I recommend that other preachers do this.  At least once in your career, present a message that isn't just based on God's Word, but is God's Word.

Here are some of my reasons for making this recommendation:

• In a sense it is putting our labor where our mouth is.  We talk about the power, perspicacity, sufficiency, and absolute necessity of the Bible.  OK, preach the Word.
• I was personally moved by this presentation, so much so that had there been a freak storm on Easter Sunday, and I never had the opportunity to present this message, I would still be glad I had done this.  The congregation heard this message once.  I "heard" it at least a hundred times, and I never grew tired or bored with it.
• I became convinced at a deeper level of the unity, and grand sweep of scripture.  The symmetry, and the driving themes of the Book came through to me.
• As I shared the sermon on Easter Sunday, I was struck with the power of Scripture to impact lives.  I am not opposed to preaching, in the usual sense of the word.  In fact I am a fan of the medium, but if I think that God, and God's Word, are unintelligible, unless I explain Him or it, I am simply being arrogant.  Just scripture, if the presenter gets out of the way sufficiently to allow the pathos, as well as the logos of the Bible to come through (and this is one reason the text has to be memorized to the point so one becomes comfortable with it), will impact people.  God did not give His Word only for PHDs.

Probably by this point you already see some dangers.  Here are some I tried to guard against.

• I absotively, posolutely did not want to crash and burn.  Some of my practice sessions produced the human equivalent of a locked up computer.  I came to a point where if you had asked me, "Howard, what is your name?"  I couldn't have answered.  Obviously, I didn't want the people who came to the Easter service at CBC to go home and say, "Wow, that was really something.  I don't think I've ever seen somebody crash that spectacularly."  So, I decided early on I wasn't going to do this without a net.  If you watch the sermon, you can see a large monitor in front of me.  A colleague--a trusted one--displayed the text of the sermon for me.  Mostly I didn't use it, but--call me a coward if you want--I was very reassured that it was there.
• I wanted this to be about the Word of God, and the God of the Word, not this poor preacher.  I've already said that this was a lot of work, and quite unusual, so it was unavoidable that this presentation would attract some attention to itself and to me.  My constant prayer, though, was, and is, that this would be to the glory of the Word, not the presenter of the Word.  And here is one of the oddities.  It seemed to me, if that were going to take place, that I had to do this in a non-stumbling manner.  I didn't want folk to say, "We could see that he worked really hard at that, but he got through.  Bless his heart."  I tried to do well, so people wouldn't notice that I did well.  I had a couple of months to work on this inner antinomy.  I suppose you could add this to the list of benefits, above.  It is good to work hard and do something with as much excellence as one can, so as to present it as an offering to the Lord.  I figure this was something that Bezalel and Aholiab had to work through.
• This one has more to do with preparing the script than the presentation.  I found it hard to edit out portions of scripture.  This is the Word of God.  Who am I to say that this word or this sentence, etc. should be cut.  Yet, in trying to tell God's Story in about thirty minutes I had to edit out some over seventy hours of material.  Not only did I select certain portions of scripture--effectively editing out the rest.  I chopped out words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs from those passages.  If you read through the scripture I listed in the handout it will take you considerably longer than half an hour.  In my editing I really tried not be cute and especially to not be deceptive.  Whenever possible, I looked for briefer accounts of the same event given elsewhere in the Bible.  Stephen, in his sermon in Acts, helped me out several times.  The exercise forced me to apply 2 Timothy 2:15.

Bottom line:  At this point I'm planning to do this again.  I want to review this message--possibly tweak it some--enough so I can use it again sometime, without completely relearning it.  I'm thinking about some other similar projects.  Like my son, who got this started for me, I challenge you.  Preach the Word.  at least once in your life.

Website for the Hisotry of Redemption:  http://www.historyofredemption.org/  (click on "watch the sermon")

My Easter Sermon, God's Story in His Own Words: 

http://www.truthcasting.com/player.aspx#showSermon=94101

The handout containing the list of scripture used: http://covingtonbiblechurch.com/images/handout.pdf

The Preachers Won!

OK, in case you don't know, I'm a pastor, what some old-timers call a "preacher." In fact some folk address me as "Preacher Merrell." So, I can hardly plead impartiality on this matter. Having established my place behind the pulpit--figuratively, since we haven't used our pulpit for several years now, I'll proceed.

For some time now the point has been made that people won't listen to preaching anymore. We have to use PowerPoint and videos, we need to put on carefully scripted shows, and never quote Charles Spurgeon or do anything else "preacherly." People who have been making this point overlook some well-known and very popular preachers. Even listening through my keyhole, I am aware of a number. Many of them are best known through radio, so obviously the video element is not a factor in their effectiveness.

• Chuck Swindoll keeps on telling stories, enthusiastically laughing at his own jokes and highlighting the intense practicality of the Word of God.
• Granted it appears that Charles Stanley has bought some hair, but he is still counting off 3 of this, 5 of that, and 7 of the other thing on his long slim fingers.
• John MacArthur, and James McDonald seem to just talk about the Bible.
• Even from the grave Oliver Greene and J. Vernon McGee continue to have a following. I think they died before Powerpoint was invented.

Another preacher, Allistair Begg, has helped me clarify thinking on this. Part of the reason he has impressed me comes from the fact that he has come to some of the same conclusions I have, only he said it better. (Don't you love it when someone agrees with you?) You'll have to do the research if you want to find out more (and if anyone wants to send me a link to any of this, I'll be glad to post it.) since the input Preacher Begg has had in my life has been through borrowed Cd's and a couple of Pastor's Conferences I have attended at Parkside Church. Begg acknowledges that many critics claim that people won't listen to preaching anymore. In part he--and I--agree with that conclusion, but not for the reasons that are usually given. Since I don't have Begg's words in front of me, I don't want to take a chance on misrepresenting him. So the following points are mine. These opinions have been shaped by the Scottish preacher's words, though.

People don't listen to preaching because:

• Much of it isn't worth listening to. I notice this in particular when I go to funerals. Here preachers have the opportunity to talk to the people that they wish they could talk to on Sunday. If what they do at the funeral-chapel is typical of what they do at church it is easy to understand why people don't listen.
• Much of our preaching lacks authority. Messages that are like presentations of feel-good magazine articles garnished with scripture offer little of interest to people in need. Oprah and Dr. Phil have a bigger budget than we do. If we try to play in their court we'll lose. If we preach God's word, we win, because they don't.
• We seek to preach what people want to hear, or what they think they need to hear. Pastor Begg said something to the effect, "We cannot preach what people want, because no one is demanding the gospel."
• This one is mostly mine. We act as if all the truth of God's word can be mastered with little thought or effort. Proverbs talks about digging for treasure. Paul told Timothy to be diligent in his approach to the Word of God, 2 Timothy 2:15. I haven't read the book yet, but I understand that Bill Hybells has something to say on this matter.

In other words much of the lack of interest in preaching can be attributed to the sorriness of the preaching being offered up.

I've been thinking these thoughts for several years now. The recent election provided further confirmation that the day of preaching is not past.

• It is not coincidental that the best speaker won the presidential race.
• Then there was the highlight of the campaign. Sarah Palin's fresh, frank, folksy, effective rhetoric energized the race.
• Mike Huckabee did more with less, and landed himself a job on Fox News to boot, on the basis of his ability to speak clearly and persuasively. In case you didn't know, or forgot, Mike Huckabee is Rev. Huckabee, a former Southern Baptist pastor.
• Huckabee went to Seminary with Rick Warren. The civil forum at Saddleback clearly showed that a preacher who actually believes something could speak sensibly, persuasively, and reach across barriers.
• In my state we elected a new Senator. No doubt Mark Warner (No relation to John Warner, whom he is replacing) was helped by the Democratic tidal-wave, but Governor Warner is also a much more effective speaker than Governor Gilmore, whom he not only beat, but buried.

The preacher--the good ones at least won.

For those of us who seek to persuade people, It's Something to Think About.